History WesternAnimation / OnceUponAForest

''Once Upon a Forest'' is a [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation 1993]] animated film with an environmental theme, released by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox. Based the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert, it was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner, [[HeAlsoDid the creator of the]] ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''Film/ChildsPlay'' franchises. It was made by Creator/HannaBarbera in association with HTV Cymru.

* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: [[spoiler: Michelle, after her parents die.]]

%%* GospelRevivalNumber: "He's Back".

* HeartwarmingOrphan: [[spoiler: Michelle, at the end of the movie.]]

''Once Upon a Forest'' is a [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation 1993]] animated film with an environmental theme, released on by TwentiethCenturyFox. Based the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert, it was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner, [[HeAlsoDid the creator of the]] ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''Film/ChildsPlay'' franchises. It was made by Creator/HannaBarbera in association with HTV Cymru.

* ActionGirl: Abigail all the way.
* AdultsAreUseless: The young furlings are tasked to undertake the journey for Michelle's herbs on their own, without any adult supervision because Cornelius has to stay at Michelle's bedside, and one can assume the [[ThereAreNoAdults rest of the adults fled for their lives]]. Somewhat justified, since Cornelius is really the only one around who ''could'' take care of Michelle [[spoiler:and he's her uncle and thus her only living relative who could look out for her after her parents' deaths]]. And the other adults probably did just what anyone would've done in such a situation.

* AnAesop: Edgar's lament that he never kissed his mother goodbye seems to be one of these. The message here seems to be 'Never take your loved ones for granted, because you never know if it's your last time together.' [[spoiler:Happily, Edgar gets a second chance at it.]]

* AntiVillain: The humans - this seems to be a standard HumansAreBastards tale at first, but most of the ones shown are responsible and try to protect animals whenever possible. The only truly bad human is the littering drunk driver who causes the tragedy in the first place.

* AwardBaitSong: "Once Upon a Time With Me" by Florence Warner Jones. It might have received an award had the movie done better in theaters.

* BambooTechnology: The furlings build a flying machine out of sticks and leaves. At least in this case there were actually plans for them to follow.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Michelle is brought out of her coma by the herbs, and one by one the furlings are tearfully reunited with their parents. Happy ending, right? But when Michelle asks Cornelius where her parents are, well...as the audience knows...they're not coming back for her. They're dead.]]
** And beyond that, [[spoiler: there are doubtless many other families in Dapplewood who were torn apart in a similar fashion, and NothingIsTheSameAnymore. But, as Cornelius tells his niece, "If everyone works as hard to restore Dapplewood as your friends did to save you," things will gradually get better.]]
* BlindWithoutEm: Edgar the mole can't see without his glasses and becomes defenseless.
** This is actually FridgeBrilliance when you consider that moles have terrible vision, and can't see well in sunlight or moonlight which is why they remain underground most of the time.

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Michelle, after finding out her parents are dead. While we don't exactly see Michelle sobbing over it (because that would be too much of a TearJerker even for this movie), the implications of how Michelle will need to cope with that after the movie ends is tragic enough.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Oddly, the most character development goes to... ''Edgar.'' He goes from being a cowardly, worrying {{Nerd}} to a brave, quick-thinking {{Nerd}}.
** Well, that and they all learn to [[ThePowerOfFriendship work together]] a lot better. At the beginning they couldn't even row a boat without bickering and causing it to sink.

* ChekhovsGun: Early on in the movie the animals are told by their teacher that a certain part of the forest is off limits, but says that the reason why is "not today's lesson". Pan across to reveal an animal trap. [[spoiler:This is promptly forgotten...until the very end of the movie, when Edgar the Mole gets caught in it while trying to evade some humans doing cleanup after the gas damaged the forest. One of them frees Edgar, smashes the trap, throws it in a garbage bag, and proves to the animals that perhaps (contrary to dire warnings throughout the movie) humans aren't exclusively destructive monsters. Not bad as environmentalist messages go.]]

* DisappearedDad: Neither Russell nor Edgar seem to have fathers.
** Possible TruthInTelevision, as female moles and hedgehogs raise their young alone (although ordinarily, field mice and badgers do too).
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Michelle just ''had'' to fake everyone out by not waking up right away when they give her the herbs, just to wring out every last tear from the furlings and the audience.]]

* GreenAesop: [[spoiler: An unusually positive one. While the effects of the gas leak are shown as world-shattering to the animals, humans immediately take responsibility and begin clean-up efforts. The Aesop seems to be that yes, humans have messed this world up a lot, but we can all do something to make things better and correct our mistakes. At the very least, a fairly realistic aesop.]]

* HateSink: Waggs the squirrel, the only straight-up antagonistic character in the film (with the possible exception of the drunk driver at the beginning).

* HumansAreBastards: Subverted, which is which is unusual for this type of movie.
* HumansAreCthulhu: They're depicted as alien and inscrutable (the only time we see a human above the foot level, he's wrapped in a HazmatSuit), but they're shown to be rather decent, so more like "Humans Are the Great Race of Yith." That's in the current story, anyway; in the flashback to Cornelius' youth they seem to be carrying out some kind of deliberate extermination for reasons unknown (most likely poaching or a crusade against farm pests).

** Implied throughout the film as humans are the cause of a gas leak that devastates Dapplewood, and also killed Cornelius's parents in the past... [[spoiler: ...but then turned around and averted at the end when humans are seen cleaning up the mess they created in Dapplewood, to the surprise of Cornelius and the furlings. So pretty much humans can be bastards, but they're not all bad.]]

---> "There ya go, little fella."
** Also the gas leak was caused by carelessness (some guy just threw a glass bottle out his car window and the truck carrying the poison gas ran over it, got a flat and crashed). The first thing the truck driver does when the truck full of gas crashes, he runs for help, concerned about the ensuing gas leak - any person would have done ''just'' that.
---> *sees the gas leak* "[[CaptainObvious Gas!]] I gotta get help!"

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Michelle's parents, tragically, due to the toxic gas. The point is harshly driven home at the end of the film, when after everyone is reunited with their parents Cornelius must explain to Michelle that her parents are never coming back. Oh, fine. Squash her moment.]]

* LoveAtFirstSight: When Abigail falls on top of Willy the fieldmouse from a tree, and they instantly become shy and flirty. We can deduce that Abigail doesn't meet many male mice.

* {{Meganekko}}: Male version - Edgar, Cornelius, and Bosworth.

* MotorMouth: Michelle's EstablishingCharacterMoment has her rushing in to greet the three protagonists, talking so fast thet can barely keep up with her.

* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: When the parents disappear, Edgar laments rushing off to class without ever kissing his mother good-bye. [[spoiler:She's fine, and when they're reunited, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments it's the first thing he does]].]]

* NoFEMAResponse: Subverted with decontamination crew cleaning up entire area affected by the leak.

** Abigail seems to have a habit of falling. She falls out of a tree twice in the film but her fall is 'broken', once by landing on Russel and Edgar, the second time by landing on Willy. This is sort of a RunningGag because at the beginning of the movie Abigail's dad tells her not to climb trees because she could fall.

* [[PreacherMan Preacher Bird]]: Phineas.

* QuicksandSucks: Averted. A young quail gets stuck in a bog. Edgar draws up schema for a lever device to pry him out, which takes a while to build.

* SceneryPorn: Most notably at the beginning, though the backgrounds (as well as the animation itself) are quite lush throughout, as if to remind us that a cartoon involving Creator/HannaBarbera ''can'' be well animated when there's a budget.

* SwissArmyTears: [[spoiler: Michelle doesn't wake up until Cornelius' tears fall on her face (though it isn't really implied that the tears themselves had any magical properties or anything).]]
* TakeMyHand: [[spoiler: When Edgar rescues Abigail as she's clinging to the wing of the flapper wingamathing.]]
* TeamDad: Cornelius pretty much is the Team Dad figure.

** [[FridgeBrilliance This makes sense when you consider the fact that her father raises her alone.]]

* VanillaEdition: Because this movie was both a financial flop and not made by Disney, this is probably the only edition we'll ever see. And you're lucky to even find ''that''.
* WackyWaysideTribe: The furlings' quest to find the herbs rivals a Literature/{{Redwall}} book in the amount of random encounters they keep having. None of them (except for perhaps the birds), get them any closer to finding a new meadow.

* WhamLine: Quite a few of them actually. Here are some examples:

''Once Upon a Forest'' is a [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation 1993]] animated film with an environmental theme, released on by TwentiethCenturyFox. Based on the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert, it was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner, [[HeAlsoDid the creator of the]] ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''Film/ChildsPlay'' franchises. It was made by Creator/HannaBarbera in association with HTV Cymru. The film tells the tale of three forest denizens that go on an expedition to cure their friend, Michelle, who became sick from chemical fumes which leak into the forest due to human carelessness. But unlike many of the [[GreenAesop Green Aesops]] of the era, the humans are portrayed as redeemable in the end. Contains many scenes which can be considered NightmareFuel especially for a G-rated film, and plenty of TearJerker moments as well.

It remains largely obscure and a commercial flop (only making back about half its budget, and this was partly thanks to it [[OvershadowedByAwesome debuting a week after]] ''Film/JurassicPark''), though it does have a small following among fans who saw it as children and still remember it.

* JamesHorner: One of his most overlooked film scores. It's quite nice if you can track down the soundtrack.

* DeadlyGas: After the tanker truck runs over the glass shards and blows out its tires, the gas contained in the tank begins leaking out and starts killing everything. It's supposed to be chlorine gas, and the creators have ShowingTheirWork in that inhaling it can be severely damaging to the lungs and eyes, as what happened to poor Michelle. As it was demonstrated withe her parents, prolonged exposure ensures termination of life.

* HumansAreCthulhu: They're depicted as alien and inscrutable (the only time we see a human above the foot level, he's wrapped in a HazmatSuit), but they're shown to be rather decent, so more like "Humans Are the Great Race of Yith." That's in the current story, anyway; in the flashback to Cornelius' youth they seem to be carrying out some kind of deliberate extermination for reasons unknown.

* DeadlyGas: After the tanker truck runs over the glass shards and blows out its tires, the gas contained in the tank begins leaking out and starts killing everything. It's supposed to be chlorine gas, and the creators have ShowingTheirWork in that inhaling it can be severely damaging to the lungs and eyes, as what happened to poor Michelle.

* HumansAreCthulhu: They're depicted as alien and inscrutable (the only time we see a human above the foot level, he's wrapped in a HazmatSuit), but they're shown to be rather decent, so more like "Humans Are the Great Race of Yith."

** Maybe her eyes are hazel and change color.
*** Yes, but hazel eyes do not change from green to blue, they change from green to brown.

* GirlsNeedRoleModels: Abigail is the strong female lead of the movie, and actually manages to pull it off quite well without completely giving in to the stereotypes. The film doesn't try to play up the fact that she's a female as something 'special' either.
* GospelRevivalNumber: "He's Back".

* CoolTeacher: Cornelius again, although he also has SternTeacher tendencies.

* CatchPhrase: For Cornelius: "Great honk!"

* PuppyLove: Abigail and Willy.

* {{Nutty Squirrel}}s

'''''Once Upon a Forest''''' is a [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation 1993]] animated film with an environmental theme, released on by TwentiethCenturyFox. Based on the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert, it was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner, [[HeAlsoDid the creator of the]] ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''Film/ChildsPlay'' franchises. It was made by Creator/HannaBarbera in association with HTV Cymru. The film tells the tale of three forest denizens that go on an expedition to cure their friend, Michelle, who became sick from chemical fumes which leak into the forest due to human carelessness. But unlike many of the [[GreenAesop Green Aesops]] of the era, the humans are portrayed as redeemable in the end. Contains many scenes which can be considered NightmareFuel especially for a G-rated film, and plenty of TearJerker moments as well.

* WackyWaysideTribe: The furlings' quest to find the herbs rivals a {{Redwall}} book in the amount of random encounters they keep having. None of them (except for perhaps the birds) get them any closer to finding a new meadow.

--> '''Cornelius:''' No, furlings, [[spoiler:there's a deadly gas in there!]]

--> '''Michelle:''' Lookie, Uncle Cornelius, all the mommies and daddies are coming back.
--> '''Cornelius:''' [[spoiler:Not ALL the mommies and daddies.]]

Once Upon a Forest was a [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation 1993]] animated film with an environmental theme, released on June 18 by TwentiethCenturyFox. Based on the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert, it was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner, [[HeAlsoDid the creator of the]] ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''Film/ChildsPlay'' franchises. It was made by Creator/HannaBarbera in association with HTV Cymru. The film tells the tale of three forest denizens that go on an expedition to cure their friend, Michelle, who became sick from chemical fumes which leak into the forest due to human carelessness. But unlike many of the [[GreenAesop Green Aesops]] of the era, the humans are portrayed as redeemable in the end. Contains many scenes which can be considered NightmareFuel especially for a G-rated film, and plenty of TearJerker moments as well.

!!Tropes:

* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Abigail, Russell and Michelle.

* AnimatedMusical

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The scene in which a young bird is saved from a tar patch.

* AdvertisedExtra: Veteran theatre legend Ben Vereen gets top billing next to Michael Crawford. Despite the fact that he only appears in this film for [[OneSceneWonder one memorable scene]].

* DeadlyGas: After the tanker truck runs over the glass shards and blows out its tires, the gas contained in the tank begins leaking out and starts killing everything. It's supposed to be chlorine gas, and the creators have ShownTheirWork in that inhaling it can be severely damaging to the lungs and eyes, as what happened to poor Michelle.

* FragileSpeedster: Abigail.

* HateSink: Waggs the squirrel, the only straight-up antagonistic character in the film.