Trivia / Twice Upon a Time

• Creator Backlash: John Korty hated the profane, PG cut of the film, as it was done without his consent and against the wishes of the studio, who had commissioned him to make a family-friendly film. A big reason it was barely seen after its original, unsuccessful theatrical run was because he threatened to sue the distributors if any version other than his original cut was distributed.
• Creator Killer: After the failures of both this and The Right Stuff, The Ladd Company went on hiatus from the industry during the mid to late 80s before returning with The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Most of the dialogue was ad libbed, as a majority of the cast were experienced improv comedians. They even recorded their lines with headset microphones to allow for more naturalistic performances.
• He Also Did: One of the film's animators was Brian Narelle, who John Carpenter fans will recognize as Lieutenant Doolittle from Dark Star.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes
  • There was a VHS and LaserDisc release in 1991. After that, it wouldn't see another home video format until twenty-four years later when it was released through Warner Archives. It didn't help that this already obscure film was rarely screen or aired on TV since its release, with its last two broadcasts before the DVD being in 1998 and 2015.
  • The film also never got a soundtrack album, save a couple of promo singles, as neither the budget nor the box office draw warranted one.
• Looping Lines: The infamous PG Re-Cut, which forced profanity into what was ultimately meant to be a family film.
• No Budget: Ever after going over its original budget, the film still never cost more than a mere $4,000,000. A majority of the film was animated in John Korty's own three-story home to keep the costs down and they still needed to rent space towards the end of production, including a double-wide trailer in his back yard.
• Saved from Development Hell: John Korty had the basic idea for the movie, beginning with the character of Mum, as far back as 1973, long before George Lucas had become a Hollywood success and could produce the film himself. The script also went through at least 14 drafts.
• Screwed By The Studio: The Ladd Company only gave the film a limited release, but Warner Bros. ended up pulling it barely after its run began after the controversy over the "PG" cut.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: The writers couldn't decide what animal Ralph should be, so they made him a shape-shifter. That way, he could be every animal!
• What Could Have Been
  • Bud Cort was originally cast as Ralph the All-Purpose Animal and apparently recorded some dialogue for the film.
  • Mumford's original name was Mr. Mum and he was going to be the main character. John Korty decided that he needed some sort of sidekick and created Ralph, who eventually became the main character to Mumford's sidekick.
• Working Title: The Rushers of Din.

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