Once Upon a Forest

If you love Don Bluth's "the Secret of the NIMH", then you'll be proud to enjoy this underrated animated film of the 90s! In this underrated animated film I enjoy a while a back when I first seen it on the Disney Channel back in probably the late 90s, the story takes place in Dapplewood which is kinda like your average animated film like "Ferngully: the last rainforest" for instants. three furlings friends, Abigail the wood mouse, Edgar the Mole and Russell the Hedgehog, find their tranquil lives greatly disrupted. then a chemical spill destroyed Dapplewood and their young friend Michelle (voiced by Elizabeth Moss) becomes seriously ill from the toxic fumes. Counting on their own ingenuity and the skills they learn from their teacher Cornelius (Michael Crawford of Broadway's the Phantom of the Opera), they take off on an exciting, but dangerous journey to find help for their friend, Their wisdom soon pays off and they set about to restore Dapplewood to its original splendor. I would say about this that I always wanted to watch this with my family and friends again and again, the story is good, the animation is so brilliant and stupendous, the characters are remarkable good and the songs are splendid! if your in for a good mood for clever animated family films, then you'll like this one.

This is one of those non Disney movies that truly had a message to young kids watching. It has a big influence on different subjects that kids learn and sometimes learn the hard way of working together, making mistakes, misjudgements on certain people and/or animals, and what it takes to truly be selfless for others. I love the fact I found this after so many years and being 2 years old when this was released. Love it.

A great kids movie, grandchildren really love it

I used to watch this as a kid, it's one of my favorite childhood movies. Very cute, and a good problem solving movie. My kids liked it a lot too. Very cute animation, and can easily open up a conversation about taking care of mother earth, and the negative affects that gasses and other toxins can have on our furry little outdoor creatures.

Great movie

An underrated movie, this family film is quite sweet. Three little furlings, Abigail, a mouse, Edgar, a mole. and Russell a hedgehog are students of Cornelius the Badger, an uncle to young Michelle, and most generally they cause a mess although they don't mean to. On their outing, disaster strikes and Michelle is struck down ill by a deadly gas that is wreaking havoc throughout all of Dapplewood. It is up to the three to help save Michelle's life by going on a quest to another meadow to find herbs to heal her. Armed with a map and some food they set off into a land filled with dangers. Along the way, they escape an Owl, and save a young bird from swamp mud, to learn that the path to what they seek leads through the "Land of the Yellow Dragons". They then discover the herbs are there, but time is short and they must get back as quickly as they can. Thankfully, they have a way, thanks to Cornelius and his blueprints for his latest invention. When they return, Dapplewood seems under invasion as humans appear and when Edgar gets trapped, Cornelius gets a surprise of his own about humans. While they save Michelle, the ending is not a fully happy one as the film reveals.

I watched this with my 4.5 year-old the other day and I'm glad I did because though this is a great kids' movie with important themes, it also contains some scary parts that may cause sensitive younger children to cry or even have nightmares. The story centers around some young furlings, woodland creatures, i.e. a hedgehog names Russel, a mole named Edgar, a mouse named Abigail, and a badger named Michelle. They all attend classes conducted by a wise older badger named Cornelius. One day, a terrible tragedy befalls the forest when a tanker carrying toxic chemicals has an accident near the forest and the toxic fumes permeate the forest, causing casualties amongst the woodland creatures, including Michelle. This is the part that is quite scary [SPOILERS]- Michelle and her friends accompanied by Cornelius return from a field trip to find the forest strangely quiet and deserted - Michelle runs into her home only to find her parents dead, and falls victim to the toxic fumes, going into a coma. It is left to Michelle's friends to help find some herbs that will save her, whilst Cornelius remains behind to watch over Michelle. The animation is enchanting, bringing the forest to vivid life with bold colors. The characters are all endearing. There are some important themes explored here - the threat posed by Man to the environment, the loss of animals' habitat, but the most important message that shines through is the enduring power of friendship, teamwork and perseverance. Abigail, Edgar and Russell work together and coax each other on to help get the herbs necessary to save Michelle's life. My preschooler loved this movie, though she did cry at the part where Michelle gets hurt, but all in all, if an adult sits with a younger child through those scary parts, this does have many positives to recommend it as a wonderful kids' movie.

Cute film

Good. Je recommande ce vendeur . Tout était conforme à mes attentes 💙💙💙

Bought this on dvd for my grandson as I have it in video form that his mum used to watch as a little girl. The little badger is called Michelle, my eldest daughters name. A wonderful story for little ones to enjoy. The owl is a little scary though! Everytime he comes he picks it up for me to put on. Timeless piece of animation!

Doublage français québécois 👍

Als kleines Kind schon habe ich diesen Film unglaublich gerne gesehen (wurde öfters auf SRTL ausgestrahlt meine ich). Es wurde hier oft als Kritikpunkt angesprochen, dass der Film einige für Kinder verstörende Szenen beinhalte (der Tod der Dachseltern, der Lasterunfall etc.), aber ganz wirklich?! Das verleiht diesem Film im Endeffekt ein sehr besonderes, wie soll ich sagen, Gefühl. Solche Dinge geschehen nun einmal. Kinder werden mit der Thematik Tod und Umweltverschmutzung konfrontiert, anstatt ein weiteres schmusiges, kuschelweiches Abenteuer vorgesetzt zu bekommen. Mich hat der Film wahnsinnig gefesselt und mitgenommen, und ich fand ihn einfach schön. Ein gänzliches Happy End hätte die Wirkung irgendwie zunichte gemacht. Es sollte wieder mehr Kinderfilme geben die nicht nur aus Baumwollwatte bestehen - diese etwas von der Thematik eher düsteren Filme fand ich einfach immer total stark! Man fühlt sich als Kind sehr viel mehr ernstgenommen wenn einem eine solche Thematik anvertraut wird. Animationstechnisch fand ich den Film beim neulichen Wiederanschauen übrigens sehr schön und liebevoll gestaltet. Die Synchronsprecher legen eine Glanzleistung hin (dabei klingen sie alle so jung, einfach immer wieder klasse!) und der musikalische Einschub von Meister Dachs an einer Stelle rührte mich ehrlich zu Tränen. Alles in einem ein schöner Film mit ziemlich betonter Aussage (irgendwie müssen's die Kinder ja verstehen), auch die DVD ist sehr gut aufgemacht und für den Preis ist er absolut sehenswert.

This was one of my favourite films as a child and now i can enjoy it all over again with my 3 children. The dvd arrived really quickly brand new sealed in the cellophane packaging as described. A brilliant buy for pocket money price :-)