GurlyIamBeach
Instant Favorite.
JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Leofwine_draca
ONCE UPON A TIME is a West German fairytale compilation heavily indebted to the Walt Disney classics of old. It suffers from a real cheapness in terms of look and tone, with crude animation throughout and animated characters who are more than a little unpleasant. The version I saw, available for showing on Amazon Prime, suffered from having a typically blunt American dub job which took away any nuance that might have once existed. The plot is original but a bizarre mix of the most famous fairy tales of old, with elements of the Cinderella story popping up regularly.
Desiree
I also saw this movie on the Family Film Festival around 1980 and fell in love with it. I've been searching for a copy for years. It is now available on DVD through Amazon.com. My copy arrived today and I just finished watching it. It's everything I remember!!! I'm so glad to know there are other people besides me who remember it. The music is what has stayed with me more than almost anything, especially the prince singing "Maria, Maria" and the babies' song too! I'd forgotten about the shoemaker; he's so funny! It's a marvelous cartoon. I'm so glad it's now available for all of us who remember it so fondly, and for a whole new generation who, I hope, will love it too!
scottrainey
Like many a poster to these boards, I also remember seeing this film sometime in the late '70s-early '80s on a lazy Sunday afternoon on KTLA's Family Film Festival, hosted by the legendary Tom Hatten. The movie can be had at deepdiscountdvd.com for about 12 bucks.Certain images and elements of the film have always stuck in my head (possible spoilers here, but really more remembrances than anything else): the evil stepsister Mary Lou demanding the garnet stone from Maria by clapping her hands twice and holding out an outstretched hand, the totally surreal scene with all the babies being fed by Maria and Mary Lou, when they break out into song in praise of Maria (something like, "MARIA, MARIA, YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!), the equally bizarre loaves of bread begging to be taken out of the oven before they burn (still gives me chills), and Maria's drunk dad, always looking for his bottle. There were also some apple trees, as I recall, that needed Maria and Mary Lou to pick their apples, and then there was something or other about dancing milk jugs going to someone called Mrs. Holly or something like that. I'm going to order it for my daughters.
Pamela
I still get the chills only from singing that line from the song. This is an old cartoon from 1976, kind of a cinderella tale. Maria, her farther, mr Bottle and their dog Bello Blue live in a small quiet town in wealth. One day a fake fortune teller and her horrible daughter arrives to town trying to earn some money by "reading peoples fortune" by looking at their hands. The old lady (more of a hag) reacts when seeing the shiny new coin Maria's father gives her. She forces herself on him and marries him. The hag and her daughter Mary-Lou are both awful, they treat Maria lika a slave and spends all of mr Bottles money. One day however Mary-Lou is taking a swim the a lake in a forrest nearby and she has brought Maria with her as personal assistance. While Maria is crying after been hit by Mary-Lou a prince approaches and he totally falls for this beautiful girl. He says to Maria that's he's just a poor hunter and sings this song for her and gives her a garnet stone necklace. Mary-Lou comes along and scares him off. The prince announces that he wants to get married and that the girl with the garnet stone necklace is the one. Mary-Lou takes notice of Marias necklace and throws it into a well. They both fall into the well and enters a new world. In this world the girls are put to a few tests cause they both claim that the necklace belongs to each and one of them. Maria passes all the tests as the good human beeing she is. Gets the prince and the story ends happily as these stories should. Wonderful movie, I have it on VHS not the greatest quality but it doesn't matter to me, I love it.
