Once Upon a Forest

Small animals live in a forest. Among them is a badger who teaches; he shows the young ones about nature, plants and making medicine. One day a tanker on the road beside the forest overturns and poisonous gas spreads. Most of the animals die. The teacher's niece has been poisoned too and cannot breathe. Three young animals set out: a mouse, a mole and a hedgehog. What they are looking for is a particular plant and it grows at the far end of the forest. Charles Grosvenor directs. The film dates from 1993 and is animated. It is one of the children's animations on environmental subjects that appeared one after another in cinemas at the time. The matter it treats is pollution and accident; the film ties the cause directly to human activity and does not soften it. Its opening section is unexpectedly hard; death is shown directly and the narrative does not skip over it. The animation is hand drawn and the backgrounds detailed; the character design is in the usual manner of the period. The songs are inside the narrative and one section is built entirely as a musical number. Its limit is structure; the journey sections repeat and the resolution comes quickly. Who it is for: viewers who like nineties children's animation and narratives about nature. Who it is not for: some sections are heavy for small children, the narrative is simple, and the message direct.