Obscure & Forgotten Classics

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

There's some movies I've gone back to watch from when I was a child, but never got to see them or haven't seen them in ages. I'd like to discuss any movies as such that other might or might not remember.

Please do not link to actual videos unless it's an official, non infringing source.

Since most of us like Anthro/Furry stuff I'll start with one I remember dearly. Peter No Tail.

Peter No Tail was one that my parents rented at the local video store along with a handful of other ones; that would be in about 1985ish, (when we got our first VCR). It was the "kid's movie" that we were to watch when we get home and then had more adult ones that they'd watch later. We'd also get to watch the PG-13 and such, but no R rated at that point. Anyway, I digress. Being that it was a wholly Swedish film the artwork was something quite different, very much the same feeling you get when seeing animé for the first time, but there was something great about the animation; and at least it was English dubbed. The movie revolved around a Manx cat both normal, and anthro (when no humans were around). The story revolved around this societal norm amongst the anthro cats that the length of your tail was a matter of pride and would give you station in the society. As you could probably tell, in a society as such a Manx would be low cat on the totem pole. From that basis of the story the main character perseveres against many bullying cats to become accepted.

One of the interesting parts about this show was it was the first time I saw urination being depicted in an animated film, must be the European sensibilities; at least it didn't get censored and nothing explicit was shown of course. One other curiosity was how the feral dog's bark was depicted, it sounded more like a buzz saw than a bark; I notch this one up to artistic direction.

 

Anyway, does anyone remember this show or have another one to share? Please post!

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Sorry. I never saw this movie.

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

I've given it a couple weeks, so I'll go ahead and post another one. I really want others to post special animated features some might or might not remember; it's a delight share reminiscing.

 

Alright, anyway, the second one I'm going to talk about is one I haven't seen for a long time; probably since I was less than 4 years old, so I don't remember as much about it and should go and find it. It was a few years old when I saw it and I believe it was on television because we did not have a VCR yet.

The film was Banjo: The Woodpile Cat, it was an earlier Don Bluth picture about the misadventures of a troublesome kitten who gets himself into a lot of trouble; runs away from home, which is where the adventure begins. Despite the film's shortness and the fact that Don Bluth and a handful of people made this film during the late 1970s in his garage; it turned out quite nice.

It's amazing to think that less than a decade later we'd have The Secret of NIMH, American Tail, as well as The Land Before Time coming from this same team that put this together in their spare time whilst working for Disney on other projects. Actually, he and 17 other animators eventually got fed up with Disney and walked out so they could put their full attention to this film. This caused Disney's Fox and the Hound to be delayed. It's also of interest that only, I believe, The Great Mouse Detective and  Oliver and Company were the only anthro/furry cartoons to come out since until Brother Bear in '03 as well; correct me if I'm wrong of course. Add that to the fact that furry/anthro is the majority that Don Bluth's team has made and you can see whom it was that liked animal animation at Disney.

 

Anyway, in another week or so I'll post another one if no one else has.

[TheRedStranger]

One of my favorite's is this.

 

I wish people take this advice today...

[Ishapar]

Never heard of either Peter No Tail or The Woodpile Cat.  Thanks for enlightening me!

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

15 hours ago, Ishapar said:

Never heard of either Peter No Tail or The Woodpile Cat.  Thanks for enlightening me!

You're welcome.

[Ishapar]

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

Okay, time for another. This one was quite a bit more popular, so some might actually remember it.

The one I'm talking about today is the animated movie to the book Watership Down. I was really little when I first saw this British Animated feature, which was released in 1978, but I saw it a little later obviously. At the time I don't think my mom and dad understood what kind of a movie they were renting for me and my siblings to watch, but I can say without a doubt that this one had the little four or five year old me transfixed. Sadly my parents took objection to the content and stopped the movie a one point and I was unable to see the rest of it until I was on my own at college.

Anyway, this was one of the first cartoons I'd ever seen to depict blood; sure we had Bambi before and such, but it was so tame in comparison and this one actually showed death, blood, and gore. It's interesting, looking back I don't remember it affecting me because it wasn't gratuitous and in a matter-of-fact manner, as well as helping tell the story. One of the side affects of the way this story was told was that I really became engrossed and emotionally invested in all the characters, which is something that has happened to me with the movies and shows that I really like. It was also one of the first times that I noticed a full-on mythology and culture for these "lower" animal creatures that when anthropomorphized really brought them to life. All of this led to such a deep and engaging story that I would say made a pretty big impact on me.

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

It's been a few weeks since I did my last one of these, (or anyone else for that matter; [hint, hint, nudge, nudge]), so I'm happily moving on to talking about another animated movie that most on here may or may not remember.

Rock & Rule is somewhat of a stinker to most, but it has a lot of charm and many funny parts to make up for the cringe-worthy instances. It was the first full, feature length animated film done by Nelvana, but definitely did not live up to expectations and is actually a bit of a difficult film to find copies of, but they are out there and it does have a definite following of loyal fans. An interesting piece of trivia here: Nelvana passed on working on the animated classic "Heavy Metal" to work on Rock & Rule instead.

Anyway, this is one I have to admit I did not know about its existence until quite recently even though it was released all the way back in '83; better late than never, and I'm certainly glad I did. In this one it's a futuristic post-nuclear war Earth where people have mutated to have animalistic features, which also leads me to another piece of trivia: In the Star Wars Clone Wars they put an Easter Egg in a few episodes. They a planet named "Nelvaan" after the company Nelvana, which had animal-like inhabitance like in Rock & Rule. Okay, enough of that I guess.

As you would guess by the title, music has a lot to do with the entire show and follows a "making of the band" story line that ends in saving the world. One of the biggest draws for this movie is the amazing soundtrack featuring original songs form big name acts such as Lou Reed, Cheap Trick, Debora Harry, Iggy Pop, and Earth Wind & Fire amongst others. Sadly, no soundtrack has not been released as far as I know, which makes watching the movie all that more of a treat, especially the final song "Send Love Through" featuring Deborah Harry and Robin Zander.

Most of the film's detractors were mostly from the far-fetched and totally absurd plot devices, poorly planned and developed characters, and some deux-ex machina in a few places. Despite this, in my opinion this is still a great little film and definitely worthy of its cult status.

[TheRedStranger]

Does anyone here remember the D&D cartoon? Was it any good? 

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

On 8/20/2016 at 8:37 PM, TheRedStranger said:

Does anyone here remember the D&D cartoon? Was it any good? 

I remember seeing it when I was really little; it wasn't bad per se, but it was by no means top end material. I will say this about it, it wasn't merely a tie-in or a glorified commercial for the game; it was more of the tv stations taking advantage of the game's popularity, but it bore little resemblance to the game.

But this would be a discussion for the Television thread, not the animated movie thread.

[TheRedStranger]

43 minutes ago, Prince By-Tor said:

I remember seeing it when I was really little; it wasn't bad per se, but it was by no means top end material. I will say this about it, it wasn't merely a tie-in or a glorified commercial for the game; it was more of the tv stations taking advantage of the game's popularity, but it bore little resemblance to the game.

But this would be a discussion for the Television thread, not the animated movie thread.

Ah, so no "made for TV" movies... Bummer. They did however make a version of Dragons of Autumn Twilight as a movie.

I heard it was a bummer. Again, disappointing - it's a fun book.

[Wulfsbane]

I vaguely remember seeing Heavy Metal years ago, it was about after South Park made their homage to it.

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

On 8/23/2016 at 8:38 PM, TheRedStranger said:

Ah, so no "made for TV" movies... Bummer. They did however make a version of Dragons of Autumn Twilight as a movie.

I heard it was a bummer. Again, disappointing - it's a fun book.

No, made for TV movies are fine, but the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon was a 1/2 hour show, not a movie. And there's a section for it; I didn't make the organization of the site, you and a couple others did; I'm just enforcing it. And there is a forum for it.

And the Dragonlance movie was fine, just not great. It would remind you somewhat of the animated Lord of the Rings from back in the 70s.

 

Quote

I vaguely remember seeing Heavy Metal years ago, it was about after South Park made their homage to it.

It's a very good movie with interconnecting stories; it's incredible all around, especially the music.

[TheRedStranger]

1 hour ago, Prince By-Tor said:

No, made for TV movies are fine, but the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon was a 1/2 hour show, not a movie. And there's a section for it; I didn't make the organization of the site, you and a couple others did; I'm just enforcing it. And there is a forum for it.

To clarify: I mean it's a "bummer" because that means the show was never good enough to deserve any made for TV movies of that series (which I assumed had a couple). I am very "unbummered" by our lay out I assure you. At ease, Commander - you're working to hard.

--

I saw some of the art in Dragons of Autumn Twilight...Its a bit cringeworthy. The 3D usage for the Draconians for example was blatant corner cutting. 

There is also a bit of... adolescent... camera focus on...some female anatomy.

 

 

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

Okey dokie; it's been a couple of months since I have, (or anyone for that matter... hint, hint), regaled you all with my gooey nostalgia about a forgotten animated relic from times of yore.

Today for once I will not be talking about one with anthropomorphic animals, but humans depicted in rotoscoped animation. The one I'm talking about is the masterpiece by animation legend Ralph Bakshi that is American Pop. Bakshi should ring a bell with most animation aficionados, or at least will know his work such as the animated Lord of the Rings, Fire and Ice, Cool World, and of course the obscene and vulgar exposé on college life: Fritz the Cat. We won't be talking about that one on this forum, but feel free to look it up if you are into furries getting involved in questionable carnal activities.

Anywho, I'd say that if this one was live action it would probably be acclaimed and considered required watching to music majors, but since it was animated and drawn rotoscoped to boot it's been relegated to the "cult classic" bin. The film chronicles popular American music of the 20th Century up to the year of the film's release, (1981), through the eyes/lives of four generations of men in a family. The first one being a Jewish immigrant child fleeing Czarist Russia with his mother after seeing his father, a cantor, murdered by Cossack troops. From the streets of New York he survives through getting involved with Vaudeville and such only to be hit by many tragedies. It segues into his son who experiences the interwar period and Second World War with Jazz and Big Band music. Without spoiling the rich story it eventually goes to his son and the beat craze, folk, and later psychedelic rock; again, a very engaging story. It finishes off with his child and the 70s/80s rock and punk music. All in all it's a great story and exposition of American popular music through the first 3/4ths of the 20th Century. I'd really love to see a sequel to this going through glam 1980s, grunge 1990s and on, but I doubt it would come from a big company and it too would be left to the "cult movie" bin. Whatever the case, if you want a great, moving story and excellent rotoscoped animation check it out, it's easy to find.

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

Okay, I was thinking about another film today and not as busy as of late, so I figured I'd do another.

The film I'm highlighting with this post is one born out of the high fantasy craze of the late 1970s, which included the popular roleplaying tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. This picture, the 1982 animated film The Flight of Dragons is one of those films that's interesting, but yet has some cringe-worthy moments. It was also one of those films that never had a theatrical release and has bounced around on early VHS and later DVD releases as well as a couple of plays here and there on broadcast television. You cannot even say it's a cult classic, but rather in my opinion a buried treasure that is sure to please at least somewhat.

Based on an amalgamation of two books: The Flight of Dragons and The Dragon and the George, the rather heady, deeper, and more adult-friendly story about the conflict between Science and Magic plays throughout. Set around a man from modern times being transported back to the time of the twilight of the age of Dragons and Sorcery as the main protagonist and hero. The voice acting and animation are excellent, especially for the time. James Earl Jones got to voice the villain again, which was kind of the thing at the time with him voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars. Other fairly big named voices that are noticeable are: Harry Morgan (Col. Potter from M*A*S*H), John Ritter, James Gregory amongst others. The score and theme song, which is sung by Don McLean, are actually pretty darn good as well.

All in all it's a pretty good cartoon, while some probably wouldn't enjoy it, it's at least worth a viewing if for no other reason but nostalgia.

[Ishapar]

Anybody remember this movie?

 

 

[WarTraveller]

Well if we're talking obscure movies...Robots, anyone? You know, Robots? That 2005 CGI film about...about the robots?

What surprises me about the film these days is the sheer amount of well-known actors. In this clip alone there's Ewan McGregor and Robin Williams, but there's also Mel Brooks, Halle Berry and Drew Carey. That last one's a shock because I loved the old American version of of Whose Line where he was the host. It's...a bit odd to hear his voice in this film.

[Ishapar]

I remember this movie...have mixed feelings about it.

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

14 hours ago, Ishapar said:

Anybody remember this movie?

 

 

Vaguely, but I do remember it. Good one.

[Ishapar]

On 12/19/2016 at 3:02 AM, Prince By-Tor said:

Vaguely, but I do remember it. Good one.

I used to love this movie as a kid.  I loved the music, the swordplay, and the characters.  It still has a soft spot in my heart.

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

I haven't done one of these in a couple of months or thereabouts, so I'm doing another one.

The one that I'm writing about today is the 1982 classic The Last Unicorn; I remember this one quite well growing up. It was based on the book written by Peter S. Beagle and was directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. The Last Unicorn is one that many still remember due to its cult classic status mostly because it bucked the idea that animation is for kids only. Its deep and rich story that is not afraid to go to dark areas is told quite well with the aid of great top-notch artwork from Studio Topcraft; much of the top talent of that studio would later go on to become Studio Ghibli and others would join renowned studios. Because of the fact that it had Japanese animation and American production it has a unique style to it that you do not really see in other films; it really got the best of both worlds.

Besides the superb writing and animation the voice acting was star-studded; featuring Christopher Lee again cast as the villain, Mia Farrow, Jeff Bridges, Angela Lansbury, Alan Arkin, and Rene Auberjonois amongst other talent. Whilst many critics and other individuals still insist on calling it a children's show; it is known for some swearing as well as a bare-breasted harpy and (I'm not making this up), a bare breasted tree who who gets real friendly with Schmendrick the Wizard. The soundtrack even is pretty good and was released in album format, which featured the band America, (most would remember them for their song "A Horse with No Name among other hits.)

All in all, this film is well worth a viewing to anyone who loves a good adventure story; check it out when you can!

[ByTor, Prince of Ro’den]

Haven't been around that much lately, well,  I thought I'd revisit this thread with another old animated film. 

A bit ago I ran into this almost 30 year old French animated science fiction/psychological film call Gandahar or (Light Years in the U.S.). I love the dark and brooding atmosphere throughout the that is not too dissimilar from SatAM in many ways. Gandahar really is not well known of outside of those who watch animated films that are not aimed at the child audience. The animation is excellent, but very European, i.e. great, but might seem a bit off for the casual American viewer. Also, the vocal talent is excellent as well with a lot of mid '80s star power. What really gets me is the writing and the science fiction and psychological aspect throughout; genetic manipulation, transmutation of living things, man versus machines, etc....

Despite its rarity it can easily be found on many streaming sites like YouTube, so do yourself a favour and lose yourself in a first-rate story.

[F07E]

I've kinda held off on posting as I havent rewatched these movies in years and remember next to nothing about them, (and in the case of felidae, what i do remember is rather unpleasant and interesting) however they might contribute to discussion if anyone else remembers them

it was a fair amount of years ago now, but I remember my youtube diving brought me across three movies from around the 80's. bagi the mighty monster of nature, the elmchanted forest, and felidae. I hardly remember anything from the first two outside of both having a slightly downer ending to them and both having anthropomorphic characters, bagi was an anime (that supposedly was all "don't screw with nature recombinent dna sequencing!" though I don't remember) and the other was just an animated movie from yugoslavia about a painter who gets magic powers after sleeping under a tree, and has to defeat an evil thistle/cactus king. as for felidae, that one was outright a vulger and violent little animated film, with some aspects that I almost want to see in a warriors movie if you can get rid of the sexual and overly vulger elements (the nightmares felt like visions from the warriors series and could work in that context, the designs for most of the characters were great outside of maybe one or two cats, the gore if done right would help accentuate the impact of certain scenes that have occured in the books, and the animation style blends almost to well with how that series already has depicted its characters in the side mangas/comics/graphic novellas, etc.).

[WarTraveller]

Hmm, obscure movies. Ooh, I know! There's this film called Upgrade, released in 2018. Kinda flew under the radar for most people, I only know if it 'cause I saw the Kill Count episode on it. BUT it's a really good movie. It's got a neat future world that isn't cluttered like a lot of modern depictions of Futurism, a neat plot, some great acting and some absolutely beautiful cinematography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36PDeN9NRZ0

[TheRedStranger]

On 10/14/2020 at 6:58 PM, WarTraveller said:

a neat plot

That's basically a thing that is rare in itself nowadays. XD

[WarTraveller]

11 hours ago, TheRedStranger said:

That's basically a thing that is rare in itself nowadays. XD

Sadly so. I feel a lot of modern movies are chasing the Marvel gravy train with none of the nuance or patience.

[Wulfsbane]

Anyone remembers the Disney film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D? Did you guys know that was supposed to be a full fledged series in TV and film? Well the reason why it didn't happen was because of professional wrestler Dean Roll, who actually traded marked "Shark Boy" back in 1999, sued Disney and Miramax for infringement.

 

I put this in here because no one remembers that film.

[TheRedStranger]

1 hour ago, WarTraveller said:

Sadly so. I feel a lot of modern movies are chasing the Marvel gravy train with none of the nuance or patience.

Same plots, same cliches - just make a character a different color or sex and preach, preach, preach a narrow ethnocentrism exclusive to San Fracisco and Portland that the global market disdains. Sounds like our fandom in 2006. Have they been hiring us as creative consultants? 😂

__

Here is a classic:

@Mike Arcade and @Senior Bobbert - These two flea-bags remind me of two people I know. XP

[MoKat]

1 hour ago, Wulfsbane said:

Anyone remembers the Disney film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D?

I remember seeing commercials for it, but I never saw the movie.

1 hour ago, Wulfsbane said:

Did you guys know that was supposed to be a full fledged series in TV and film? Well the reason why it didn't happen was because of professional wrestler Dean Roll, who actually traded marked "Shark Boy" back in 1999, sued Disney and Miramax for infringement.

Ugh! I hate copyright bs >.<

[Wulfsbane]

10 hours ago, MoKat said:

I remember seeing commercials for it, but I never saw the movie.

It was nothing to write home about.

[Mike Arcade]

On 10/27/2020 at 12:47 AM, Wulfsbane said:

It was nothing to write home about.

Shark Boy and Lava Girl is a very odd movie, even from Robert Rodriguez filmography. Also the making of it is kinda sweet, as he made it based off of his kid's (being a toddler at the time) imagination. The concept itself isn't bad, but it's directing is the oddest thing I've ever seen in my life. The entire cast talk like they are little kids in their delivery, which I can't help but think that was completely intentional. It's bizarre, and it's worth at least a laugh or cringe with friends at least. Can't recommend it otherwise, unless you have real little ones I guess.

[Wulfsbane]

On 11/5/2020 at 9:55 PM, Mike Arcade said:

Shark Boy and Lava Girl is a very odd movie, even from Robert Rodriguez filmography. Also the making of it is kinda sweet, as he made it based off of his kid's (being a toddler at the time) imagination. The concept itself isn't bad, but it's directing is the oddest thing I've ever seen in my life. The entire cast talk like they are little kids in their delivery, which I can't help but think that was completely intentional. It's bizarre, and it's worth at least a laugh or cringe with friends at least. Can't recommend it otherwise, unless you have real little ones I guess.

It also introduced Taylor Laughtner to the world so it's even worse