Once Upon a Girl 1976

director: Jack Conrad   Don Jurwich  


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United States

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Available on VHSAvailable on Betamax

Average User Rating: 2 Vote(s)
 
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
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Distributor Xtra Hard Video
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by Lee James Turnock
Only in the seventies. Don Jurwich, a Hanna-Barbera director no doubt moonlighting between episodes of Hong Kong Phooey and Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch, gathered a group of (largely female) Disney animators to help him bring this lewd oddity to life. As the title suggests, it's an adults-only take on three well-known fairy stories - Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood - framed by shoddily-staged live action courtroom sequences with Old Mother Goose (Hal Smith in startling drag) who stands accused of telling raunchy stories. Chances are, if you've ever seen a 'blue' comedian getting easy laughs from a mostly plastered audience by spicing up a children's story, you'll know what to expect in terms of humour, and if you've ever watched a Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the seventies, you'll know what to expect in terms of animation quality. In all fairness, the opening Jack and the Beanstalk parody manages to pack in a lot of grubby inventiveness and even some honest laughs, but the remaining two segments are a chore to sit through, thanks in no small part to the tiring emphasis on sex, sex and more sex, the tasteless inclusion of 'gags' about incest and rape, and the frequently awful dialogue. Which begs the question - who was this film aimed at? Those old enough to be allowed in to see it would presumably be aware that they could get their jollies watching real actresses rather than poorly-animated cartoon boobs, and those seeking a naughty comedy would similarly be better served by live action, so who's the intended audience? Maybe I'm missing the point. Once Upon A Girl is the work of lunatics, people who've spent too much time hunched over a drawing board and not enough time spent hunched over a member of the opposite sex. I'd like to say it's an interesting curio, but it's really not even that - it even fails to succeed on its own modest terms.