Once Upon a Forest

From the first moments of Once Upon a Forest, there is evidence of high artistic standards. The backgrounds are beautifully detailed, right down to the shading and contours of a tree trunk.

Sadly, in common with so many non-Disney cartoons, the standard of the songs is poor and the animation lacks magic.

It contains a dire message: Man is destroying nature and progress is evil. It is hard to know what small children, the film's intended audience, are supposed to do with this idea. Nag their parents about recycling? Work it out in nightmares?

Sounds good in practice but with a plot where very little happens and songs that really shouldn't have been included, sticking the kids in front of David Attenborough sounds much more appealing.

The film rarely gets past familiar gimmicks of the cartoon-adventure genre, and the animation isn't very inspired.