A road accident causes poisonous gases to leak into a forest. A young badger's life is at stake. Her three friends, Abigail a tomboyish mouse, Edgar a careful mole and Russell a greedy hedgehog, go to find special herbs that can save her. They have plenty of adventures along the way and learn about courage and working together. There are only three songs in the movie (including end title), but they are worth hearing. Please Wake Up brought tears to my eyes and He's Gone/He's Back is an upbeat gospel number. Once Upon A Time is a nice one to finish with. The characters are likeable and it doesn't get too cute. Children should love it and so will tender-hearted adults. 7/10

I personally think that Once Upon a Forest is an underrated gem. I mean this is one of the few animations that had me weeping buckets at the end, and I am a 17 year old schoolgirl. My only complaint is that at 68 minutes long, it is a little too short, but putting that discrepancy aside what you have is a beautiful, poignant film. The animation is stunning with beautiful backgrounds and excellent character animation, and I absolutely loved the songs by James Horner. Please Wake up, had me in tears,(the only other song in an animation that did that to me was Somewhere Out There from American Tail) and I know the vocals were a bit shaky but that can be forgiven as that is such an emotional song to sing, and it did say in the trivia that Michael Crawford found it very difficult not to be moved by the song. He's Gone/He's Back is an upbeat gospel song that provides the funniest moments in the film, and Once Upon a Time is so lovely with sublime vocals by Florence Warner Jones. The characters are a delight, particularly the wise Cornelius, and the three furling friends are very well done, with enthusiastic voice work from all involved. Both Ferngully and this were heavily criticised on release for being too preachy, but to me, both are wonderful overlooked films. Whereas Once Upon a Forest has slightly better songs(as I really liked the ones in FernGully) and better character development, one of FernGully's main merits is the villain Hexxus who terrified me when I was 9, and Tim Curry is one of the gods of voice acing and made Hexxus as chilling as people remember him. Once Upon a Forest has a number of enemies portrayed, like the yellow dragons, the owl and the gas, and I must say they were very well done. In conclusion, a beautiful underrated movie, and my main advice to those who haven't seen it, have a box of tissues beside you as this is bound to bing you tears. 9/10 Bethany Cox.

I remember when I was about five or six years old that me and my younger sister used to rent out this film quite often and watch it all the time until we had to return it. Although I could not remember the title of the film until I saw it many years later, I would often remember the characters because I felt that I understood them and loved them to pieces. My sister's favourite scene was the 'He's Back' because she found the gospel singing hilariously funny though I can't actually remember what my favourite scene was. When I watched it for the first time in like five or six years, it brought back all the lovely memories and scenes and just wish it got more of the recognition it deserved and that I wish it was brought back on TV for younger children to watch and enjoy, I also think that the video and DVD should be brought back onto shelves so that people who did enjoy the film can enjoy it again. The singing I also thought was wonderful, it would be another five or six years for me to realise that the person who sang 'Please Wake Up' was the person who made me laugh my head off in BBC sitcom 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em'. Overall, this film deserves 10 out of 10 and more recognition!