Show Notes – FernGully

FernGully: The Last Rainforest- Episode 28

  • 1992 Australian-American animated musical fantasy film, directed by Bill Kroyer.
  • Released April 10, 1992 in North America, & September 17, 1992 in Australia
    • was originally supposed to be released November of 91 but was pushed back so as not to compete with beauty and the Beast. instead it went up against Rockadoodle
    • The screenplay written by Jim Cox, adapted from a book of the same name written 15 years prior by Diana Young.
    • Budget of $24 million & a Box office of $32.7 million
    • Released to home video 4 months later in August of 1992. Home video Sales were strong, with about five million units sold by 1998
      • At $10 a VHS that’s $50 million!
    • 71% on Rotten Tomatoes
    • Direct to Video sequel in 1998 called:  FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue
      • Which has no reviewer score on Rotten Tomatoes but has a viewer score of 35%
      • And uses none of the original voice casting
  • This movie also had a dedication to: “Our Children and Our Children’s Children”.

Director

Produced by

Music by

Voice Cast

Miscellaneous show notes

  • Focuses on the theme of the destruction of the earth’s rainforests. In this case the rainforest is located near Mount Warning, on the eastern coast of Australia
  • Producer Wayne Young said his passion for the environment was his motivation for making the film, saying the film was “blatantly environmental, although we have gone to a lot of trouble to avoid preaching. We also want it to be viewed as entertainment.”
    • The inspiration for FernGully came from stories written by his former wife, Diana Young.
    • Diana first wrote the story of FernGully 15 years prior to the film’s release.
    • Wayne said the couple planned a film adaptation for five years, then spent “seven years of dreaming and hustling, followed by another three years of production”.
    • Wayne stated their dream was not possible until the success of Walt Disney Feature Animation‘s 1989 film The Little Mermaid, which brought popularity back to animation.
    • Hand drawn scenes in the film were complimented by computer animation, which was used to create elements such as flocks of birds that would have taken much longer to animate traditionally.
    • Kroyer states 40,000 frames of computer animation were used in the film, and that the use of such animation halved the production time. Most of the film’s $24 million budget was spent on the animation and the soundtrack.
  • The film marked Robin Williams‘ first animation role, with the character Batty Koda being created specifically for him.
    • Williams provided 14 hours worth of improvised lines for the part which was originally only supposed to be an 8-minute role.
    • Director Bill Kroyer was so impressed with the voice work he ended up tripling the screen time given to the character.
    • Williams went on to provide the critically applauded voice of the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin later the same year.
    • Williams accepted the role in FernGully because he agreed with the film’s message, as did the rest of the voice cast, who all worked for scale wages.
    • The film marked the first time that both members of Cheech & Chong had worked together in six years, with the two voicing beetle brothers Stump and Root. Cheech Marin said “It was just like old times, but we only worked for two or three hours, had a pizza and split.
    • Some reviewers have commented that the 2009 James Cameron film Avatar plagiarised thematic and plot elements from FernGully
  • There’s an alternative extended version of Toxic love with more sexualized lyrics where Curry sings about being horny: https://youtu.be/Cg-Wm25T6Qs
  • Some other world was Elton Johns 1st encounter with an animated film
  • The band Guy that sang land of 1000 voices for this soundtrack were the creators of the new Jack switch get style of music from the 80s & 90s and this was one of there final recordings https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_(band)
  • Johnny Clegg who sang the opening song https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Clegg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104254/

Tron Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=51&v=3efV2wqEjEY

Brave little Toaster Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpGLpD25dpU

Life is a magic thing Johnny Clegg: https://youtu.be/vaAtZaXJbI0

If I’m gonna eat somebody- Tone Loc: https://youtu.be/ZknxLDmXzP8

Batty Rap- Robin Williams: https://youtu.be/wtuKoD1Wbvg

Toxic love as song by Tim Curry in a live recording: https://youtu.be/4VOsfbaddsM

Land of a 1000 dances (nah nah): https://youtu.be/gNfzfsUnQHw

Dream worth keeping- Sheena Easton: https://youtu.be/I61G6qPM_yQ

Some other world- Elton John: https://youtu.be/lLj569nl3uU

original land of 1000 dances 1962 Chris Kenner: https://youtu.be/QDxfCywWgaE

most famous version of land of 1000 dances by Wilson picket in 1968: https://youtu.be/3mz_EXHKGHs

Check out our podcast episode on FernGully here.

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