Release and Reception
The Miami Herald took note of the film's potential competition with Universal Studios' already-established summer hit, Jurassic Park: " small but well-crafted animated feature like seemingly doesn't stand a grasshopper's chance. And that's a shame, because this is a delightful family film." Ultimately, Once Upon a Forest did poorly in theaters: after opening with $2.2 million at 1,487 venues, it only managed to make back US$6,582,052 at the North American box office, about half its budget.
The Hanna-Barbera feature production unit created to produce Once Upon a Forest, as well as Jetsons: The Movie which was released earlier and also carried an environmental theme, was spun off into another unit under parent company Turner Entertainment, Turner Feature Animation, which produced The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance. David Kirschner remained as head of the division. No further theatrical animated films were produced by Hanna-Barbera itself (it would license live-action film adaptations of The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo before being dissolved in 2001), although The Powerpuff Girls Movie would be made in 2002 by Hanna-Barbera successor Cartoon Network Studios.
In spite of the financial death and criticisms, Forest soon gained a cult following among its fans. Fox Video's original VHS and laserdisc issue of the film, released on September 21, 1993, proved successful on the home video market for several months. On October 28, 2002, it premiered on DVD, also available on VHS in the UK with the content presented in fullscreen and widescreen formats. The original trailer was included as the only extra on the Australian Region 4 version.
Once Upon a Forest was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature in 1993. It won an MPSE Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing.
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