A Forest

"A Forest" is a song by the English alternative rock band The Cure. Co-produced by Mike Hedges and The Cure's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album Seventeen Seconds in April 1980. It was their debut entry on the United Kingdom chart, where it reached number 31. The accompanying music video was first shown on BBC's Top of the Pops programme on 24 April 1980.

Recorded and mixed over seven days, along with the rest of the songs from the album, "A Forest" is representative of The Cure's early 1980s gothic rock phase. The song has featured on the band's setlists for many years. Several versions have appeared on concert albums, and it was remixed and released as a single from the Mixed Up album in 1990. The song has been covered by several artists including Blank & Jones, Sophie Barker and Ror-Shak.

Background and recording

Mike Hedges co-produced the album Seventeen Seconds as well as "A Forest" with The Cure's Robert Smith. Hedges had first worked with the band on the track "Killing an Arab". Interviewed in 2004, he did not recall any demos existing for Seventeen Seconds; the band generally played the track in the studio before laying down a backing track to which overdubs were added. At the time of the recording of the album, bass guitarist Simon Gallup and keyboardist Matthieu Hartley had been added to the band's lineup. Gallup had replaced Michael Dempsey, who had departed to join The Associates. Gallup and Hartley joined remaining Cure members Smith (vocals) and Lol Tolhurst (drums) in late 1979 during the group's Future Pastimes tour, on which "A Forest" was one of the new songs added to their setlist.

Once Upon a Forest

Once Upon a Forest is a 1993 animated film based on the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert. A Hanna-Barbera/HTV Cymru/Wales production released by 20th Century Fox, the film was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner.

It tells the story of three forest denizens that go on an expedition to cure their friend, Michelle, who became sick from chemical fumes. The film's environmental theme divided critics at the time of its release, along with the animation and story. The film was a box office bomb, grossing US$6.6 million against a budget of $13 million.

Plot

The story opens in a forest known as Dapplewood, where "Furlings" (a term for animal children) live alongside their teacher, Cornelius (Michael Crawford). The four Furlings central to the story are Abigail (Ellen Blain), a woodmouse; Russell (Paige Gosney), a hedgehog; Edgar (Benji Gregory), a mole; and a badger named Michelle (Elisabeth Moss), who is Cornelius' niece.

Once Upon a Forest (soundtrack)

Once Upon a Forest is a soundtrack album from Fox Records, based on the 1993 animated film of the same name. It contained the film's three songs, "Please Wake Up", "He's Gone/He's Back" (only the second half is included here) and "Once Upon a Time with Me", along with a score composed by James Horner and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Since its original distributor went out of business in the mid-1990s, it has gone out of print.

Track listing