Once Upon A Time (1976) VHS - Rare Animated Cult Classic

Once Upon A Time (1976) VHS -- Animated cult classic by Rolf Kauka -- Extremely rare G.G. Communications / Video Gems release and a wonderful piece of history from the VHS family rental era! This is the original English-language colour version that was released in 1976 by G.G. Communications, distributed on VHS by Video Gems. One of the images shows a newspaper ad for a screening of this version of the film in February, 1977 -- right next to one for the first Rocky movie! This is an extremely rare find. This copy was previously owned by Videoflicks, a chain of rental stores started in 1981, with the last store closing its doors and liquidating its inventory in 2019. It looks as though a Videoflicks employee cut the original oversized clamshell sleeve to fit it inside one of the store’s standard sized cases, even drawing their own title image on the spine. This tape is a real slice of history, not only of this very hard to find cult classic movie but also of the early era of VHS film distribution and the bygone days of choosing a video to rent and watch with the family. An absolutely unique gem with a great story, perfect for a collector who will love it all over again. More information: Once Upon a Time (German: Maria d'Oro und Bello Blue) is a 1973 West German-Italian animated musical film written and directed by Roberto Gavioli and Rolf Kauka. The story is based on the German fairytale Mother Hulda. In West Germany, Gamma Films released Once Upon a Time in black and white in 1973; a colour version released in West Germany in 1975. In Italy, the film received the censorship approval for public screening on January 9, 1974, but ultimately did not receive a theatrical release. The film opened in the United States on April 2, 1976 through G.G. LCommunications. G.G. Communications or GG Productions was a film distributor based in Boston. Founded by city native Nicholas W. Russo (credited in releases as "N.W. Russo"), it was responsible for the U.S. releases of various foreign films. The company was named after fisherman Gadabout Gaddis, for whom Russo had produced the successful documentary television series The Flying Fisherman. G.G.'s titles ranged from adult fare such as Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava's giallo films One on Top of the Other and Hatchet for the Honeymoon, to children's films such as the live-action Pippi Longstocking films, Per Åhlin's Dunderklumpen!, Giuliano Cenci's The Adventures of Pinocchio, Rolf Kauka's Once Upon a Time, the Norwegian smash hit The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, the 1975 anime feature Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and the 1975 version of The Magic Pony. In the early 1980s, several of its films were released on VHS through distributor Video Gems. Please review all photographs carefully. They show the item you will receive and its condition. The tape is used but tested and plays If the ad is up, the item is still available.