Anyone else remember this underrated classic?
Turns out it has quite a bit of history to it:
John Lasseter was originally working on the film, and did the storyboards. It could potentialy have become the first feature animated film to incorporate CGI backgrounds. But the execs (Namely Disney), told him that there was no point, unless it would make production faster or cheaper, and thus Lasseter was let go. Of course, it was this that began Lasseter on his journey that resulted in the formation of probably the most successful film studio of all time, PIXAR, which at the time was a division of Lucasfilm.
But its story did not end here. After it was finally finished (By Hyperion and Wang Film Production; Disney actually had very little say in production, only distributing the film), it debuted at Sundance film festival, to critical acclaim and was due to go into a theatrical run. But then Disney bought the film for their new Disney Channel (and this was during Disney's low-point in the 80s), thus ruining any chance for the film to qualify for any serious film awards, which it otherwise almost certainly would have recieved. It staggered its way through the festival circuit, trying anf failing to find a distributor, until it finally reached a mainstream audience on VHS. Since then, it's become a cult classic.
However its troubles still haven't ended. It still suffers from a comtemptible cover, which hide any indication of the darkness and creepiness of the real thing (For instance, no mention of the horror-film-themed repair shop, the silent-killer-car-crusher, or *shudders* the clown.)
But still, it's an animation classic, and is remarkably well done for a relatively low budget film. It's a strange idea given a brilliant twist, worthy of being a Don Bluth film. It's sure dark and weird enough!