The Blue Bird (1976)

[LH-C]

Yes, the infamous US/Soviet co-production disaster!! I've had the displeasure of coming across it not once but twice, the first time seeing the entire thing on tv around '79-'80 and the second time catching the last 5 minutes of it again on tv say around '95 or so. What is so weird is how this movie has stuck with me since I was a very young kid. At the time, I thought it was such an odd-ball movie, but still thought it was interesting. I bet if I were to watch it now I would get a big laugh out of it since it's so bad (in a good way). Here's the basic plot (from IMDb) - A pair of peasant children, Mytyl (the  Patsy Kensit) and her brother Tyltyl (Todd Lookinland - brother of Mike), are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the Fairy Berylune. On their journey, they are accompanied by the humanized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, Bread, and other entities. The cast also includes Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Ava Gardener, Cicely Tyson, Robert Morley, Will Greer, and a number of Russian actors. How many of you have seen it or have heard about it over the years? It's definitely on par in 'badness' with that Russian Jack Frost movie that was on MST3K.

[DaveMunger]

This sounds very similar to a Shirley Temple movie, is it a remake?

[LH-C]

Yeah, I guess it would be a remake of the earlier movie.

[Shadowphile]

That description sounds so incredibly familiar....

[BoyScoutKevin]

I have not only heard of both films. I have seen both films. While based on a popular play by Maurice Maeterlinck, it seems one of those works that cannot be adapted for the big screen. Not only was the 1976 version, despite all the talent in it, a financial and critical failure. Shirley Temple had one of her few film failures with the 1940 version.