Metamorphoses (partially found early version of "Winds of Change" Japanese-American animated film; 1978)

1978 Theatrical Poster

Status: Partially Found

Metamorphoses is a Japanese-American co-production musical animated film produced by Sanrio. The film is based on the Latin narrative poem of the same name written by the Roman poet Ovid, and consists of five episodes. The episodes are, in order, Actaeon, Orpheus and Eurydice, Herse and Agraulos, Perseus , and Phaenton. The film received negative reviews from audiences when it premiered on May 3, 1978, due to a variety of factors, so it was retitled as Winds of Change and released in an edited version on May 3, 1979.

Production

In 1977, Sanrio had already entered the animation film industry with the release of The Mouse and His Child, a co-production with Murakami-Wolf Productions. Sanrio hoped the film would be a big project and advertised that it would be a Japanese version of Fantasia. Sanrio commissioned an experienced Hollywood animation crew to produce the film^[1]. The film was directed by Takashi Masunaga, and the music was composed by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Joan Baez, and the Pointer Sisters. Background painting was done by animator Ron Dias^[2], who later contributed to The Secret of NIMH and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and layout was done by Don Morgan. He had a series of comics featuring Metamorphoses characters in Lyrica, a manga magazine formerly published by Sanrio.

However, the animators commissioned about the film's production had concerns. Some of the animation did not make sense, and the music did not fit the animation. Scenes of music were either too short or too long, and one scene was produced only to use up the song. Others suspected that Takashi Masunaga was appointed director solely because he is purely Japanese and complained that he did not know what he was doing^[1].

Release

On May 3, 1978, the film premiered in New York^[1] and Hollywood^[3], with a general release in Westwood Village in Los Angeles during the same month^[4]. The film grossed $26,000 in its first week in Los Angeles^[5]. However, the film was shown at a deafeningly loud volume, and some audience members walked out. The lack of dialogue in the film made it difficult to understand the story, and the fact that all the characters in each episode were the same boy and girl led the audience to assume that the boys were the same person, leading them to wonder, "Why does this boy die over and over?"^[1] Audiences and critics also complained that the songs did not match the visuals of the film^[6]. The film was also released on June 14 in the form of an exclusive premiere at the Century City Theater in Los Angeles^[1], but the film was eventually pulled from release early and never shown again. It was supposed to be released in Japan the following New Year's^[7], but due to its poor showing in the US, it was never released.

The film then rearranged each episode, replaced the songs with disco songs by Alex Costandinos instead of rock songs, added narration by Peter Ustinov to explain the story, and changed the title to Winds of Change. And it was screened on May 3, 1979^[1]. It was released in Japan on October 27, 1979 under the title Hoshi no Orpheus.

Availability

Since the Metamorphoses version was never shown again, it was impossible to view online, but on January 31, 2021, YouTube user Arbutus Unedo uploaded a French dub. The French dub is from a VHS released by Scherzo Video in 1979, and is the only version of Metamorphoses that has been made into home media, as far as can be ascertained. Also note that this French dub has added narration that is not present in the original English dub. The original is still unavailable today.