The Blue Bird (1976)

A pair of peasant children, Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl, are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the Fairy Berylune. On their journey, they are accompanied by... See full summary »

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Maurice Maeterlinck (play), Hugh Whitemore (screenplay)

Stars:

Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cicely Tyson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Mother / Witch / Light / Maternal Love
Jane Fonda	...	The Night
Cicely Tyson	...	Tylette
Ava Gardner	...	Luxury
Todd Lookinland	...	Tyltyl
Patsy Kensit	...	Mytyl
Will Geer	...	Grandfather
Mona Washbourne	...	Grandmother
Robert Morley	...	Father Time
Harry Andrews	...	Oak
George Cole	...	Tylo
Richard Pearson	...	Bread
Steven Warner	...	Children of the Future
Monique Potter	...	Children of the Future (as Monique Kaufman)
Russell Lewis	...	Children of the Future

Storyline

A pair of peasant children, Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl, 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.

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Plot Keywords:

blue bird of happiness | children | bird | journey | dog | 

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Taglines:

A cavalcade of magic. A carnival of fun. The Blue Bird is magic for everyone.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA Soviet Union

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blue Bird

Filming Locations:

Lenfilm Studios, Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, Petrogradsky District, St. Petersburg, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$887,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox,Lenfilm Studio,Edward Lewis Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pigeon handlers were actually accused of eating some of them.

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Quotes

Tylette: I love you both as much as you deserve.

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Connections

Referenced in Un genio en apuros (1983)

User Reviews

See that cast list? Those are not typos! These people do play objects in this oddball mess!

The first co-production between USSR and Hollywood would have to be this strange kiddie film that is so icky sweet, it makes "Barney" look like "Penthouse Forum" in comparison! Some kids meet up with their fairy Godmother (Elizabeth Taylor dressed like a Mafia wife gone insane). With a wave of her magic wand, household pets, and inanimate objects come to life. The most disgusting has to be what happens to a pitcher of milk! It turns into a ballerina. To remind audiences of its milk origins, whenever the ballerina dances, we hear milk splash in a pitcher. It sounds as if the poor ballerina has a stomach disorder! The story goes that the production of this film was very rough. It went on forever. Jane Fonda supposedly kept on pestering the Russian workers, and it became an expensive mess.