Sister Light, Sister Dark

Sister Light, Sister Dark is a 1998 American animated musical fantasy drama film produced by Fox Animation Studios and loosely based on the short story of the same name by Jane Yolen. It was written and directed by Alan Perkins and was co-written by Bruce Graham, Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, the film stars the voices of Alicia Silverstone, Christina Ricci, Julie Andrews, Kevin Kline, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Christian Slater, Gene Hackman, Billy Crystal, and Richard Attenborough. The film takes place in ancient fantasy times in the land of Xaxos, and follows Alice Rose (Alicia Silverstone), a teenage girl who longs to find her lost younger sister (Christina Ricci), who was taken by the mutant monsters after wandering in the dark forbidden forest. Alice has to team up with a friendly monster (Kevin Kline) in order to find her sister.

The musical score was written by James Horner, with songs written by lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The film was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States on September 18, 1998, to generally positive reviews and was a commercial success, grossing over $226 million worldwide. The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Horner's musical score. The success of the film later spawned an expanded franchise, with a television series running from 2000 to 2002, video games, merchandise, and other media. The film later became a cult following in recent years. The film was re-released in 3D on May 25, 2012. In January 2022, 20th Century Studios announced that a live-action adaptation is currently in development, set to be released in 2023.

Plot
In the far land of Xaxos, where a dark forbidden forest lives among a peaceful village. Yet, all is not well. Alice Rose, a young female child, lives with her parents, Frederick and Madeleine, and her younger sister, Alyssa in the peaceful village. One day, when the family was taking a stroll down the village, Alyssa wanders off to the forbidden dark forest. Alice then follows her there. Alice and Alyssa discover that the forest is not as it seems. Suddenly, a wild savage mutant monster then kidnaps Alyssa and turns her into a dark figure. Alice tries to save her, but she gets injured from the monster. The monster then escapes into the forest, taking Alyssa. Alice then tells her parents, where they are saddened that Alyssa might have been killed.

Years later, Alice is now 16 years old and a student at the village's high school, and is still saddened about the loss of her younger sister. After Alice gets picked on at school for being too afraid of saving her own sister, she goes home to her parents just in time for dinner. During dinnertime, Alice talks to Madeleine about the forbidden forest and how she can save her younger sister. However, Frederick forbids Alice from going to the forbidden forest, where a heated argument ensues between the two. Frederick then grounds Alice, sending her to her room. As Alice crawls into bed in her room, Madeleine then comforts her and tells her that you can achieve anything you want with hard work.

However, whenever Alice tries to sleep, she always has nightmares about her sister being kidnapped by a mutant monster. Alice then decides to save her sister herself. She leaves the house and went toward the village where she collected some useful equipment to find her sister. Alice then heads to the dark forbidden forest, and to her luck, a few girls appear in the forest who offer her helpful advice. However, Alice's luck soon changes for the worse when the mutant monster kidnaps one of the girls from the village. Alice tries to escape from the monster, but it kidnaps her, and the monster takes Alice to a cave where it lives.

In the cave however, the mutant monster instead messes with Alice, (such as removing her boots off of her feet, wearing them as gloves, and eating her food, giving her only a small portion, and only raw meat). Luckily, Alice then escapes from the cave, and runs through the forest as the monster chases her. Alice then stumbles upon a clearing, where she finds another cave to hide in. After Alice hid in the cave, the monster then finally stops chasing her, and leaves the surrounding area. As Alice walks through the dark forest with no boots, no food, and no equipment to find Alyssa, she sits down against a tree and starts crying. However, a friendly talking rabbit greets her and speaks to her. The rabbit wishes Alice to kill the mutants that have been preying on the forest, but Alice doesn't really want to, seeing she's not brave enough. The rabbit then transforms into a monster, where Alice quivers in fear, but this time, he is very friendly. The monster introduces himself as Henstomp to Alice and leads her to a colorful, luscious forest, dotted with flowers and sweet fruits and vegetables where friendly monsters and mutual animals live together.

Henstomp and the friendly creatures then lead Alice along a path where they enter a large hut where Saka, the leader of the friendly monsters, lives. Alice then tells the leader how they can teach her to kill the evil mutant monsters and save your younger sister. Saka then asks Alice it takes time and skill to help you get to the underworld of the evil magical mutants and save your sister from becoming a evil dark figure. Alice agrees, and the training to find your sister starts tomorrow. The next day, Alice spends the next few weeks training in various mental skills. Finally, Saka tells her that the training is over. Alice and Henstomp then board a boat where they travel across the sea to find the lost portal to the underworld of the evil mutant monsters at a abandoned temple.

However, in the middle of the ocean, Alice and Henstomp are then swallowed alive by a giant mutant whale. Luckily, the boat isn't destroyed. The two are just swallowed by a giant mouth filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. Fortunately, the whale doesn't want to kill the two, seeing him as of one of the friendly creatures. The whale introduces himself as Buwave and Alice explains her situation to him. Later, the trio then arrive at the abandoned temple. In the temple, Alice and Henstomp are greeted by a little red goblin named Samuel.

More coming soon!

Cast

 * Alicia Silverstone as Alice Rose, a 16-year old girl who longs to find her lost younger sister.
 * Allison Perkins as young Alice Rose
 * Kevin Kline as Henstomp, a friendly monster who helps Alice to find her sister.
 * Christina Ricci as Alyssa Rose, Alice's younger sister who was taken by the mutant monsters after she wandered in the dark forbidden forest and was transformed into a dark mutant creature.
 * Billy Crystal as Samuel, a friendly red goblin who helps Alice on her adventure.
 * Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Saka, the leader of the friendly mutant monsters.
 * Gene Hackman as Rosmoke, the leader of the dark underworld.
 * Christian Slater as Frederick Rose, Alice and Alyssa's father.
 * Julie Andrews as Madeleine Rose, Alice and Alyssa's mother.
 * Richard Attenborough as Buwave, a friendly mutant talking whale.

Additional voices
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Development
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Casting
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Animation
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Release
Sister Light, Sister Dark was originally slated for release on July 17, 1998, but by February 1997, it was later pushed back two months later to September 18, 1998. The film held its premiere at Los Angeles on September 9, 1998, with its wide release occurring on September 18. The film was preceded by the Twentieth Toons short Felix vs. the Multiplex.

After the successful 3D re-release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Fox announced a 3D re-release of Sister Light, Sister Dark in North America on May 25, 2012.

Home media
Sister Light, Sister Dark was released on VHS and LaserDisc on February 16, 1999. On May 22, 2001, the film was released on DVD for the first time. On September 26, 2006, a two-disc special edition DVD was released, featuring much of the bonus material from the 2001 DVD as well as newer features. Sister Light, Sister Dark was first made available on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on July 24, 2012.

An Ultra HD Blu-ray was released for the film's 20th anniversary on September 25, 2018, containing a new 4K restoration.

On November 6, 2020, Sister Light, Sister Dark became available on Disney+.

Box office
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Critical response
Based on 146 reviews, the film holds an 92% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 87 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades
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Television series
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Video games
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Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.