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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - B 2 Mins Read

    Butterfly Ball, The (1976)

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    This obscure hybrid of concert footage, live-action scenes, and a single animated vignette is a musical extravaganza intended for children but featuring several hard-rock singers. The piece was put together by Roger Glover, the longtime bassist of hard rockers Deep Purple.

    In 1973, an illustrated children’s book titled The Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast was released, based on William Roscoe’s 1802 poem of the same name. A short cartoon was made from one section of the book, and Glover wrote the accompanying music.

    This generated a minor UK hit single titled Love Is All, with vocals by heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio, and plans were made for a full-length animated feature – but by the time Glover had finished writing songs for the proposed movie, production was cancelled.

    Undaunted, Glover staged a live concert at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall, recruiting several celebrities to perform his songs. Footage of the 1975 concert comprises most of this movie.

    The picture also features the Love Is All animated film clip as well as weird interstitial bits of performers in animal costumes strolling through London. The film climaxes with a live-action version of the ball, at which the various animal characters sit around a table in a scene straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

    Hard-rockers including David Coverdale put muscle into their musical numbers, while twee songbirds including model/actress Twiggy offer more ethereal sounds.

    John Lawton provides one of the loveliest vocals, for the gospel-tinged ballad Little Chalk Blue, and subs for Dio on the movie’s epic-length rendition of Love Is All.

    Narrator
    Vincent Price
    Singers/Musicians
    Roger Glover
    Twiggy
    Tony Ashton
    Helen Chapelle
    David Coverdale
    Ian Gillan
    John Gustafson
    Eddie Hardin
    Earl Jordan
    Judi Kuhl
    Neil Lancaster
    John Lawton
    Mickey Lee Soule
    Al Matthews
    Jon Lord
    Barry St. John
    Liza Strike
    The Trinity School of Croydon Boys Choir
    Dancers
    Zena Clifton
    Linda Johns
    Brian Rogers
    Lamona Snow
    Thespians
    Jamie Anderson
    Charlie Caine
    Mark Bishop
    Stephanie Charles
    Adam Clark
    Deborah Cliff
    Juliet Cox
    Alfonso Di Lieto
    Mandi Vincent
    Julie Griffiths
    Simon Henderson
    Catrina Hilton
    Ian Hoare
    Michael James
    Sally Lamb
    Michael Portman

    Director
    Tony Klinger

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