It is the first of only three Hanna-Barbera features not based upon one of their famous television cartoons - Heidi 's Song ( 1982 ) and Once Upon a Forest ( 1993 ) being the other two - and was a moderate critical and commercial success .
The movie , sent to theaters by Paramount Pictures on March 1 , 1973 , is the first of only three Hanna Barbera movies not based upon one of their famous television cartoons - Heidi 's Song ( 1982 ) and Once Upon a Forest ( 1993 ) being the other two-and was fairly successful among both critics and at the movie theaters .