Does anyone here know what movie this is?

[Czernobog]

Ok, so my brother and I are trying like hell to remember a movie and our memories are extremely vague. We've done extensive googling to no avail. I know we have some movie buffs on the forums, so I wanted to ask. I have no idea if the movie's obscure or not, and it's on the edge of both of our minds, like a dream you can't quite recall. It's driving us up the wall.

I think the movie's kind of old (maybe 60s/70s, but nothing is guaranteed when it's such a distant memory). There's a scene with a narrator who talks about the beginning of the world or possibly time itself. The earth is rough dirt and cracked. Lighting strikes a tree and the character (boy or man, i think possibly boy) has to take a small tube on a journey somewhere. I think he might have put ash in the tube, not sure. He has to get through a cave of winds and my brother seems to remember flying creatures of some sort (pterodactyls maybe) that he has to protect the tube he wheres as a necklace from. I don't think the movie had any talking outside a narration and believe the main character has to sort of go through trials to take the tube somewhere. My brother believes the creatures may have been claymation, but I'm not so sure. He also remembers caves or cliffs seen from the outside that have so many holes they look almost sponge-like. Any help would be extremely appreciated!

[Czernobog]

Additional info: Just got off the phone with my sister and she can't remember this movie for the life of it either BUT she believes the movie was strangely animated and had a heavy theme of rebirth.

EDIT: My sister also remembers a scene with a deserted castle. Still nothing through google searches however.

[samsonlonghair]

It's a long shot, but I'll hazard a guess.

Could it possibly be the animated film Light Years (aka Ghandahar)?
http://youtu.be/eucpelkpuiY

[Czernobog]

It's a long shot, but I'll hazard a guess.

Could it possibly be the animated film Light Years (aka Ghandahar)?
http://youtu.be/eucpelkpuiY

It's not it, but thank you! I will be watching this Light Years one now since it looks quite interesting. I've never had this much difficulty finding a movie before, pretty perplexing. My sister is insisting it was animated, but the more I try to remember, the less sure I am of it being animated. I think there's a possibility it was live-action but had high contrast or something.

[samsonlonghair]

It's a long shot, but I'll hazard a guess.

Could it possibly be the animated film Light Years (aka Ghandahar)?
http://youtu.be/eucpelkpuiY

It's not it, but thank you! I will be watching this Light Years one now since it looks quite interesting. I've never had this much difficulty finding a movie before, pretty perplexing. My sister is insisting it was animated, but the more I try to remember, the less sure I am of it being animated. I think there's a possibility it was live-action but had high contrast or something.

Strike One! It's ok. I'm still at the plate.

If it's a hybrid of animation with live action, I'm thinking of the rotoscoping animation in Ralph Bakashi's Fire and Ice.
http://youtu.be/L9Hif1CCMSs?t=2m25s

[Czernobog]

It's definitely not rotoscoped. That would stick out in my mind. The more I try to remember, the more I think there was no animation at all. I remember the ash pouring from that scene with the tree, and I'm picturing it as actual footage, fairly clearly, like grains of sand sifting.

[samsonlonghair]

It's definitely not rotoscoped. That would stick out in my mind. The more I try to remember, the more I think there was no animation at all. I remember the ash pouring from that scene with the tree, and I'm picturing it as actual footage, fairly clearly, like grains of sand sifting.

Strike two!

Give me something to work with so I don't strike out, Czerno. Can you name any of the actors in this film or any of the characters they played?

Your brother remembers stop motion effects for the monsters. Could this be a Ray Harryhausen picture like One Million Years B.C.?

[Czernobog]

I can't remember the actors or the characters. Can't even remember the characters names. It's odd, but both my siblings and I remember seeing this movie and remember the scene where the ash is put in the tube, and that it's the most vital thing in the movie. Protecting that ash is beyond all else. As for One Million Years BC, it looks like it could have been made around the same time, but I think the movie I'm looking for had a much darker overall tone, but I'm grasping at straws. This is mostly guesswork on my part mixed with vague memories. The things I know absolutely for sure are there's an opening narration, lightning strikes a tree, and the main character gathers ash that he has to protect and get somewhere. I would think that searching for a movie about protecting ash from a tree would yield some sort of result, but I can't find a thing. Wish I could give more information to go on.