Ralph Bakshi: A Statement of Purpose

Over the years, I’ve seen a few of Ralph Bakshi’s films, most notably The Lord of the Rings which I remember picking up on the day it was released on DVD. I’ve also seen Wizards and Fire and Ice once, and I’m pretty sure that Cool World was one of my very early Netflix DVD rentals. That’s 40% of his feature films, and I don’t think I have any idea who he was as an artist.

So, why not try and figure him out? After the silent films of Erich von Stroheim, why not go in a vastly different direction and watch a drugged up animator from the 70s?

I am fully prepared to hate a good part of what’s coming. I’ve watched The Lord of the Rings probably about 10 times since I bought it way back in 2001 (I even spent about $45 to buy the Blu-ray upgrade recently), and it’s not great. I’m also not really sure what to expect from his earliest work like Fritz the Cat or Heavy Traffic.

As an aside, I watched the below video a couple of weeks ago, knowing that I was getting ready for Bakshi’s work soon, and it was really quite interesting. I thought it would focus more fully on the production of The Lord of the Rings, but there’s a fair amount of detail about Bakshi’s career up to that point (afterwards is less detailed). It was a really good video, and I’m glad I watched it. I do wonder if maybe I should have waited until after I started, though.

Still, I’m looking forward to this short, strange trip. And yes, for those curious, I will be watching his live action television movie Cool and the Girl because why not? It was a script he had written in the 70s. It seems like a perfect fit.