Agent Palmer

Thus far in my Rotospective on Ralph Bakshi, I’ve taken a deep look into his films and for all but the first look into Wizards, I discussed the conclusions of those films and their meanings and lessons. The reason being that my first post on Wizards was relatively or arguably spoiler free, unless you’ve seen the film in which case I’m not spoiling anything by ending the post with a [BANG!].

Coonskin, produced under the titles Harlem Nights and Coonskin No More… and later released under the titles Bustin’ Out and Street Fight, is a movie that takes a deep look into the race relations of America during the time of it’s release 1975.

American Pop is an amazing journey through the family tree of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians and songwriters as told through the american music scene. Family matters, heirlooms, relationships and music. In my opinion, this is the best movie following a family tree throughout generations that has ever been attempted. That is follows popular American music is an added bonus, but at it’s heart this film is about family.

Now, Hey Good Lookin’ just seems like piece out of time. Although the most recent Indiana Jones featured greasers this is at the other end of the spectrum. This movie is full of racial tension and sexual frustration. It’s a love story, an us vs. them story, and above all it’s a coming of age story about finding your way.

In 1982 Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, two giants in the fantasy medium, collaborated on the film Fire and Ice. Once again Bakshi animated a film using the same rotoscope technology he had utilized in the past.