I’ve never made any attempt to hide my unabashed love for Ralph Bakshi. I enjoy his cartoons too.
The director is responsible for some of the edgiest, most entertaining animated films of the ’70s and ’80s including American Pop, Fire and Ice and the original Lord of the Rings animated film — the latter two recently released on Blu-ray.
Whenever Bakshi’s name comes up in the news, my interest is automatically piqued. While this particular news isn’t as awe-inspiring awesome as if it was being announced that Coonskin was finally being released on DVD or Blu-ray, its still pretty much the cat’s pajamas.
UK distributor Eureka Entertainment will release Wizards on Blu-ray May 24. Released in 1977, Bakshi’s Wizards is a science-fiction/fantasy hybrid that saw twin wizards rise in power on a post-apocalyptic Earth. When one of the wizards grows evil and uncovers a smorgasbord of deadly Nazi-era weapons and propaganda, it’s up to his brother to stop him.
Special features on the Blu-ray will include an audio commentary by the animator, a featurette entitled The Wizard of Animation, a stills gallery and a collection of trailers.
Whether you are a fan of science fiction, fantasy or everything in between, this is definitely a disc announcement worth getting excited about.
Now if only they would release American Pop on Blu-ray…
