Back in the ’70s, there were two names when it came to theatrical animation. The first was Walt Disney, who had been dead for a few years. His company kept churning out films featuring his G-rated formula. The other was Ralph Bakshi who had no ambition to become next Walt Disney. Bakshi made the animated films that your parents didn’t take you to see no matter how cute the cartoon characters looked in the movie listings section of the newspaper. Why didn’t mom take us to see Bakshi’s Fritz The Cat? Because it was X-rated. Ralph’s adaptation of R. Crumb’s feline was a bit more sophisticated than Disney’s The Aristocats. His follow up Heavy Traffic also got the dreaded X-rating. His version of the Uncle Remus stories Coonskin packed a lot more punch than Disney’s Song of the South. Bakshi wasn’t always making films that were too much for young adults. His animated take on The Lord of the Rings was family friendly enough that my parents dropped us off at the theater and we didn’t have to lie that we were seeing a different movie. In the early ’90s, Bakshi made Cool World which mingled his underground comics sensibility with the action necessary for a major Hollywood studio film. The movie went back to his efforts of mixing of animation with live action. While this turned out to be his final animated feature film, Cool World is a perfect introduction to Bakshi’s work.
Jack Deebs (The Usual Suspects’ Gabriel Byrne) is released from prison after serving 10 years for killing a man who was in bed with his wife. During his time behind bars, Jack began writing and drawing his Cool World comic book series. While people wonder about his inspiration, he knows it comes from an alternate reality that he glimpses into. One of the main people he encounters and draws into his comics is the sexy Holli Would (L.A. Confidential‘s Kim Basinger). She has plans for the man who thinks he is her creator. She wants to hook up with Jack since that is the secret on how Doodles (the cartoon creations) can become human. She has dreams of going to the real Hollywood and becoming the next Marilyn Monroe. The only person that is stopping Jack and Holli from the magical big bang is Frank Harris (Brad Pitt). He’s a human in the animated world who was transported there by a tragic event. Is Frank up for being able to keep Holli from seducing the artist? Or is the Cool World and the Real World in for a rude destruction?
I saw Cool World in the theater when it came out in the Summer of 1992. I thought this was a great film even though it felt a touch restrained in order to get a PG-13 rating. This was better than Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Ralph Bakshi did a great job of pushing the animated mayhem so it felt like it should have been family friendly. The mixing of live action and animation within the Cool World still looks great even in this era of CGI. The live action actors have great chemistry with their animated cohorts. Cool World turned out to be Bakshi’s final theatrical animated feature film. If there’s a film that sums up so much of what he had done over the two decades since the release of Fritz the Cat, Cool World is it. His impact lurks in the background animation that bounced all over Cool World.
When I was in Las Vegas years ago, they had the covered Freemont Street Experience which featured video projected overhead. Seeing how this area is the climax of Cool World, I was hoping a few of the characters would be bouncing around above the crowd. But even Las Vegas was too family friendly to embrace Bakshi’s creations.
Cool World: Collector’s Edition is a fine way to appreciate a film that Walt Disney would never put into production. Ralph Bakshi had no desire to be the next Walt and we should all be grateful.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K scan from the original camera negative was approved by Bakshi. You can see all the weirdness he had lurking around the frame in the animated world. The audio includes a 5.1 DTS MA Surround to bring Cool World chaos into your speaker system. There’s also the 2.0 DTS-HD MA Stereo mix if your theater only has speakers up front. The movie is subtitled in English.
The Wild Minds of Cool World (21:58) has Ralph Bakshi, Kim Basinger and producer Frank Mancuso, Jr, Basinger really appreciates Ralph’s work. She was able to collaborate on the character. We do discover how the film went from being a horror movie to not so nightmarish Noir ended up on the screen. Mancuso explains why he changed the tone of the film and the script. A lot of the film being watered down came happened because Paramount thought they could have another Who Framed Roger Rabbit blockbuster. This is why the movie ended up PG-13 instead of a good Bakshi R. Ralph talks about how he let his background animators go wild with the background animation. There’s also talk about how the studio wasn’t hot on a young Brad Pitt in a leading role.
Trailers (3:49) talk about Jack creating his own world in the prison and thinking he’s getting into the real world when he’s served his time. The second trailer seems like an outtake of how Jack gets pulled into Cool World.
Shout! Factory Presents Cool World: Collector’s Edition. Directed by Ralph Bakshi. Screenplay by: Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, Brad Pitt and Frank Sinatra Jr. Rating: Rated PG-13. Running Time: 101 Minutes. Release Date: September 13, 2022.
