Ralph Bakshi

[Brother Rabbit]

Interview #4 Conducted 6/4/06 11:00 AM

Q:
Daniel Russel would like to know about the role of the New York Dolls in Hey Good Lookini? He found pictures of Bakshi and the Dolls and wanted to know what the scene might have been like.

A:
Good question. Well, originally the entire picture was created in live action with animation. Only Vinny, Crazy, Rozzy and Eva were animated. Everyone else was real. Months of live action shooting never ended up in the film. The New York Dolls were big at the time. The scene was at the party before Vinny attempts to convince the Stompers to brawl the Chaplains. While Vinny and Crazy are in the bathroom the other Stompers fight with the Dolls back and forth outside the bathroom. The Dolls were punk and effeminate and the Stompers naturally would start up a fight. There was a lot of back and forth between the Stompers and the Dolls. There were an awful lot of photographs taken. If someone could find them you could post them on the site.

Q:
Do you have a copy of the original live action film?

A:
Warner Bros. probly has one? It was a finished production. There might be a film or two, maybe even one in Russian, but that's another storyo

There was really nothing wrong with live action and animation productions. It was just that nobody thought about them making money till Roger Rabbit came out. Then they realized they made a mistake. But it was too late for Hey Good Lookin'.

I had to take on Wizards at that same time to satisfy the company. I was repairing Hey Good Lookin' during the Wizards production. Hey Good Lookin' and Coonskin put Bakshi Studios out of production. It was a difficult thing to do financially and mentally. I was very worried every night, worried that I couldn't pay the artists if anything else went wrong. But that's just history. I'm not bitching. That was what got me exhausted. Then along came Rings. It was just a little too much for one asshole. *laughs*

Q:
"I wanted to know if *Bakshi* knows what time of day he was born, and if he wouldn't mind sharing the info. I collect this information on all my favourite artists, so I would love to know." - Nick Dagan

I have no idea.
* Sorry Nick, better luck with any future questions you may have. =:B *

Q:
I have read that you had plans for two projects that I was unaware of, one entitled "The City" and one entitled "An Animated History of Jazz"? Is this true and could you elaborate on the projects?

A:
Those are both true. What you have to understand is I had a lot of pictures that I wanted to make. I'm glad I can clear this up. One approach I used at the time because it was hard to sell a picture was like shooting ducks in a barrel. I knew what picture I wanted to make cause I could see it visually, so I knew they would work. The City was a bunch of short stories strung together. But like I said, after Coonskin and Hey Good Lookin' it was hard to sell anything. The studio was very hot after Fritz and wanted to do other pictures. The History of American Music was basically following a musician around in his travels. I know I wouldnit have done the History in rotoscope. I would have done it in Fleischer's style of animation which would have suited it. I remember seeing Cab Calloway in Fleischer's Betty Boop cartoons.

Q:
So, I've found out what some of the terms Avatar uses in Wizards relate to. For instance "Morrow, Krinkle, Frazzetta", but is there a meaning to the "Raksis, Plaksis, Draksis!" terms? Are these artists' names shifted to fit the poetry of the spell?

No, what happened was. *laughs* I was proving a point to my animators. They said I couldn't add nonsense. When I adlibs when I adlibbed. I knew the guys, but the guys got mad at me. They said, "You can't do that!" But I proved them wrong. I could just do garbage. I knew years later that people who knew the guys, Crinkle and Morrow, would know what I was doing and love it. Cause those were my heroes. Fantasy art certainly was an inspiration for me. I mean Frazetta painting Conan. But the studio thought I was crazy.

Q:
iMy question is about Cool World. What was the reaction like of Paramount Studios when they saw the movie Cool World? (For example, did they really enjoy it?)i - Alex

A:
Iim not clear. They werenit exactly talking to me. Frank Mancuso got fired before the picture was released. There was a lot of politics. No one really liked the kid. Because his father kept giving him jobs. I wasnit really caring. I loved Coonskin! I wasn't going to fight for Cool World. I just took off. I just left, very unhappy. I wasnit on speaking terms with the producer. I wasnit gonna call him. It was like Dunkirk every moment. *laughs*

Q:
I've heard that Cool World could have been the first animated horror film?

A:
Thatis what it was. Thatis exactly what I set out to make, except the studio turned it into some Las Vegas piece of crap. You canit shoot horror films in Las Vegas with Frank Sinatra and Kim Basinger. You canit do an underground cartoonist with Gabriel Burn. You do it with some other actor that would have done a good job. Itis interesting that when a director sees certain things, if he doesnit get'em their not there. All these element were not horror. I mean to play a 49 year old woman for sure get Kim Basinger. But I wanted some sexy chick like Frazzetta. There was just so much energy that wasniti there. The film could have been as strong as Coonskin. But the energy wasn't there. But, I'm not crying, I am having a very good life. I was very lucky as a young man then got very unlucky as an older man.

I don't know maybe later we'll find out I was set up by Disney. They paid Warner to throw a kink in Hey Good Lookin' and Coonskin. Who knows. Those things arenit as farfetched as they seem sometimes.

But basically I was trying to make pictures about the mean streets. I could shoot Brooklyn like nobody could. All of them were based on moody nostalgic films from a different time. The art form in itself was derived from trashy pocket books.

Q:
Trashy pocketbooks, huh?

A:
Yeah, you can find'em now if you search hard enough.

Q:
And what would I type into a search engine to find these?

A:
Try itrashy pocketbooks" "vintage" "pocket books", "gangster", "sex", "violence". You know the usual.

Interview Ends:

Then Mr. Bakshi had to go. He said he was in and out of the studio that day. Which is a good sign of activity in itself.

I know it's been awhile since I posted one of these. I actually have the next one and will post it soon. I just want to separate them out because I don't get that many chances *simply too busy* to call Mr. B.

Hope You All Enjoy These,

Brother Rabbit =:B
_________________
Last Days of Coney Island Kickstarter | Bakshi Media Page | Bakshi's Official Facebook
deviantART.com | NewGrounds | Animation Resources | David Firth
"If I die as just Bakshi Productions Secretary, I'll die a happy man." - Brother Rabbit 2013

[JC101]

Awww...yeah it was a little short...my question wasn't there.

...On that first note (not a question for interview, just general thought), I have been wondering about the news on Hey Good Lookin' ...and if that would ever get noticed for a new release, or maybe even a screening...by chance, in NYC sometime.

[Brother Rabbit]

Sorry, JC101 this interveiw and the next one were actually conducted before you asked your question.

I will get it in there. Though I'm not sure if Mr. B is too up to date on the current state of the comics industry. We'll see what he has to say about it within the next month or so.

You gotta understand this interview session is not scheduled regularly, it happens when both Bakshi and I have time to conduct them. I want to get to every question in one sitting, but I have to respect Bakshi's needs as far as time and desire to chat about himself. *He really does like to chat about the industry more than himself*

Anyway, I plan to ask his personal involvement in the current and future releases. It seems like he doesn't take care of too much of the business end anymore. It's more Victoria's department. I know that they basically aren't pursuing any releases currently besides the possible release of Coonskin. I think they basically have to wait until the companies who funded and usually own some of the rights to the films decide there is a market for them. I know it worked with Wizards and Fire & Ice, I only hope that the DVD sales of those films prompt more DVD releases.

I would love to see both Hey Good Lookin' and Coonskin get their DVD special edition treatments. It's up to time to tell whether that will happen.

As for local showings you can actually buy the rights to show the films from certain liscensers. When I checked on Wizards it was $300 to get the rights and additional $160 if you needed them to lend you a copy of the film. If you don't have that kind of money I would attempt to contact local theaters and see if they might be willing to fit the bill so the films can be viewed in their natural environment the movie house!

Thanks for Your Comments,

Brother Rabbit
_________________
Last Days of Coney Island Kickstarter | Bakshi Media Page | Bakshi's Official Facebook
deviantART.com | NewGrounds | Animation Resources | David Firth
"If I die as just Bakshi Productions Secretary, I'll die a happy man." - Brother Rabbit 2013