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Writer: Ralph
Bakshi
Director: Ralph
Bakshi
Feature length: 81
minutes
Extras: Feature
Length Audio Commentary With Ralph Bakshi, Ralph Bakshi: The Wizard Of Animation
Featurette, Still Galleries, TV Spot, Theatrical Trailers
Languages: English
Stereo Sound and English and Spanish Language Monaural Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging: Amaray
Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 20
Sound: Stereo
Sound and Monaural Sound
Year of Theatrical
Release: 1977/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Home Video
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
I remember when I
was a boy an awards show aired on television that celebrated the achievements in
horror, fantasy, and science fiction films of that year and among the plethora
of clips that were broadcast from various movies was a scene from Ralph
Bakshi’s “Wizards” that depicted an elf being chased by a strange looking
character on a two legged pony like animal with a laser rifle shooting at him.
From that point on all I had on my mind was “What was this film called
Wizards?” I had seen the TV adaptation of “The Hobbit” when it was first
broadcast and I assumed this was some sort of related fantasy film. While
“Wizards” has absolutely nothing to do with Middle Earth, I wasn’t exactly
too far off the mark on my first impressions because it certainly seems to have
gotten some inspiration from Tolkien’s famous books. In fact Tolkien’s
daughter saw “Wizards” and was so impressed by it that she granted Bakshi
the rights to bring “The Lord Of The Rings” to the big screen as an animated
feature and it was the project Bakshi began working on right after “Wizards”
so in a way one can look at “Wizards” as the precursor to Bakshi’s
animated feature film adaptation of “The Lord Of The Rings” in terms of his
animation style and career.
I am a Ralph
Bakshi fan. I think some of his work rivals anything Disney has released for his
time. In particular I always loved the way he could bring the smallest nuances
of a character to life such as the way Gandalf The Grey’s cloak moves as he
spins around in a circle reciting the inscription on the One Ring of Power
beside Frodo’s fireplace in his adaptation of “The Lord Of The Rings.” For
it’s time, Bakshi’s animation is magnificent. Another element to keep in
mind regarding Bakshi’s animated feature films was that he was animating films
for adults in America long before anime broke loose in the States. With the
advances in the technology of creating an animated feature some thirty years
since “Wizards” opened in May of 1977, the reaction to some who view this
film might seem quaint at best, but after producing cult adult cartoons like
“Fritz The Cat” and “Heavy Traffic,” I think Bakshi deserves a place in
the animation hall of fame for his contributions toward elevating the art form
from the Saturday morning kids program and the Disney classics and helping to
create a market for animated features for adults. Besides “Wizards” and
“The Lord Of The Rings” Bakshi would go on to produce “American Pop” as
well as the prehistoric fantasy epic “Fire And Ice,” which he produced with
acclaimed artist Frank Frazetta. With most of the above mentioned films already
available on DVD-Video, I hope whoever has the home video rights to “Fire And
Ice” will release it on DVD soon.
“Wizards”
takes place approximately ten million, three thousand years in the future.
Humanity destroyed itself with technology in a nuclear holocaust many millennia
ago. After the radiation dissipated and life began to appear on the surface once
more, the elves and fairies of human mythology woke up from their long slumber
and inherited the Earth with magic. However the remnants of the past forged
strange new mutations. They lived in the burned out areas still recovering from
the effects of radiation fallout and they dug up forbidden technology for their
master, the dark wizard Blackwolf, who seeks to conquer the world. Blackwolf’s
secret weapon is a projector of old Nazi propaganda footage that he has used to
rally his troops in his dark land of Scorch and to instill fear into the free
people of Montagar, who turn to the wizard Avatar for assistance. Avatar is
Blackwolf’s brother and he along with a spirited fairy, a courageous elf, and
a reprogrammed assassin droid set out for Scorch to confront Blackwolf head-on
and destroy the projector.
Among the voice
talent in the film is none other than Mark Hamill fresh off of his work on the
original “Star Wars.” “Wizards” opened theatrically two weeks before
“Star Wars” and was Bakshi’s first family animated feature. In his feature
length audio commentary, Bakshi states that the film was already making it’s
money back after it opened despite the competition it faced by Disney’s
release of “Fantasia” in what he describes as “every theater that was
screening Wizards.” Then “Star Wars” opened and the demand by viewers
exceeded the amount of available screens to show it. So Fox pulled “Wizards”
in favor of “Star Wars.” Fortunately “Wizards” has enjoyed a great
series of revivals on home video, laserdisc, and now DVD and the film has more
than made its budget back. “Wizards” is among the most financially
successful animated features of all time. In fact, several times during his
audio commentary, Bakshi mentions his intentions for an animated sequel.
“Wizards” is so close to his heart that only for this DVD release did agree
to provide the amount of extra value materials from his own personal studio and
record an audio commentary track.
Now please note
that for those of you that have never seen “Wizards” or any Ralph Bakshi
film for that matter that this film was made using old school animation cells
with a mix of rotoscope stock footage. It was the only way he could finish the
film on the budget he was allotted and include the huge battle scenes that
appear in the film. This might put some off. However back in 1977 even that was
cutting edge. In his feature length audio commentary Bakshi does admit that in
hindsight he wishes he did not rotoscope sequences as he did on “Wizards,”
“The Lord Of The Rings,” and “American Pop” and if he could go back in
time he would have liked to replace the rotoscope with traditional cell
animation. Personally I think much of the rotoscope material still works well in
“Wizards” and even better in his later films, but it does date the film and
can throw someone out of the fantasy with some images that just don’t match
the action. Another problem with “Wizards” is that the narrative is uneven
and it is easy to misunderstand the overall message Bakshi was trying to get
across at times. For instance, the confrontation between the wizards near the
end of the film always seemed anticlimactic to me because it contradict the
whole magic vs. technology theme, but when Bakshi explains the storyline in his
audio commentary, he delivers a grander and more profound reasoning behind the
action that unfortunately is lost in the actual film presentation. Now I
understand the reasoning behind it, but I should have been able to gain an
understanding of the confrontation intuitively just by watching the film alone
and not after hearing the filmmaker talk about it.
Twentieth Century
Fox Home Entertainment presents “Wizards” with an anamorphic widescreen
(1.85:1) aspect ratio presentation. The unevenness in the picture quality is
actually a result of the manner in which the film was animated. Bakshi states
that this is the best “Wizards” has ever looked on home video and I agree.
An English Stereo Soundtrack as well as the original English Two-Channel
Monaural Soundtrack is provided on this DVD. They are free of any analogue
background hissing and crackling, but do not expect a great enveloping listening
experience because the mix is meant to match the style of the film and not
overpower it. A Spanish Language Monaural Soundtrack and English Captions and
Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish Language
Subtitles are encoded onto the dual layered DVD as options.
In addition to the
feature length audio commentary, Bakshi participates in an exclusive interview
and featurette that details the making of “Wizards” complete with conceptual
sketches and animation demonstrations. This is a well-produced featurette that
gives a lot of interesting background into both the making of the film and the
people who worked on it. There are also eleven short still galleries with
conceptual sketches for the main characters as well as additional characters,
animated action sequences, environments, and lobby cards. A TV spot and two
theatrical trailers wrap up the extra value materials on this DVD. The menus are
standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
If you are a fan
of Ralph Bakshi and his animated feature “Wizards” then this is a must own
DVD for your collection. “Wizards” will debut on DVD-Video at retailers on
and offline on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 from Twentieth Century Fox Home
Entertainment.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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