Ralph Bakshi

"Too many of Disney animators, and a lot try to emulate Disney, are trying to hit what they call quality levels, they are boring mannerisms." ~ Ralph Bakshi

Ralph Bakshi is an American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriened productions. He has been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator.

Oversize wide-pan cel and accompanying production drawing from Hey Good Lookin’

While I am honestly not a fan of his works (Though I did enjoy "Coonskin" and "Heavy Traffic to be honest), I will admit that Ralph definitely has a really diverse style (That it was actually hard for me to pinpoint at first), especially when it comes to his characters. I am pretty sure that he is best known for his more adult works, and when it comes to his so-called PG rated works, there are still some very clear adult innuendo and content to them (Such as "Fire and Ice" and "Wizards", seriously, what's with the nipples though?).

For awhile, I actually thought that all of his human character designs were really stereotypical (And frankly, crude and ugly... even the ones that are supposedly meant to be sexy), particularly when it came to the designs of the black characters and transvestites, while I suppose that I have been proven otherwise on the former once I watched "Heavy Traffic" (Carole especially proved to be an incredibly appealing character), the transvestites in "Coonskin" and "Heavy Traffic" were what really peeved me off (While I know that they are all meant to be stereotypical caricatures, they are just so, so over the top). Even the black characters were far better written than these overly effeminate, super horny (And sometimes even incestuous) cross dressers that apparently only go for men.

Most of his works are pretty disjointed and confusing, and sometimes, characters are so differently designed from one another that they don't seem to belong in the same film, which is probably the only other problem I had with "Heavy Traffic".

Back to more positive things however, Ralph seems to take a pretty unique approach to his adult animations, by sticking to a more cartoony style instead of attempting to create a supposedly more serious and realistic style for the sake of his audience. It probably might catch a lot of people off guard when they first watch his works (When violence, nudity and sex seems to be taken so incredibly lightly), but when you think about it, this silly and somewhat childish style works really well with the serious messages he wishes to address.

There's no denying that he's fantastic when it comes to the exaggeration of his characters, when he's not using rotoscoping, he really goes all out in messing around with their body shapes and movements. I do especially remember all the background characters being that way in "Cool World", making it a pretty memorable and all the same terrifying fantasy world (No surprise that it would be regarded as the seedier version of Toontown, in all honesty). I can see how much he had influenced John K., another animator known for his exaggerated and rather abstract style.

But yes, I will end it off here, I suppose Ralph Bakshi's works are an acquired taste, but I can definitely see why he remains a role model in the animation industry. And he definitely brings a lot of life into his characters, never being afraid to make them as crazy or over the top as possible (Though he should try to steer clear of the derp faces if possible).

Apparently I heard that Ralph refuses to acknowledge this short as his own, but I still find it to be a perfect example of what he is known for (What with how confusing, weird, random and... twisted everything is), so, have a look if you can: