Cool World is a 1992 live-action/animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi, and starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, and Brad Pitt. It tells the story of a cartoonist who finds himself in the animated world he created, and is seduced by one of his characters, a comic strip vamp who wants to be real. Cool World marked Bakshi's return to feature films after nine years. The film was originally pitched as an animated horror film about an underground cartoonist who fathers an illegitimate half-human/half-cartoon daughter who hates herself for what she is and tries to kill him.
During production, Bakshi's original screenplay was scrapped by producer Frank Mancuso Jr. and heavily rewritten by screenwriting duo Michael Grais and Mark Victor, best known for writing Poltergeist and Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and an uncredited Larry Gross. The film received mostly negative reviews from film critics.[1]
Plot
The film's plot transposes two alternate dimensions: the real world, and the Cool World, a world of animated characters, called "doodles." The film begins in 1945-era Las Vegas. Frank Harris, a returning GI (Brad Pitt) is reunited with his mother. Soon he takes her for a ride on his motorcycle and they are involved in an accident resulting in her death. Grieving and hallucinating, he is transported into another dimension, the fully animated "Cool World." The film flashes forward to 1992. Cartoonist Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne) has been incarcerated for murdering a man he found in bed with his wife. During his prison sentence, he has visions of the Cool World and of the sexy blond doodle, Holli Would (Kim Basinger). Jack passes the time by creating a comic book series based on his visions of Cool World. Shortly after being released from prison and returning to his home in Las Vegas, Jack is pulled into the Cool World by Holli, who wants to have sex with Jack so she can become real and enter the real world, but sexual relationships between noids (humans) and doodles (toons) are illegal in Cool World.
By now Frank Harris has become an officer in Cool World and, aided by his partner, Nails, the spider-like doodle, keeps a sharp eye on Holli and Jack. Their job is to make sure that humans don't have sex with cartoons, since that act can rupture the fabric between the two universes. The twist lies in the fact that after all these years, Frank has fallen in love with Lonette, a sexy animated waitress who is similar to Holli. Meanwhile, Holli and Jack have sex and she turns into a noid. Jack and Holli head to Jack's home dimension. The barrier between the Cool World and the real world has now been damaged. Jack and Holli repeatedly turn into clown-like doodles. In Las Vegas, Holli manages to find the Golden Spike of Power, which keeps the Interworld Matrix between the Cool World and the real world intact. It turns her back into a doodle and releases many monstrous doodles into the real world. Jack turns into a super-powered humanoid doodle, and puts the Golden Spike back into its place; Jack is stuck, perhaps forever, in the Cool World, but he has plans to marry Holli. Frank is killed trying to stop Holli, but in the process is reborn as a doodle, allowing him to pursue his relationship with Lonette.
Conception
Storyboard by Louise Zingarelli based on Bakshi's original screenplay.
In the late 1980s, Ralph Bakshi, who went into semi-retirement to focus on his painting, decided that it was time to make another animated film. According to Bakshi, "I made 1,500 bucks in 10 years of painting; I thought it would be nice to pick up a piece of change. So I called my lawyer, who was still speaking to me because no one ever leaves Hollywood, and asked him where I should go to sell a movie."[2]
Ralph Bakshi originally conceived Cool World as an animated horror film,[2] and pitched his original concept to executives at Paramount Pictures. "Basically the original script I handed in was a cartoonist, live action, who goes to bed with a cartoon girl and they create a girl, a bastardized child, half live and half real."[3] The half human, half cartoon child would then travel to the real world and try to murder its irresponsible father. Bakshi states that Paramount Pictures "bought the idea in ten seconds".[4]
Production
While shooting on location, Bakshi was handed a new screenplay that was completely different from the one he had turned in.[3][4] It turned out that producer Frank Mancuso Jr., best known for the Friday the 13th franchise, had the script rewritten in secret. In interviews at the time of the film's release, Mancusco stated a desire to move away from horror films, and wanted to produce a film "about what happens when someone creates a world, becomes defined by it, and then can't escape [...] a film about being trapped by your own creation."[2] Bakshi remembers that he got into a fight with Mancusco and "punched [him] in the mouth."[3] Paramount Pictures threatened Bakshi with a lawsuit if he refused to complete the film. "I thought if I did the animation well, it would be worth it, but you know what? It wasn't worth it."[5] Bakshi also stated that he "had a lot of animators there that I'd brought in and I thought that maybe I could just have fun animating this stuff, which I did."[3]
The artwork by the character Jack Deebs was drawn by underground comix artist Spain Rodriguez.[6]
Bakshi had originally intended to cast Drew Barrymore and Brad Pitt in the film's leading roles. Pitt was cast as Frank Harris instead, with Gabriel Byrne as Deebs and Kim Basinger as Holli.[3] The film's voice cast includes Maurice LaMarche and Charles Adler. According to Bakshi, Basinger had attemped to rewrite the film halfway into its production because she "thought it would be great [...] if she would be able to show this picture in hospitals to sick children [...] I said, 'Kim, I think that's wonderful, but you've got the wrong guy to do that with.' [...] [Mancusco] was sitting there with Kim [...] agreeing with her."[4]
Music
A soundtrack album, Songs from the Cool World, featuring recordings by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Moby, Ministry, The Future Sound of London, and others, was released in 1992 by Warner Bros. Records.[7] It included the track "Real Cool World", a David Bowie song written for the film. The soundtrack received stronger reviews from critics than the film itself, including a four-star rating from Allmusic.[8] Mark Isham's original score for Cool World, featuring a mixture of jazz, orchestral pieces, and electronic remixes, was released on compact disc by Varèse Sarabande. It also received positive reviews.[9][10]
Release and reception
Promotion and merchandising
As part of the film's promotion, the Hollywood Sign was altered to include a 75-foot-tall cutout of Holli Would. The alteration angered local residents.[11][12] In a letter to the city's Recreation and Park Board on Monday, commission officials wrote that they were "appaled" by the board's approval of the alterations and that "the action your board has taken is offensive to Los Angeles women and is not within your role as custodian and guardian of the Hollywood sign. The fact that Paramount Pictures donated a mere $27,000 to Rebuild L.A. should not be a passport to exploit women in Los Angeles."[13] Protestors picketed the unveiling of the altered sign.[13]
Several different licensed video games based on the film were created by Ocean Software and released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo.[14] A four-issue comic book prequel to the film was published as a miniseries by DC Comics.[15] The cover of the first issue featured an original painting by Ralph Bakshi.
Critical reception
Critical response towards the film was generally negative. Additionally, the film drew unfavorable comparisons with Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Roger Ebert wrote in his review of the film: "The DJ who was hosting the radio station's free preview of Cool World leaped onto the stage and promised the audience: 'If you liked Roger Rabbit, you'll love Cool World!' He was wrong, but you can't blame him — he hadn't seen the movie. I have, and I will now promise you that if you liked Roger Rabbit, quit while you're ahead."[16] Frank Mancuso Jr. is quoted as saying "If people come expecting Roger Rabbit, it's their mistake."[17] Film website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of critics, gives the film a score of 4%.[1]
Cast
Voice cast
References
- ^ a b "Tomatometer for Cool World". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ a b c Diamond, Jamie (July 5, 1992). "Animation's Bad Boy Returns, Unrepentant". The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ a b c d e "Rotoscoped Memories: An Interview with Ralph Bakshi". DVD Verdict (2004-08-02). Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ a b c "Interview with Ralph Bakshi". IGN. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ "Who flamed Roger Rabbit?". The Guardian (2006-08-11). Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ "About Spain". Dies Irae. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ "Cool World soundtrack details". SoundtrackCollector. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Mills, Ted. "Review of Songs from the Cool World". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Carlsson, Mikael. "Cool World". Music from the Movies. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ Schelle, Michael (1999). The Score: Interviews with Film Composers. Los Angeles, CA: Silman-James Press.
- ^ Schoch, Deborah (July 6, 1992). "Hollywood Residents Can't Shroud Anger Promotion: Paramount Pictures defends attaching a movie cartoon character to the famous sign. Citizens fear a tourist invasion and say that the landmark is being commercialized.", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-09-22.
- ^ Associated Press (July 7, 1992). "Cartoon Character Opens Landmark Rift", San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved on 2008-09-22.
- ^ a b Chazanov, Mathis (July 7, 1992). "'D' as in Disagreement Cartoon Character Atop Landmark Sign Sets Off Protests", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-09-22.
- ^ "Cool World". MobyGames. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ "Bakshi gallery". Ralph Bakshi.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "Review of Cool World". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ Frank Mancuso Jr., as quoted in the June 1992 edition of Cinefantastique.
External links
|
Ralph Bakshi |
|
| Feature films |
|
|
| Unfinished |
|
|
| Short films |
This Ain't Bebop · Malcom and Melvin · Babe, He Calls Me
|
|
| Television series |
|
|
| Television specials |
|
|
|
