Wizards (1977) Review

        I’m back, talk about a big break. To be honest for talking films for this month, I had no idea what kind of movies to talk about. I ultimately settled on animated films that weren’t Disney, but it was the topic of what movie to start. Particularly animated films by Ralph Bakshi, I had wanted to talk about his feature debut. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the movie on streaming not even for rent on Amazon Prime. So with that, here’s what I think about Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards.

1. Ralph Bakshi

        To get an understanding of the movie, we must talk about Ralph Bakshi. Not to inundate the whole review with a thorough lens but his background is interesting. Born from British occupied section of Palestine then emigrating to the United States, Bakshi got his start on television as an animator. He eventually advanced with his career and started his own company, doing various commercials and contracted for some shows. 

        His feature debut Fritz the Cat was based on the underground comic of the same name by artist/writer Robert Crumb. It was marketed as the first X-Rated animated film to be released. I’ve only seen snippets of the film in various places, but it’s mostly a parody of the social climate of what was happening in the US back in the 60s. It immediately made itself known that animation wasn’t just for kids but for adults as well. 

        Bakshi practically made a name for himself with his style that included making fun of the social commentary that was relevant at the time by using animals. Sometimes even using moments of rotoscope in an animated film. That means drawing on a strip film to be animated instead of just hand drawing it. He was a product of the times. His career spanned between the early 70s to the early 90s but I believe that he was the first instance of an animated director having a voice in his work. 

2. World of “Wizard”

        I specifically chose Wizards because the way the movie looked visually interesting to me. Seeing how the film was different than its animated counterparts also drew me in. With that, we see that the film takes place years after a nuclear war had nearly wiped out all of humanity. Earth is now inhabited by mythical creatures like fairies, dwarves, and elves as the new intelligent life. Although they are divided. 

        We follow Avatar and his group including a hybrid named Elinor and a warrior Weehawk as they travel to stop Avatar’s evil twin Blackwolf. It’s about as basic plot wise but the story is probably dense. Everything is fleshed out at the very start with the use of storyboard stills which looks like it came from an illustrated book. The way its used is gives us a break from the action and to detail what’s happening, since the film’s budget was only around 2 million. 

        The characters are interesting, especially Avatar. He’s the main character and throughout the movie, nothing goes right with everything around him. We see him being a gifted wizard who trains his fairy friend. What I like about Avatar is that he usually doesn’t fight back when he and his group are confronted by danger. Only ever when he conjure up something as a last resort. I was surprised to learn that Mark Hamill appeared and it was his first film literally prior to Star Wars. 

        The animation is the main highlight. Something about Bakshi’s style is sort of new to me since I understand that I’m being repetitive, is different. No one in their right state of mind would ever put anything violent in an animated movie like having a character get shot and have exit wounds to show for it. Especially how it’s not in an exploitive sense where a whole limb gets blown open.

        To me, its interesting to have a world that is mostly dominated by mythical creatures and imbue it with technology. In the beginning, it’s made clear that technology is frowned upon among the mythical creatures. All the while Blackwolf uses a projector for psychological warfare. When you watch it, there’s loads of Nazi stuff. Swastikas galore, although its used to highlight the main villain and his army. 

        I think the main thing with that use of propaganda is that it’s the film’s theme. The villain uses the propaganda to motivate his army since their incompetent. Additionally, they use the old war footage to stun the opposing soldiers since they can’t comprehend it. Conversely, when the heroes are captured and they’re trying to get free, the fairy king believes that the main heroes are the villains since they heard it through Blackwolf. 

        If there is one thing that I find curious is that the character on the poster isn’t the main character. One would think that it is, but Necron 99 does start out as a goon for the main bad guy. I think it’s genius since the character is a robot and has that unorthodox look of what we think a robot could be. Way back during my college years, I saw that poster used as another poster during the University’s student run convention. 

3. Overall

        With Ralph Bakshi, you’re either going to love or hate his style. With Wizards, it was interesting since it’s a different kind of animated movie to come out. Especially at a time when Disney owned that area.