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{{creator}}
[[File:ralphbakshirenstimpy.gif|frame|Bakshi, pictured here with [[The Ren and Stimpy Show
{{quote|''"Ralph Bakshi is a force of nature. He saved the [[Western Animation|TV animation]] industry -- the creative part of it -- by giving back the art to the artists."''|'''[[
{{quote|''"Baby, I'm the world's most [[Follow the Leader|ripped-off]] cartoonist, and that's all I'm gonna say."''|'''Ralph Bakshi'''}}
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Bakshi became interested in cartooning when he encountered a book titled ''The Complete Guide to Cartooning'' by Gene Byrnes in the Brownsville public library (which he promptly stole), circa 1952. Despite being a poor student and disliked by his teachers, who considered him a talentless punk, Ralph was one of only 10 students of art who passed a drawing exam to enter Manhattan's School of Industrial Arts.
He got his start working for famed [[The Golden Age of Animation|golden-age]] American cartoonist [[Terry Toons|Paul Terry]], a man who regarded cartoons as all business and no art. Bakshi's inventiveness, disregard for the rules, and all-around moxie eventually earned him a certain degree of prestige. He created the obscure [[Newspaper Comics|comic strips]] ''Bonefoot & Fudge'' and ''Junktown'', and launched some larger-scale animation projects like his animated film ''[[Wizards]]'' and ''[[
Nowadays, Ralph Bakshi may be best remembered for his work on a film adaptation of [[Robert Crumb]]'s risqué underground comic strip ''[[Fritz the Cat (
Bakshi's filmography certainly does not stop there; he is also the creative mind behind such underground cartoon milestones as the animated version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
Also worth noting is that Bakshi also produced and directed ''[[Rocket Robin Hood]]'' and the second and third seasons of the 1960s ''[[Spider
The book ''Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi'' provides much information on the life, influences and work of this [[Needs More Love|sadly underrated]] animation maverick. His final work, ''The Last Days of Coney Island'', is currently in [[Development Hell]].
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=== Films ===
* [[Fritz the Cat (
* [[Heavy Traffic]] (1973)
* [[Coonskin]] (1975)
* [[Wizards]] (1977)
* [[The Lord of the Rings (
* [[
* [[Hey Good Lookin']]' (1982)
* [[Fire and Ice (
* [[Cool World]] (1992)
* [[Cool and
* [[Development Hell|Last Days of Coney Island]] (unfinished)
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* [[Dr. Seuss|The Butter Battle Book]] TV special (1989)
* [[
* [[
* [[
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=== Some recurring characteristics of Ralph Bakshi's work: ===
* [[Adam Westing]]: He voiced an [[Ink Suit Actor|animated version of himself]] in the ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show
* [[All Animation Is Disney]]: Ralph didn't work for Disney, but he's often mistaken for a few things that he was believed to have part of but had no connection with whatsoever.
** Some people [[Did Not Do the Research|cite him]] as the director of ''[[
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: His films in contrast to other animated films made at the time.
* [[Deranged Animation]]: In most everything he's touched, save for ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
* [[Development Hell]]: ''Last Days of Coney island'' is in this, though according [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bBdVUnZpKo according] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dk42LkKXRw to] [http://ericaglasier.com/2011/05/06/theres-nothing-wrong-with-this-town-ralph-bakshi-on-winnipeg/ some sources], a Toronto backer wants to help out the funding for the feature.
* [[Death
* [[Disney School of Acting and Mime]]: Ralph dislikes Disney acting, feeling that its become stale and cliche, and that animators should try and experiment with new types of acting:
{{quote| ''"When I hear 2D animators today talking about acting in hand-drawn cartoons, I ask, what kind of acting? Are you talking about the old fashioned acting that [[Seen It a Million Times|animators have always done]]? You know… the hand on the hip, finger-pointing, broad action, lots of [[The Twelve Principles of Animation|overlapping action]], screeching to a halt- all that turn-of-the-century old fashioned mime stuff. Is that what you’re talking about? Well, forget about it. If you’re gonna compete with computer animation, you better go all out and do something that’s totally different. Call it “new acting”. Blow the computer out of the water."'' }}
* [[Doing It for
* [[Executive Meddling]]: He's a frequent victim of this, particularly with ''[[Cool World]]'' and his TV series ''Spicy City'' (which led to the latter being cancelled despite decent ratings).
* [[Furry Denial]]: Bakshi's reasoning for why the anthropomorphic characters in his films never act like animals is that it would ruin what he was trying to create, which was a more realistic and mature form of animation.
* [[George Jetson Job Security]]: Bakshi is known within the animation industry for this, especially on the ''[[
* [[Lighter and Softer]]: Obviously, his two ''[[
* [[Moral Dissonance]]: ''[[Wizards]]'' has [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]] enforced by [[Designated Hero|Designated Heroes]] who think [[Science Is Bad]] and yet aren't afraid to {{spoiler|[[Hypocritical Humor|shoot the villain]].}} Actually, Bakshi has stated that the message behind ''Wizards'' isn't that [[Science Is Bad]], it's that propaganda is bad. Note that this is a common theme in Bakshi's work.
* [[Mushroom Samba]]- Heavy traffic, Coonskin, and Hey good lookin have scenes that describe this perfectly.
* [[Roger Rabbit Effect]]: ''Heavy Traffic'', ''Coonskin'' and ''[[Cool World]]''
* [[Rotoscoping]]: On ''[[
* [[Shown Their Work]]: In the special features on the DVD of Wizards, Ralph talks about some of the animators that worked on the film.
* [[What Could Have Been]]: Sometime during the 1980's when Ralph was working on ''Mighty Mouse'', he had recognized John K's talent. Ralph and John were planning on teaming up to do an animated film called "Bobby's girl". [[Teen Drama|Which was set to be a parody of the teen comedies during the time]]. However Tri-Star [[Executive Meddling|canceled the project]]. But artwork of this proposed project can be seen in the [http://www.amazon.com/Unfiltered-Complete-Bakshi-Behind-Mighty/dp/0789316846 Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi] book. One can wonder what would have happened if this film had been made.
** Ralph had an interest of doing a film of ''[[
** Originally, Ralph Bakshi envisioned ''[[Cool World]]'' as an animated erotic horror film about a cartoonist who has sex with his hot female creation and spawns a half-human, half-cartoon daughter who sets out to kill her parents for being born a freak. Sadly, due to [[Executive Meddling]], the premise was changed into a wannabe ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
** One of the ''[[
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