Ralph Bakshi

Directing

Ralph Bakshi

Born

1938-10-29 (87)

Place of birth

Haifa, Mandatory Palestine [now Israel]

Known for

Directing

Credits

57 titles

Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is a Palestinian-born American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote. He has been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator. Beginning his career at the Terrytoons television cartoon studio as a cel polisher, Bakshi was eventually promoted to director. He moved to the animation division of Paramount Pictures in 1967 and started his own studio, Bakshi Productions, in 1968. Through producer Steve Krantz, Bakshi m…

Known for

The Lord of the Rings poster
6.6

Young Hobbit Frodo Baggins is thrown into an amazing adventure when he's tasked with destroying the One Ring, created by the dark lord Sauron. Frodo must travel in a small fellowship of nine warriors and accomplices. But it won't be an easy journey for the Fellowship of the Ring, on the ultimate quest to rid Middle-earth of evil.

The Lord of the Rings

1978

Spicy City poster
5.4

In a neo-noir future, nightclub hostess and classy femme fatale Raven presents various stories that either involve some of her guests or even herself. Some are sleazy, some violent, some about love, and some about loneliness, some darkly humorous, and some bittersweet and tragic, some are gritty cyberpunk thrillers and some are more fantastical and lighthearted, but they are all spicy and original.

Spicy City

1997

Fire and Ice poster
6.7

The villainous Nekron and his mother, Queen Juliana, plot against the human race from their frigid fortress. Creating mass destruction with huge glaciers, mother and son incur the wrath of Larn, a warrior whose entire village was destroyed by ice. When Nekron's underlings kidnap the beautiful Princess Teegra, Larn sets out to rescue her, assisted by the fierce and enigmatic Darkwolf.

Fire and Ice

1983

Cool World poster
5.7

While incarcerated for murder, cartoonist Jack Deebs found escape by creating Cool World, a series featuring a voluptuous femme fatale named Holli Would. But the artist becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli transports Jack into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. Hard-boiled detective Frank Harris – the only other human in Cool World – cautions Jack with the law: Noids (humans) don't have sex with doodles (cartoons). However, flesh proves weaker than ink as Holli takes human form in Las Vegas, staring in a trans-universal chase that threatens the destruction of both worlds.

Cool World

1992

Fritz the Cat poster
6.2

In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.

Fritz the Cat

1972

Coonskin poster
6.1

A multi-layered satire of race relations in America. Live-action sequences of a prison break bracket the animated tale of Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox, who rise to the top of the crime ranks in Harlem by going up against a con-man, a racist cop, and the Mafia.

Coonskin

1975

Film credits

1970s · 5 titles

Fritz the Cat poster
6.2

In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.

Fritz the Cat

1972

Coonskin poster
6.1

A multi-layered satire of race relations in America. Live-action sequences of a prison break bracket the animated tale of Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox, who rise to the top of the crime ranks in Harlem by going up against a con-man, a racist cop, and the Mafia.

Coonskin

1975

Wizards poster
6.2

After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.

Wizards

1977

Wizards poster
6.2

After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.

Wizards

1977

Heavy Traffic poster
6.5

A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.

Heavy Traffic

1973

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Lord of the Rings poster
6.6

Young Hobbit Frodo Baggins is thrown into an amazing adventure when he's tasked with destroying the One Ring, created by the dark lord Sauron. Frodo must travel in a small fellowship of nine warriors and accomplices. But it won't be an easy journey for the Fellowship of the Ring, on the ultimate quest to rid Middle-earth of evil.

The Lord of the Rings

1978

Fire and Ice poster
6.7

The villainous Nekron and his mother, Queen Juliana, plot against the human race from their frigid fortress. Creating mass destruction with huge glaciers, mother and son incur the wrath of Larn, a warrior whose entire village was destroyed by ice. When Nekron's underlings kidnap the beautiful Princess Teegra, Larn sets out to rescue her, assisted by the fierce and enigmatic Darkwolf.

Fire and Ice

1983

Fire and Ice poster
6.7

The villainous Nekron and his mother, Queen Juliana, plot against the human race from their frigid fortress. Creating mass destruction with huge glaciers, mother and son incur the wrath of Larn, a warrior whose entire village was destroyed by ice. When Nekron's underlings kidnap the beautiful Princess Teegra, Larn sets out to rescue her, assisted by the fierce and enigmatic Darkwolf.

Fire and Ice

1983

Cool World poster
5.7

While incarcerated for murder, cartoonist Jack Deebs found escape by creating Cool World, a series featuring a voluptuous femme fatale named Holli Would. But the artist becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli transports Jack into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. Hard-boiled detective Frank Harris – the only other human in Cool World – cautions Jack with the law: Noids (humans) don't have sex with doodles (cartoons). However, flesh proves weaker than ink as Holli takes human form in Las Vegas, staring in a trans-universal chase that threatens the destruction of both worlds.

Cool World

1992

Fritz the Cat poster
6.2

In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.

Fritz the Cat

1972

Fritz the Cat poster
6.2

In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.

Fritz the Cat

1972

Coonskin poster
6.1

A multi-layered satire of race relations in America. Live-action sequences of a prison break bracket the animated tale of Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox, who rise to the top of the crime ranks in Harlem by going up against a con-man, a racist cop, and the Mafia.

Coonskin

1975

Coonskin poster
6.1

A multi-layered satire of race relations in America. Live-action sequences of a prison break bracket the animated tale of Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox, who rise to the top of the crime ranks in Harlem by going up against a con-man, a racist cop, and the Mafia.

Coonskin

1975

Wizards poster
6.2

After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.

Wizards

1977

Wizards poster
6.2

After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.

Wizards

1977

Wizards poster
6.2

After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.

Wizards

1977

American Pop poster
6.9

The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.

American Pop

1981

American Pop poster
6.9

The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.

American Pop

1981

Heavy Traffic poster
6.5

A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.

Heavy Traffic

1973

Heavy Traffic poster
6.5

A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.

Heavy Traffic

1973

Hey Good Lookin' poster
5.5

In 1953 Brooklyn, charismatic hood and The Stompers leader Vinnie Genzianna, his friend and second-in-command Crazy Shapiro, and their respective girlfriends Roz and Eva get wrapped up in an escalating conflict with the rival Black gang, The Chaplains, lead by Boogaloo Jones.

Hey Good Lookin'

1982

Hey Good Lookin' poster
5.5

In 1953 Brooklyn, charismatic hood and The Stompers leader Vinnie Genzianna, his friend and second-in-command Crazy Shapiro, and their respective girlfriends Roz and Eva get wrapped up in an escalating conflict with the rival Black gang, The Chaplains, lead by Boogaloo Jones.

Hey Good Lookin'

1982

Hey Good Lookin' poster
5.5

In 1953 Brooklyn, charismatic hood and The Stompers leader Vinnie Genzianna, his friend and second-in-command Crazy Shapiro, and their respective girlfriends Roz and Eva get wrapped up in an escalating conflict with the rival Black gang, The Chaplains, lead by Boogaloo Jones.

Hey Good Lookin'

1982

Cool and the Crazy poster
4.4

High school sweethearts Roslyn and Michael, now in their twenties, co-exist in a deeply unfulfilling marriage with kids. Both embark on extramarital affairs, unaware of the violent repercussions that await.

Cool and the Crazy

1994

Cool and the Crazy poster
4.4

High school sweethearts Roslyn and Michael, now in their twenties, co-exist in a deeply unfulfilling marriage with kids. Both embark on extramarital affairs, unaware of the violent repercussions that await.

Cool and the Crazy

1994

The Fuz poster
8.0

An inept superhero tries to stop a tiny hairball that has been scaring various New Yorkers.

The Fuz

1967

Mouse Trek poster
7.0

A cat is made General of an alien planet's army and put in charge of hunting a giant mouse.

Mouse Trek

1967

Last Days of Coney Island poster
5.5

In the cheap glitter and glow of a fading Coney Island, a group of characters live out their sordid, strange lives trying to get somewhere fast - any way they can. Desperately trying to love and be loved. These cops, call girls, mafia hoods, transvestites, fortune-tellers, clowns, and freaks are all intertwined, heading on a crazy rollercoaster ride into a black hole they think is life. All of these characters are totally removed from the 1960s America that, at the same time, is violently changing its values, fast. It is how hard they try, with the deck stacked against them, that we root for them in amazement.

Last Days of Coney Island

2015

Last Days of Coney Island poster
5.5

In the cheap glitter and glow of a fading Coney Island, a group of characters live out their sordid, strange lives trying to get somewhere fast - any way they can. Desperately trying to love and be loved. These cops, call girls, mafia hoods, transvestites, fortune-tellers, clowns, and freaks are all intertwined, heading on a crazy rollercoaster ride into a black hole they think is life. All of these characters are totally removed from the 1960s America that, at the same time, is violently changing its values, fast. It is how hard they try, with the deck stacked against them, that we root for them in amazement.

Last Days of Coney Island

2015

Last Days of Coney Island poster
5.5

In the cheap glitter and glow of a fading Coney Island, a group of characters live out their sordid, strange lives trying to get somewhere fast - any way they can. Desperately trying to love and be loved. These cops, call girls, mafia hoods, transvestites, fortune-tellers, clowns, and freaks are all intertwined, heading on a crazy rollercoaster ride into a black hole they think is life. All of these characters are totally removed from the 1960s America that, at the same time, is violently changing its values, fast. It is how hard they try, with the deck stacked against them, that we root for them in amazement.

Last Days of Coney Island

2015

This Ain't Bebop poster
5.7

This Ain't Bebop is Ralph Bakshi's first live action short, starring Harvey Keitel and featuring Ron Thompson as the beatnik poet and Rick Singer as Jackson Pollock.

This Ain't Bebop

1989

This Ain't Bebop poster
5.7

This Ain't Bebop is Ralph Bakshi's first live action short, starring Harvey Keitel and featuring Ron Thompson as the beatnik poet and Rick Singer as Jackson Pollock.

This Ain't Bebop

1989

Christmas in Tattertown poster
4.6

Told by an anthropomorphic saxophone, a young girl named Debbie, her pet dog, and her toy doll Muffet are sent to a magical world called Tattertown, where Muffet comes to life and, seeking freedom, refuses to go back to Debbie. As Debbie learns more about Tattertown, she realizes that they have no Christmas, so she tries to bring some holiday cheer to the little town. However, Christmas reminds Muffet of the day she was given to Debbie and plots to sabotage it with the help of her minion Spider. A pilot for Nickelodeon's second-ever series, created by Ralph Bakshi, and later repurposed into a Christmas special.

Christmas in Tattertown

1988

The Butter Battle Book poster
6.5

A cold war between two lands over a ridiculous dispute leads to a perilous arms race.

The Butter Battle Book

1989

The Butter Battle Book poster
6.5

A cold war between two lands over a ridiculous dispute leads to a perilous arms race.

The Butter Battle Book

1989

Imagining America poster
6.5

An anthology consisting of four shorts with the central theme of life in the United States, including a surreal narrative about a man's search for his past in Los Angeles; an impressionistic look at American myths and rituals, featuring a large dance sequence; a stylized portrait of the South Bronx; and a delve into the history of Route 66.

Imagining America

1989

Hound Town poster
5.0

The misadventures of a small mutt named Rusty and his human family and canine friends.

Hound Town

1989

No artwork available
NR

A Mighty Heroes short.

The Return of the Monsterizer

1973

Mini-Squirts poster
7.0

Mini-Squirts (1967) shows two kids (a boy and a girl) playing house, only to take the roles of husband and wife in a movie/soap-opera fashion, complete with organ music and overly-dramatic dialogues.

Mini-Squirts

1967

Midwest poster
NR

A new Bakshi joint. A poem about the American Midwest. One from a series of new work by Ralph and his grandson, Miles Bakshi.

Midwest

2023

Midwest poster
NR

A new Bakshi joint. A poem about the American Midwest. One from a series of new work by Ralph and his grandson, Miles Bakshi.

Midwest

2023

No artwork available
NR

a vivid look at the teenage subculture of South Bronx.

Reflections of A Native Son

1989

Gadmouse: The Apprentice Good Fairy poster
9.0

Gadmouse attempts to make a happy ending for a cat stuck being abused by his brothers.

Gadmouse: The Apprentice Good Fairy

1965

Babe, He Calls Me poster
7.5

Melvin's saga continues as his partnership with Malcom is compromised by an urban superhero's intrusion. Meanwhile, Melvin's mother aids a criminal after being unable to meet with her son.

Babe, He Calls Me

1997

Babe, He Calls Me poster
7.5

Melvin's saga continues as his partnership with Malcom is compromised by an urban superhero's intrusion. Meanwhile, Melvin's mother aids a criminal after being unable to meet with her son.

Babe, He Calls Me

1997