RETRO MOVIE REVIEW: WIZARDS, 1977

WIZARDS, 1977, Ralph Bakshi“s fantasy spectacle, a feast for animation fan“s senses, photographed on film, of course, using traditional old school cell animation along with revolutionary rotoscope techniques. Bakshi, at the time, was known for creating “adult”“ animated features such as FRITZ THE CAT, 1972 and HEAVY TRAFFIC, 1973, which touched on modern urban themes. With WIZARDS, Bakshi began to dip his toe in what he would call his first “family/kid”“ animated feature.

Bakshi“s objective was to produce an animated feature in a non-traditional way, which would not sugarcoat the reality of a story about the battle between good and evil. Bakshi did not want to shy away from blood-splattered violence and the use of Nazi propaganda films in order to make a point about the horrors of war. Bakshi wanted kids to think about the subject matter, not give it a pass because of the usual animated distractions employed by production studios such as Disney, which relied on a glossy facade and sing-songy approach.

The story revolves around two wizards, two brothers, who battle for control of a post”“apocalyptic Earth. There“s the good wizard, Avatar, a kindly, cigar smoking, scotch-drinking ruler of Montagar, a beautiful paradise occupied with elves and fairies. His brother, the evil wizard Blackwolf, rules the wasteland known as Scortch, a smoldering ruin of the old world filled with goblins and mutant degenerates. When they were young, Blackwolf made a play for dominance over the Earth by trying to kill Avatar. After a mighty battle Avatar defeated Blackwolf and banished him to Scortch.

While Blackwolf is licking his wounds for thousands of years he discovered the cause of the destruction of the old world”” technology. He realizes that technology was the force that de-evolved humanity. Love, compassion, and magic were lost due to the addiction to technology. Blackwolf commanded his mutants to start unearthing anything with technological value, eventually discovering an old film projector and several Nazi propaganda films. When Blackwolf and his mutants lay siege to Montagar, he projects the Nazi propaganda films into the sky, which stuns and terrifies Avatar“s army, and results in their brutal defeat. It“s then up to Avatar and his trusty companions, a spirited fairy, a courageous elf, and a re-programed robot assassin, to travel to Scortch and defeat Blackwolf.

This is pretty heavy stuff for a “family/kid”“ flick. I“m all for it, though, because Bakshi called it right! He was truly ahead of his time. Look what technology has done to humanity in the Internet age. People are stuck to their computers and smartphones. What“s worse is when parents thrust a smartphone in a kids face in order to keep them “occupied.”“ Technology truly is the killer of creativity, love, compassion, and magic”” basic characteristics worth fighting for in order to keep humans human.

WIZARDS was not designed to be a glossy, shiny animated film with catchy tunes, it was designed to be an entertaining, thought-provoking fantasy adventure.Â Â If you are an animation fan, add this flick to the list.