The film was first completed in 1975 as a live-action/animated film, in which only the main characters were animated and the rest were portrayed by live actors, but the film's release was pushed back, and later postponed indefinitely. Warner Bros. claimed that this version of the film was unsatisfactory; concerns about the backlash against Coonskin were also cited.
In 1982, a very different version of the film was released; much of the live-action sequences were replaced by animation, and dialogue was heavily rewritten and reedited. It was given a limited release in the United States and went largely unnoticed; it performed respectably in foreign markets, and developed a cult following. The original version of the film remains unreleased. Bakshi has allegedly disowned the released version.
Plot
In Long Island, a mysterious man shows a middle-aged woman the remains of a black jacket, which is of great sentimental value to the woman, and the man tells the story of the jacket's owner.
In 1953 Brooklyn, Italian-American rebel Vinnie Genzianna is the leader of a greaser gang named "the Stompers". His best friend, Crazy Shapiro, is subject to multiple murder attempts by Crazy's detective father, Solly. One evening in an old basketball court, Vinnie reunites with an old flame named Rozzie Featherschneider, but their reunion is abruptly interrupted by Rozzie's protective Jewish father, who chains her to her bed to prevent her from seeing Vinnie. Vinnie and Crazy steal a car and spend the evening drinking, playing pool, playing pranks on others, and seeing the entire town. They arrive at a bar where they meet up with two prostitutes and go to sleep on the beach, waking up to find themselves close to a group of showering women and their mobster husbands. While Crazy inches over to the ladies, Vinnie finds a dead body buried in the sand. The horrified screams of Vinnie and the women alert the mobsters, who beat up Crazy.
Vinnie runs off and finds himself on the black area of the beach where he bumps into rival gang leader Boogaloo Jones and his gang, the Chaplains. Boogaloo sets up a rumble between his gang and the Stompers. Vinnie later meets up with Roz and Crazy's date Eva. The four head out to a party, where Vinnie tells the Stompers that they are going to fight with the Chaplains, to which the gang responds negatively. Much of the gang and their girls head out to a rock and roll show. Vinnie is horrified at the idea of Crazy and himself having to fight the Chaplains alone. One of the Stompers, Sal, has a run-in with Boogaloo while driving, and winds up in a car crash. Vinnie finally persuades the Stompers to rumble with the Chaplains through a passionate speech.
At a drive-in restaurant, Vinnie and Crazy both make out with their girls. When Rozzie spots a car that she thinks Boogaloo is in, Crazy is quick to drive off after it. Crazy ends up shooting two of the black gang members in an alley dead, which scares Vinnie into ditching town, Rozzie, and the rumble. Disgusted with Vinnie's cowardice, Roz allows Crazy to make love to her in an abandoned warehouse. Solly, who had been investigating the gang members' deaths, interrupts their time together and fights with Crazy to get him to talk. As he is losing, Crazy falsely claims that Vinnie killed the gang members. During his departure, Vinnie bumps into the Stompers and in time for the rumble. As the two gangs wait for Boogaloo to show up, Solly drives up, ready to arrest Vinnie. On the rooftop of a nearby building, Crazy begins hallucinating and shoots randomly towards the street, causing both gangs to begin shooting at each other. Boogaloo is seen on the same rooftop as Crazy, hiding out from the rumble. Sal steps out of protection and is killed by a stray bullet, causing both gangs to cease fire and back away. Vinnie tries to flee and is shot at by Solly. Vinnie pretends to be hit, falls and plays dead. Crazy jumps off the rooftop and lands on Solly, killing them both. As Rozzie calls up a radio station to make a memorial request in honor of Vinnie. Unseen by everyone else, Vinnie stands up and walks away, leaving Brooklyn.
In a bar back in the present day, the mysterious middle-aged man finishes his tale by explaining that Vinnie left due to the heartbreak he felt at Crazy's death. The woman however calls the man out on his story, revealing herself to be Rozzie, having figured out the mysterious man is actually Vinnie, returned after 30 years, and calls him out for his cowardice. She then bluffs that her husband will be arriving shortly and says Vinnie will need to fight him when it happens; fully expecting him to leave again. However, defying her expectation, Vinnie does not leave Rozzie and instead embraces her, and the two lovers reunite.
Frank de Kova as Old Vinnie, returning after 30 years. He is a much wiser and stronger individual than before, willing to fight anyone for the sake of the woman he loves.
After production concluded on Coonskin, Bakshi wanted to distinguish himself artistically by producing a film in which live action and animated characters would interact.[2][3] Bakshi began writing the screenplay for Hey Good Lookin' while editing Coonskin, and storyboarding a proposed series for ABC.[2] The characters of Vinnie and Crazy Shapiro were based upon Bakshi's high school friends, Norman Darrer and Allen Schechterman.[4][5]Warner Bros. had previously agreed to distribute Fritz the Cat before pulling their funding from that film, but were eager to option the screenplay for Hey Good Lookin', and greenlit the film in 1973.[2] Several African-American animators, including graffitists, were hired by Bakshi's studio at a time when black animators were not widely employed by major animation studios.[2] Following controversy over the film Coonskin, some black animators left Bakshi's studio in embarrassment, resulting in production problems for Hey Good Lookin'.[2]
Principal photography began in 1974.[2] The budget was $1.5 million.[2] Pre-production lasted one week, including casting.[2] Grittier sequences were shot on the streets of New York City, while less serious locations were shot on Warner Bros.' sound stages in Los Angeles.[2] According to Bakshi, "What I would do is dress guys up, live-action guys. Very strange dudes! The weirdest guys I could find. Having them talk to animated characters in front of candy stores, discussing girlfriends and such. It was very surrealistic."[2]Yaphet Kotto and the glam punk band New York Dolls were cast in the live-action sequences, with the New York Dolls playing homosexuals.[2][5]Mean Streets actors Richard Romanus and David Proval were cast as the voices of Vinnie and Crazy Shapiro.[2] Much of the shooting of live-action sequences and recording of animated dialogue involved improvisation, with Bakshi setting up the premise of the scene and allowing his actors to create their own dialogue.[2] During the "rumble" sequence, the actors playing the Chaplains were filmed popping and performing styles of dance which later evolved into breakdancing, dance styles which were unheard of in the 1970s studio system.[2]
Bakshi had selected a number of songs from his own record collection for the film's soundtrack, which were not used in the film due to the high costs of licensing the songs.[5] The film was initially scored by singer Dan Hicks, who became involved with the production of the film in 1974. Because of the delay of the film's release, Hicks' label released the material from these sessions under the title It Happened One Bite. When the film was released in 1982, it had been rescored by John Madara.[6]
Much of the film was shot at night, because Bakshi felt that the daylight made the scenes less believable.[2] Bakshi recounts that during the first day of shooting, the actors were unable to play their roles naturally, but began casually talking and acting the way he wanted their characters to act when the cameras were off, including flirting with an actress.[2] However, the camera man was not around to capture these events, so Bakshi filmed them himself.[2] When Bakshi excitedly told William A. Fraker about this, Fraker quit the production and was replaced by a young cinematographer who had never worked in film before.[2]
Post-production
During the post-production of the film, Bakshi found that the cost of the optical effect required to complete live-action scenes with animated characters was larger than the film's budget.[2] In order to complete these scenes cost effectively, Bakshi and his camera man Ted C. Bemiller purchased a 35-millimetre camera to project the footage onto the glass under the animation camera, which was reflected onto where the animation was shot.[2] The same technique was used for the rotoscoped scenes in The Lord of the Rings.[2] According to Bakshi, "The illusion I attempted to create was that of a completely live-action film. Making it work almost drove us crazy."[7]
A three-minute promo of the live-action version of Hey Good Lookin' was screened at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival; a print of this promo is owned by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[2] The film was initially scheduled for a Christmas 1975 release, but was moved to the summers of 1976 and later 1977, before ultimately being postponed indefinitely.[2] Warner Bros. was concerned about any controversy the film would encounter as a result of the backlash over the film Coonskin, despite the fact that Hey Good Lookin' did not contain any political content.[2] The studio also felt that the film was "unreleasable" because of its combination of live-action and animation, but would not spend further money on the project.[5] Bakshi financed the film's completion himself out of the director's fees for other projects he headed from 1976 until 1982, such as: Wizards, The Lord of the Rings, and American Pop.[5]
Warner Bros. president Frank Wells told film trades that Hey Good Lookin' needed to be "fine-tuned", claiming that Bakshi needed to revamp the dialogue and reshoot some scenes because they had not tested well with market research audiences.[2] During production meetings, Wells told Bakshi that he had not fulfilled his contractual obligations and had used more live-action than he said he would; Bakshi's lawyer was able to convince the studio not to sue him.[2]
The majority of the live action footage was deleted; because Bakshi wanted to keep the breakdancing sequences, he used rotoscoping to animate the footage, but did not animate all of the movements for budgetary reasons.[2] Little dialogue from the 1974 cut of the film was retained in the animated version, which instead featured newly recorded dialogue by Proval, Romanus, and Philip Michael Thomas, who had starred in Coonskin.[2]
Release
Following the success of Heavy Metal and American Pop, Warner Bros. became excited about the second version of Hey Good Lookin', forming a specialty division for the film's distribution.[2] The film opened in New York City on October 1, 1982, and was released in Los Angeles in January 1983.[7] Although it went largely unnoticed by the American public,[5] it received respectable business in foreign markets.[2]
Hey Good Lookin' developed a cult following through cable television airings and home video.[2] The 1975 version of the film remains unreleased, although Warner Bros. owns a complete print.[2]
Though a soundtrack album was not originally released at the time of the film's theatrical distribution, in 2006 the Hey Good Lookin' soundtrack was produced and is a burned compact disc release of music from the film with pc printed inlays and was released through the independent record label That Philly Sound. The film is available to buy and rent on iTunes or as a manufacture-on-demand DVD release through the Warner Archive Collection.
Critical reception
In a brief review, Vincent Canby wrote that it was "not exactly incoherent, but whatever it originally had on its mind seems to have slipped away".[8]Leonard Maltin wrote that the film is "more interesting visually than Bakshi's other later films, [...] but as entertainment it's vulgar and pointless."[9]
Animation historian Jerry Beck wrote that "the beginning of the film is quite promising, with a garbage can discussing life on the streets with some garbage. This is an example of what Bakshi did best—using the medium of animation to comment on society. Unfortunately, he doesn't do it enough in this film. There is a wildly imaginative fantasy sequence during the climax, when the character named Crazy starts hallucinating during a rooftop shooting spree. This scene almost justifies the whole film. But otherwise, this is a rehash of ideas better explored in Coonskin, Heavy Traffic, and Fritz the Cat."[7]
Related Research Articles
Ralph Bakshi is an American animator, filmmaker and painter. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1994, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, predominantly urban dramas and fantasy films, five of which he wrote. He has also been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator.
Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that slowly set in with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and the popularization of television animation that started in the late 1950s, reached its peak during the 1970s, and ended around the mid-1980s. This era is characterized by low budgets, limited animation, an emphasis on television over the theater, and the general perception of cartoons being primarily for children. Due to the perceived cheap production values, poor animation, and mixed critical and commercial reception, the era is generally looked back upon negatively by critics and animation historians. The television animation of this period is often referred to as the dark age of American animation, while the theatrical animation from the time is sometimes referred as the bronze age.
While the history of animation began much earlier, this article is concerned with the development of the medium after the emergence of celluloid film in 1888, as produced for theatrical screenings, television and (non-interactive) home video.
The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 British-American animated fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi from a screenplay by Chris Conkling and Peter S. Beagle. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, adapting from the volumes The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of fantasy races—Hobbits, Men, an Elf, a Dwarf and a wizard—who form a fellowship to destroy a magical ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, the main antagonist.
Wizards is a 1977 American animated post-apocalyptic science fantasy film written, directed and produced by Ralph Bakshi and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. The film follows a battle between two wizards of opposing powers, one representing the forces of magic and the other representing the forces of technology.
Heavy Traffic is a 1973 American live-action/adult animated drama film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film, which begins, ends, and occasionally combines with live-action, explores the often surreal fantasies of a young New York City cartoonist named Michael Corleone, using pinball imagery as a metaphor for inner-city life. Heavy Traffic was Bakshi and producer Steve Krantz's follow-up to the film Fritz the Cat. Though producer Krantz made varied attempts to produce an R-rated film, Heavy Traffic was given an X rating by the MPAA. The film received largely positive reviews and is widely considered to be Bakshi's biggest critical success.
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation division and label of Warner Bros.
Thomas Archer Ray was an American animator.
Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures is an American animated television series. It is a revival of the Mighty Mouse cartoon character. Produced by Bakshi-Hyde Ventures and Terrytoons, the show aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from fall 1987 through the 1988–89 season. It was briefly rerun on Saturday mornings on Fox Kids in November and December 1992.
Coonskin is a 1975 American live-action/animated satirical crime film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film references the Uncle Remus folk tales, and satirizes the blaxploitation film genre as well as Disney's racially controversial film Song of the South, also adapted from the Uncle Remus folk tales. The film's narrative concerns three anthropomorphic Uncle Remus characters, Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear. They rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists, and the Mafia, in a satire of both racism within the Hollywood film system, and America itself. The film stars Philip Thomas, Charles Gordone, Barry White, and Scatman Crothers, all of whom appear in both live-action and animated sequences.
Last Days of Coney Island is a 2015 American adult animated short film written, produced, directed and animated by Ralph Bakshi. The story concerns a NYPD detective, the sex worker he alternately loves and arrests, and the seedy characters that haunt the streets of New York City's run-down amusement district. It is notable for being the last film that Bakshi directed and animated before he retired from animation.
Fritz the Cat is a 1972 American adult animated black comedy film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi in his directorial debut. Based on the comic strip of the same name by Robert Crumb, the film focuses on its Skip Hinnant-portrayed titular character, a glib, womanizing and fraudulent cat in an anthropomorphic animal version of New York City during the mid-to-late 1960s. Fritz decides on a whim to drop out of college, interacts with inner city African American crows, unintentionally starts a race riot and becomes a leftist revolutionary. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations and the free love movement, as well as serving as a criticism of the countercultural political revolution and dishonest political activists.
Donald W. Ernst was an American film, music and sound editor and film producer. He commonly worked in the animation industry.
Jesse Welles Nathan is a former actress, perhaps known best for her voice work in the animated classic Wizards (1977).
Richard Romanus was an American actor. Among other roles, he appeared in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and provided voices for Ralph Bakshi's animated films Wizards and Hey Good Lookin'. He played Richard La Penna, Jennifer Melfi's ex-husband, later husband again, in four episodes of The Sopranos from 1999 to 2002. In 1999, he co-wrote the Christmas film If You Believe along with his wife Anthea Sylbert, which was nominated by the Writers Guild of America TV Award for Original Long Form.
Irven LeRoy Spence was an American animator. He is best known for his work on MGM's Tom and Jerry animated shorts. Spence has been credited variously as Irven Spence, Irvin Spence, and Irv Spence.
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies is a 1972 animated one-hour TV-movie that was aired on December 16 as an episode of the anthology series The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. In this Filmation-produced movie, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and other Looney Tunes characters interact with the characters from the Filmation series Groovie Goolies.
The animated series Scooby-Doo has been adapted and appeared in five feature-length films since its debut in 1969, not including the series of animated direct-to-video films that have been in production since 1998, or the four animated television films produced from 1987 to 1994.
Brenda Lee Banks was an American animator, who was one of the first African American women to work as a professional animator.
↑ Cohen, Karl F (1997). "Coonskin". Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p.88. ISBN0-7864-0395-0.
↑ Gibson, Jon M.; McDonnell, Chris (2008). "Brownsville". Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe Publishing. p.125. ISBN978-0-7893-1684-4.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Gibson, Jon M.; McDonnell, Chris (2008). "Hey Good Lookin'". Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe Publishing. pp.180, 184. ISBN978-0-7893-1684-4.
↑ Planer, Lindsay (2003). "Dan Hicks". All Music Guide to Country. Backbeat Books. p.343. ISBN0-87930-760-9.
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