History Creator / RalphBakshi

Nowadays, Ralph Bakshi may be best remembered for his work on a film adaptation of Creator/RobertCrumb's risqué underground comic strip ''ComicBook/FritzTheCat'', which became [[WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat the first American cartoon to be rated X by the MPAA]], much to Bakshi's chagrin. He worked for the [[TheEighties 1980s]] revival of the classic "Franchise/{{Superman}} [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] MickeyMouse" cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'', which was later canned for [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar getting too much crap past the radar]] (one of which was a scene of alleged cocaine use that freaked out the MoralGuardians). Despite the content and censor interference, the show was extremely influential on pretty much every animated series that followed it over the next decade, specifically ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow''.

* ShownTheirWork: In the special features on the DVD of Wizards, Ralph talks about some of the animators that worked on the film.

%%* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Aside from perhaps ''Wizards'' and ''Lord of the Rings'', most of his works land squarely on the Cynical end of the scale.

Ralph Bakshi (pronounced Back-Shee, ''not'' Bash-key) was born in Haifa (then part of the British mandate of Palestine) on October 29, 1938. When he was one year old, he traveled with his family to America and settled in Brownsville, New York, the seedy lower-income community that became the inspiration for the [[DarkerAndEdgier dark and gritty]] urban setting of many of his cartoons. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was about to break out; in fact, when traveling past the Mediterranean, the ship on which the Bakshis were sailing was boarded by Nazi troopers, but the ship's American affiliations prevented the incident from becoming hostile.

* DeathByCameo: He himself makes a cameo in each of his films where he gets killed with the exceptions of ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanPop'', and ''Film/CoolWorld''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ralphbakshirenstimpy.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bakshi, pictured here with [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow two unidentified fans]].]]

* AdamWesting: He voiced an [[InkSuitActor animated version of himself]] in the ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' episode "Fire Dogs II". It was probably a favor for John, since Ralph was his mentor and John is Ralph's best friend.

* DerangedAnimation: In most everything he's touched, save for ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanPop'', and ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'', which were realistic, rotoscoped animation. [[note]]But that's not saying they're anywhere near normal either.[[/note]]

%%* GreyAndGrayMorality

->''"Ralph Bakshi is a force of nature. He saved the TV animation industry -- the creative part of it -- by giving back the art to the artists."''
-->-- '''Creator/JohnKricfalusi''', creator of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren And Stimpy]]''

* AllJewsAreAshkenazi: Averted; he's a Krymchak, one of the rarest Jewish groups, and was born in Haifa which was then part of Mandatory Palestine.
* BlackAndGreyMorality / GreyAndGrayMorality

* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: Bakshi is known within the animation industry for this, especially on the ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse: The New Adventures'' show. Creator/JohnKricfalusi (who's also been fired several times) in particular has stated that he lost count on how many times Ralph fired him from the show.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Some people who worked with Ralph would say he is a mad force of nature. However, Ralph also has shown to be a lovable teddy bear who really loves everybody he works with.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Aside from perhaps ''Wizards'' and ''Lord of the Rings'', most of his works land squarely on the Cynical end of the scale.
** While its understandable to not like the main protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/HeyGoodLookin'', Vinny, the movie itself might be one of Bakshi's more heartwarming movies.
** His version of Mighty Mouse is probably his most idealistic work.

* ''[[Creator/DrSeuss The Butter Battle Book]]'' TV special (1989)

* LighterAndSofter: ''Wizards'' is a rather dark film, but it's a much lighter film than his first three animated features (it was also the first of Bakshi's films to be rated PG rather than R or X). Obviously, his [[Creator/DrSeuss Butter Battle Book]] TV special and two ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'' shorts weren't as adult as most of his theatrical films.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Wizards'' is a rather dark film, but its a much lighter film than his first three animated features (it was also the first of Bakshi's films to be rated PG rather than R or X). Obviously, his [[Creator/DrSeuss Butter Battle Book]] TV special and two ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'' shorts weren't as adult as most of his theatrical films.

* MushroomSamba: Heavy traffic, Coonskin, and Hey Good Lookin' have scenes that describe this perfectly.

** While its understandable to not like the main protagonist of WesternAnimation/HeyGoodLookin, Vinny, the movie itself might be one of Bakshi's more heartwarming movies.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Ralph is 100% performer. All he cares about is the content of his films, and his technique is completely subservient to it--he doesn't give a rats ass about whether or not his animation is polished or stacks up to the standards of Disney, because he knew he would only set himself up for failure if he held his very low budget films hostage to Disney's very high standards for animation.

** His version of Might Mouse is probably his most idealistic work.

* MushroomSamba: Heavy traffic, Coonskin, and Hey good lookin have scenes that describe this perfectly.

* BlackAndGreyMorality/GreyAndGrayMorality

-->''"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 animators have always done? You know… the hand on the hip, finger-pointing, broad action, lots of [[TheTwelvePrinciplesOfAnimation 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."''

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Ralph is 100% performer. All he cares about is the content of his films, and his technique is completely subserviant to it--he doesn't give a rats ass about whether or not his animation is polished or stacks up to the standards of Disney, because he knew he would only set himself up for failure if he held his very low budget films hostage to Disney's very high standards for animation.

* AdamWesting: He voiced an [[InkSuitActor animated version of himself]] in the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon]]'' episode "Fire Dogs II". It was probably a favor for John, since Ralph was his mentor and John is Ralph's best friend.

->''"Baby, I'm the world's most ripped-off cartoonist in the history of the world, and that's all I'm gonna say."''
-->-- '''Ralph Bakshi'''

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: All of his works land squarely on the Cynical end of the scale.

* DarkerAndEdgier: His films in contrast to other animated films made at the time. Many of them have explicit adult content and tone to them, and they do ''not'' pull punches when it comes to their political messages. Even his lighter works like ''Wizards'' tend to have rather dark elements to them.

* DerangedAnimation: In most everything he's touched, save for ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanPop'', and ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'', which were realistic, rotoscoped animation. [[note]]But that's not saying their anywhere near normal either.[[/note]]

Also worth noting is that Bakshi also produced and directed ''WesternAnimation/RocketRobinHood'' and the second and third seasons of the 1960s ''[[WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967 Spider-Man]]'' cartoon. The latter varied in quality under Bakshi's tenure, although a lot of this was due to ExecutiveMeddling. The suits continually cut both Bakshi's budget and his lead times, forcing him to continually reuse stock footage in the same way that Creator/{{Filmation}} later would. By the end, Bakshi was reduced to literally stitching together new episodes ''entirely'' out of stock footage.

Bakshi's filmography certainly does not stop there; he is also the creative mind behind such underground cartoon milestones as the animated version of ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', the CultClassic ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'', ''Heavy Traffic'' (a gritty, [[BlackComedy darkly humorous]] modern-day fable about urban violence), ''{{Coonskin}}'' (his highly controversial reimagining of the tales of Uncle Remus, considered racist by many due largely to its "blackface" character designs, although the film is supportive of the black community and approved by the NAACP) and ''Film/CoolWorld'', a film he envisioned as the first animated horror film, but was [[ExecutiveMeddling radically changed by Paramount Pictures without Bakshi's consent]] and wound up as a subpar imitation of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''.

Also worth noting is that Bakshi also produced and directed ''RocketRobinHood'' and the second and third seasons of the 1960s ''SpiderMan'' cartoon. The latter varied in quality under Bakshi's tenure, although a lot of this was due to ExecutiveMeddling. The suits continually cut both Bakshi's budget and his lead times, forcing him to continually reuse stock footage in the same way that {{Creator/Filmation}} later would. By the end, Bakshi was reduced to literally stitching together new episodes ''entirely'' out of stock footage.

Nowadays, Ralph Bakshi may be best remembered for his work on a film adaptation of Creator/RobertCrumb's risqué underground comic strip ''ComicBook/FritzTheCat'', which became [[WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat the first American cartoon to be rated X by the MPAA]], much to Bakshi's chagrin. He worked for the [[TheEighties 1980s]] revival of the classic "Franchise/{{Superman}} [[XMeetsY meets]] MickeyMouse" cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'', which was later canned for [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar getting too much crap past the radar]] (one of which was a scene of alleged cocaine use that freaked out the MoralGuardians). Despite the content and censor interference, the show was extremely influential on pretty much every animated series that followed it over the next decade, specifically ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow''.

Ralph Bakshi (pronounced Back-Shee, ''not'' Bash-key) was born in Haifa (then part of the British mandate of Palestine) in 1937. When he was one year old, he traveled with his family to America and settled in Brownsville, New York, the seedy lower-income community that became the inspiration for the [[DarkerAndEdgier dark and gritty]] urban setting of many of his cartoons. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was about to break out; in fact, when traveling past the Mediterranean, the ship on which the Bakshis were sailing was boarded by Nazi troopers, but the ship's American affiliations prevented the incident from becoming hostile.