Wizards (1977)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writer:

Ralph Bakshi (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The ultimate futuristic fantastic epic

Plot:

On a post-apocalyptic Earth, A wizard and his faire folk comrades fight an evil wizard who's using technology in his bid for conquest.

Plot Keywords:

Wizard | Mutant | Fairy | Technology | Twins

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Bob Holt	...	Avatar (voice)
Jesse Welles	...	Elinore (voice)
Richard Romanus	...	Weehawk (voice)
David Proval	...	Peace (voice)
Jim Connell	...	President (voice) (as James Connell)
Steve Gravers	...	Blackwolf (voice)
Barbara Sloane	...	Fairy (voice)
Angelo Grisanti	...	Frog (voice)
Hyman Wien	...	Priest (voice)
Christopher Tayback	...	Peewhittle (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	Sean (voice) (as Mark Hamil)
Peter Hobbs	...	General (voice)
Tina Romanus	...	Prostitute (voice) (as Tina Bowman)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ralph Bakshi	...	Fritz / Storm Trooper / Various others (voice) (uncredited)
Victoria Bakshi	...	Fairy Girl (voice) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Susan Tyrrell	...	Narrator, Various others (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ralph Bakshi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ralph Bakshi		writer

Produced by
Ralph Bakshi	....	producer

Original Music by
Andrew Belling

Film Editing by
Donald W. Ernst

Production Management
Bill Orcutt	....	animation production manager (as William Orcutt)

Art Department
Michael G. Ploog	....	illustrator: histories (as Mike Ploog)

Sound Department
Eileen Horta	....	supervising sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Ted C. Bemiller	....	animation camera operator

Animation Department
Mary J. Adams	....	final checker
Enrique Alpizar	....	cel reproductions
Brenda Banks	....	animator
Sandy Benenati	....	ink and paint artist
Alice Cowing	....	final checker
Louise Cuarto	....	ink and paint artist
Janet Cummings	....	color modeler
Diane Dunning	....	ink and paint artist
Tasia Erickson	....	animation effects (as Tasia Williams)
Dotti Foell	....	animation checker
Edgar Gutierrez	....	cel reproductions
Stod Herbert	....	assistant animator
Charlotte Huffine	....	assistant animator
David Jonas	....	background artist
Alison Leopold	....	ink and paint artist (as Alison A. Victory)
Ian Miller	....	background artist
Ian Miller	....	background designer
Nelda Ridley	....	final checker
Ben Shenkman	....	assistant animator
John Sparey	....	layout artist
Irven Spence	....	animator
Irven Spence	....	sequence animator
Martin Strudler	....	background artist
Martin Strudler	....	background supervisor
Martin Taras	....	animator (as Martin B. Taras)
Robert Taylor	....	animator
Ira Turek	....	background artist
Katherine Victor	....	final checker (as Kathrin Leichliter)
John Vita	....	background artist (as Johnnie Vita)
Art Vitello	....	animator (as Arthur Vitello)
Manon Washburn	....	ink and paint artist
Micki Zurcher	....	ink and paint artist (as Michele Zurcher)
Cosmo Anzilotti	....	animator (uncredited)
Toby Bluth	....	visual development artist (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Jack Hooper	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Andrew Belling	....	musical director

Other crew
Leah Bernstein	....	assistant to producer
Scott Citron	....	production coordinator
John Kaufman	....	production coordinator
Jose Kfuri	....	production coordinator
Howard Miller	....	titles
Christine Wirt	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Bakshi Productions
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (????) (New Zealand) (VHS) (original video release)

Other Companies

• Horta-Mahana Corp.  sound effects
• Horta-Mahana Corp.  music editing

Also Known As:

War Wizards (USA) (working title)
Los hechiceros de la guerra (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Die Welt in 10 Millionen Jahren (West Germany) [de]
Krigets trollkarlar (Sweden) [sv]
Taikurit (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

Argentina:82 min | USA:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | New Zealand:M | Netherlands:16 (original version) | UK:A (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:12 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (1986) (video rating) | USA:PG

Company:

Bakshi Productions

Trivia:

No pencil tests were done on the film because of its low budget. The drawings went straight to the final product.

Quotes:

Avatar: [to companions] I'll be right down, Heroes!
Avatar: [leading Peace by a rope] Allright, creep, Now before I untie you, I wanna tell you a couple of things, and I want you to listen, and listen carefully. This has been the biggest bummer of a trip I've ever been on; but if you let me down, or you hurt my friends, especially the broad, I got stuff planned for you that'll take twenty years to kill ya.
Peace: ...no pain...
Avatar: ...And you'll be screaming for mercy in the first five seconds.
Peace: Peace wants love... wants free... will help.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Homestarrunner.com: Everything Else, Volume 3 (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Only Time Will Tell

Flawed, but interesting, likable, and certainly worth watching.

I really like this movie, and it's hard to explain why as it's obviously full of flaws (overuse of narration, cheesy '70s soundtrack, some corny lines, awkward pacing, and repeated use of the same images/clips), but I think it's incredibly well-drawn (yes, the characters are very cartoonish, but they all have personality, and the backgrounds are simply gorgeous), and I found the character of Avatar so interesting and likable. The almighty Good wizard is laid back, unpretentious, good-natured, and seems unusually real for an animated character. The excellent atmosphere and strong central character are enough to make this a good movie. It just has this rough-around-the-edges charm to it that's hard to explain. Bakshi doesn't seem to have been striving for a masterpiece with this movie, so it's hard to call it a failure.

I certainly wouldn't call this an "animated masterpiece" or anything of the sort, but it is interesting, and even lovable. And not in a "guilty pleasure" way either.