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Old Concept
a year ago
As we all know, many movies and TV shows have a concept pitch; where ideas are swapped here and there on what can happen, what works, what’s left out, what’s used another time, what changed, and what’s scrapped.
Sadly, most of the time, unused concepts are often much, much better than what’s put out; but there are still times where the final product is either better or decent enough.
However, one particular movie that many know about is something much, much different than what was put out. Of course I mean Ralph Bakshi’s attempt at a less restrained Roger Rabbit flick; Cool World.
Ralph Bakshi is a man who needs no introduction since he’s one of the first pioneers to try and make cartoons for adults. Well, one of them, but the point stands. He made a couple of adult animated flicks, plus a great short lived animated HBO series called Spicy City. Coonskin standing out since it also did half animated and half live-action.
When Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out and blessed the world with Jessica Rabbit. This motivated Ralph to do his own spin… but then… his idea was rejected a lot of times. When one studio DID agree to fund his movie, there was so much executive meddling that the final project that was shown was COMPLETELY different from what his vision was. He even punched a producer for it, he was that pissed off.
Not gonna lie; the movie is a mess, and not in a fun, cartoony way it was trying to do. Critics were hard on it because it didn’t take advantage of being for adults, which isn’t unfounded. Sure, Ralph graced us with Holli Would; a woman no less a femme fatale than Jessica Rabbit, but the damage was already done.
See what many don’t realize is that, before all the meddling; Cool World was supposed to be a horror flick where Holli was supposed to be a a cartoon character who was part human. I don’t know the full details, but it sounds MUCH better than what was put out. Good thing Brad Pitt and Charlie Adler were too talented to be derailed after this.
Then it hit me…. In this day and age of remakes and reboots; can reusing the horror concept work in modern days? I mean, sure, hand drawn animation isn’t as big as it used to be, but nothing is impossible if a studio as small and cheap as Full Moon can release a movie with stop motion in the 2020s.
I personally hope someone can convince Bakshi and some Indie company to use the horror concept of Cool World one day. Sure, there’d have to be changes, but maybe, in the right hands, it can all work out.
Sadly, most of the time, unused concepts are often much, much better than what’s put out; but there are still times where the final product is either better or decent enough.
However, one particular movie that many know about is something much, much different than what was put out. Of course I mean Ralph Bakshi’s attempt at a less restrained Roger Rabbit flick; Cool World.
Ralph Bakshi is a man who needs no introduction since he’s one of the first pioneers to try and make cartoons for adults. Well, one of them, but the point stands. He made a couple of adult animated flicks, plus a great short lived animated HBO series called Spicy City. Coonskin standing out since it also did half animated and half live-action.
When Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out and blessed the world with Jessica Rabbit. This motivated Ralph to do his own spin… but then… his idea was rejected a lot of times. When one studio DID agree to fund his movie, there was so much executive meddling that the final project that was shown was COMPLETELY different from what his vision was. He even punched a producer for it, he was that pissed off.
Not gonna lie; the movie is a mess, and not in a fun, cartoony way it was trying to do. Critics were hard on it because it didn’t take advantage of being for adults, which isn’t unfounded. Sure, Ralph graced us with Holli Would; a woman no less a femme fatale than Jessica Rabbit, but the damage was already done.
See what many don’t realize is that, before all the meddling; Cool World was supposed to be a horror flick where Holli was supposed to be a a cartoon character who was part human. I don’t know the full details, but it sounds MUCH better than what was put out. Good thing Brad Pitt and Charlie Adler were too talented to be derailed after this.
Then it hit me…. In this day and age of remakes and reboots; can reusing the horror concept work in modern days? I mean, sure, hand drawn animation isn’t as big as it used to be, but nothing is impossible if a studio as small and cheap as Full Moon can release a movie with stop motion in the 2020s.
I personally hope someone can convince Bakshi and some Indie company to use the horror concept of Cool World one day. Sure, there’d have to be changes, but maybe, in the right hands, it can all work out.
uni_laocorn
~unilaocorn
Aw... I remember the summer Cool World came out. At the time I had no idea just how bad the production staff'd had it, for the reasons you mention.
