Wizards (1977)

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.

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writer:

Ralph Bakshi

Stars:

Bob Holt, Jesse Welles, Richard Romanus

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

In a post apocalyptic future that appears as a blend of World War II Europe and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, a pint-size wizard named Avatar must save the world from a band of fascist mutants controlled by his evil twin brother, Blackwolf, who likes to confuse enemy armies by projecting films of Adolf Hitler speeches during attacks. Painted live-action footage of advancing Nazi armies contrasts with Saturday-morning-cartoon-style animation of fairies and elves as Avatar travels through various magical and radioactive realms on his quest. Aiding him are the beautiful Fairy princess Elinore, hot-blooded warrior elf Weehawk, and Peace, a misunderstood robot rebelling against his Blackwolf-controlled programming. A bizarre and psychedelic meditation on magic vs. technology, this ultimate futuristic fantastic epic cult film still finds an audience on college campuses and will prove quite rewarding to viewers in the right frame of mind.

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Plot Keywords:

wizard | mutant | fairy | technology | twin | 

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Taglines:

The ultimate futuristic fantastic epic

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 February 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

War Wizards

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bakshi Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song played on the German propaganda film is the Nazi Party anthem, "Die Fahne Hoch" ("Raise the Banner"). It was written by an early party member, Horst Wessel. The song is popularly known as "The Horst Wessel Song".

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Goofs

Avatar transforms his pet into a jukebox which immediately begins to play jazz. But the record is still on the selector arm, and remains there. It never actually drops onto the turntable.

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Quotes

Weehawk: [to horse] Steady, Westwind. We'll eat alone, lest we sit with fools.

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Connections

Edited from Battle of the Bulge (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Only Time Will Tell"
Performed by Susan Anton

User Reviews

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.