Hey Good Lookin' (1982)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writer:

Ralph Bakshi (writer)

Release Date:

1 October 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Ralph Bakshi, creator of "Fritz the Cat" and "Heavy Traffic" brings you the outrageous '50s the way they really were.

Plot:

An outrageous, affectionate look at coming of age in the Eisenhower era in Brooklyn.

Plot Keywords:

Middle Aged Woman | Black Comedy | Part Live Action | Unfaithful Girlfriend | Racial Slur

Cast

Richard Romanus	...	Vinnie (voice)
David Proval	...	Crazy Shapiro (voice)
Jesse Welles	...	Eva (voice)
Tina Romanus	...	Rozzie (voice) (as Tina Bowman)
Danny Wells	...	Stomper (voice)
Larry Bishop	...	Stomper (voice)
Tabi Cooper	...	Stomper (voice)
Juno Dawson	...	Waitress (voice)
Shirley Jo Finney	...	Chaplin (voice)
Martin Garner	...	Yonkel (voice)
Terry Haven	...	Alice (voice)
Allen Joseph	...	Max (voice)
Bernie Massa	...	Stomper (voice)
Gelsa Palao	...	Stomper (voice)
Paul Roman	...	Stomper (voice)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Bakshi Productions

Trivia:

Live-action footage was shot as part of Ralph Bakshi's original vision to have the film be a combination of live-action and animated characters (like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)). The only animated characters were Vinnie, Rozzi, Crazy, and Eva. The rest of the cast were live action characters shot on live action sets. This version was finished in the late 1970s. When it was initially shown to Warner Brothers executives, they told Bakshi that they loved it. A week later, they told Bakshi that the idea of having live-action and animated characters in the same frame would never work, as it was too unbelievable. He was forced to throw out all the live action footage and reanimate it. Bakshi, having to pay himself, took five more years to complete it around other projects before its official release in 1982.

Quotes:

Vinnie: Most people got two... crazy got three, hehe.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cool and the Crazy (1994) (TV)

Hair, see now, that was really important. Hair counts you know.

You either love, loathe or simply don't understand Bakshi's films. I personally fall into the first category and this was the film that started it all for me at the tender age of 12. It still remains my favourite 15 years later. Me and a friend of mine were obsessed with it and would quote it to each other (and others who must have wondered what the hell we were on about) constantly.

I love Bakshi's animation, it maybe rough and sketchy at times but this is part of the appeal. It's far more organic than some pristine computer generated Disney schmaltz or his rotoscoped films. He has a wonderfully unique way of capturing characters in his art. 98% of people in his world are ugly. Though usually with a couple of exceptions. The love interest Rozzie, for example may well be the very ideal of a red blooded males fantasy, forget Jessica Rabbit! The dialogue (as in all his earlier pics) is wonderfully un-coached and at times sounds very improvised. It's drops a lot of the psycadelic and pseudo 60's philosophy that inhabited "Fritz the cat" and "Heavy traffic". There is also less of his trademark mixing of animation over live action backgrounds although it's still present to good effect in certain scenes. In a sense, it's perhaps more streamlined and consequently more accessible to new comers to the world of Bakshi than his previous works. What really makes the film for me though is Ric Sandlers superb soundtrack which (probably due to the films lack of anything beyond extreme cult success) has never been released. I implore those of you who feel the same to email him and tell so because I personally know (from experience) this music does still exist. And with enough interest it could see a release.

Playin' To Win

9 Out of 10