Cool World (1992)

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writers (WGA):

Michael Grais (written by) &
Mark Victor (written by)

Release Date:

10 July 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Cool World is such a dangerous place to be in.

Plot:

A comic strip vamp seeks to seduce her cartoonist creator in order to cross over into the real world.

Plot Keywords:

Cartoonist | Sex | Comic Book | Alternative Reality | Alternate Dimension

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kim Basinger	...	Holli Would
Gabriel Byrne	...	Jack Deebs
Brad Pitt	...	Detective Frank Harris
Michele Abrams	...	Jennifer Malley
Deirdre O'Connell	...	Isabelle Malley
Janni Brenn	...	Agatha Rose Harris (as Janni Brenn-Lowen)
William Frankfather	...	Cop
Greg Collins	...	Cop
Maurice LaMarche	...	Interrogator #2 / Mash / drunken bar patron / Dr. Vincent "Vegas Vinnie" Whiskers / Jack Deebs (super hero version) (voice)
Joey Camen	...	Interrogator #1 / Slash / Holli's door (voice)
Michael David Lally	...	Sparks (voice)
Carrie Hamilton	...	Comic Bookstore Cashier
Stephen Worth	...	Bash (performance model) / Comic Store Patron
Murray Podwal	...	Store Patron
Jenine Jennings	...	Holli Would / Lonette (performance model) / Craps Bunny (voice)
Gregory Snegoff	...	Bash (voice)
Candi Milo	...	Lonette / Bob (voice)
Charles Adler	...	Nails (voice)
Patrick Pinney	...	Chico the Bouncer (voice)
Frank Sinatra Jr.	...	Himself
Kevin L. Jackson	...	Lucky's Bouncer (as Lamont Jackson)
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Valet
Big Yank	...	Plaza Bouncer
Bobby Bell	...	Bob (performance model) (as Robert N. Bell)
Gary Friedkin	...	Mash (performance model)
Clare Hoak	...	Lonette (performance model)
Antonio Hoyos	...	Dr. Vincent "Vegas Vinnie" Whiskers (performance model)
Leroy Thompson	...	Nails (performance model)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Emma Blackwell	...	Additional Voices (uncredited)
Lorraine Cote	...	Lady at Slot Machine (uncredited)
Maggie Roswell	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Ralph Bakshi

Writing credits (WGA)
Michael Grais		(written by) &
Mark Victor		(written by)

Produced by
Frank Mancuso Jr.	....	producer
Vikki Williams	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Mark Isham

Cinematography by
John A. Alonzo

Film Editing by
Steve Mirkovich
Annamaria Szanto

Casting by
Carrie Frazier

Production Design by
Michael Corenblith

Art Direction by
David J. Bomba

Costume Design by
Malissa Daniel

Makeup Department
Cydney Cornell	....	department head hair stylist
Jane English	....	body makeup: Kim Basinger
Jack Freeman	....	makeup artist: Kim Basinger
Emily Katz	....	key makeup artist
Rick Provenzano	....	hair stylist: Kim Basinger

Production Management
Jon Kuyper	....	animation production supervisor
Gina Shay	....	animation production manager
Scott White	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fernando Castroman	....	second second assistant director
Richard Coad	....	second assistant director
Marty Eli Schwartz	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Alvin	....	poster artist
David T. Cannon	....	construction coordinator
Guy Hietala	....	set painter
Louis Patrou	....	neon art
Edward J. Protiva	....	set dresser
Douglas W. Randall	....	carpenter
Brett C. Smith	....	leadman
Felisa Finn	....	scenic artist/foreman (uncredited)
Barry E. Jackson	....	conceptual designer (uncredited)
Kris Nagle	....	welder foreman (uncredited)
Eric Yount	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Rubén Domingo	....	sound editor
David R. Finkelstein	....	assistant sound editor
Gary Friedman	....	assistant sound editor
David Halbert	....	boom operator
Rick Hart	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bill Koepnick	....	sound effects editor
Roger Mende	....	sound effects
Bob Newlan	....	sound editor
Hamilton Sterling	....	supervising sound editor
John Joseph Thomas	....	sound effects editor
James Thornton	....	sound mixer
Renee Tondelli	....	adr supervisor
Hugo Weng	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Michael Douglas Middleton	....	large format still photographer

Visual Effects by
Kristine Brown	....	effects assistant animator
Craig Clark	....	effects animator
Pat Clark	....	effects animator
Kelly G. Crawford	....	supervising visual effects editor
Lee Crowe	....	animation effects creative supervisor
Phil Cummings	....	effects animator
Angela Diamos	....	articulate mattes
Mike Disa	....	effects animator (as Michael D'Isa)
Daniel Eblen	....	effects assistant animator
Ellen Greenblatt	....	animation effects coordinator
Ko Hashiguchi	....	articulate mattes
Al Holter	....	effects animator
Hae Sook Hwang	....	effects assistant animator
David M. Kcenich	....	effects assistant animator
Chang Yei Kim	....	effects assistant animator
Kang Tae Kim	....	effects assistant animator
David Kracov	....	effects assistant animator
Craig Littell-Herrick	....	articulate mattes
David 'Joey' Mildenberger	....	effects animator (as Joey Mildenberger)
Juli Murphy	....	effects animator
Nate Pacheco	....	effects assistant animator
Tom Pope	....	effects assistant animator
John R. Shourt	....	articulate mattes (as John Shourt)
Don Shump	....	scene tracker
Conrad Vernon	....	effects animator
Dan Wanket	....	effects animator

Stunts
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts (as Greg Barnett)
Kenny Bates	....	stunts
Ken Blazer	....	stunts
Nick Brett	....	stunts
Greg Collins	....	stunts
Jeffrey J. Dashnaw	....	stunts (as Jeff Dashnaw)
Gary Davis	....	stunts
Chris Durand	....	stunts
Danny Epper	....	stunts
Buddy Joe Hooker	....	stunts
Matt Johnston	....	stunts
Tracy Keehn-Dashnaw	....	stunt double: Kim Basinger
Tracy Keehn-Dashnaw	....	stunts
Maria R. Kelly	....	stunts (as Maria Kelly)
Steve Kelso	....	stunts
John Meier	....	stunts
Cyndi Lee Rice	....	stunts
R.A. Rondell	....	stunt coordinator
Lynn Salvatori	....	stunts
David Welch	....	stunts
Scott Wilder	....	stunts (as Glen Scott Wilder)
Dick Ziker	....	stunts
Scott Wilder	....	stunt double: Brad Pitt/Gabriel Byrne (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ted T. Bemiller	....	animation camera operator
William Bemiller	....	animation camera operator (as Bill Bemiller)
Christopher Blauvelt	....	clapper loader (as Chris Blauvelt)
Bill Bloom	....	animation camera coordinator
James F. Cornick	....	rigging gaffer
Bingo Ferguson	....	animation camera operator
Ron Goodman	....	camera operator: SpaceCam
Robert Jacobs	....	animation camera operator (as Bob Jacobs)
Robert D. McBride	....	camera operator: re-shoot
Arnaud Peiny	....	grip
Steve Sass	....	assistant camera: SpaceCam (as Steven A. Saas)
Chris Schwiebert	....	camera operator
Jeffrey A. Sklar	....	camera loader
George Stephenson	....	camera operator
Douglas W. Randall	....	electrician (uncredited)
Michael J. Schwartz	....	dimmer board operator (uncredited)

Animation Department
Eric J. Abjornson	....	key clean-up artist (as Eric Abjornson)
Renee Ilsa Alcazar	....	animation checker (as Renee Alcazar)
Joyce Alexander	....	ink artist
Wilma Baker	....	paint checker
George Bakes	....	animator
Anne Marie Bardwell	....	animator
Catherine Bazzano	....	painter
Estelle Beck	....	painter
Scott Bern	....	key clean-up artist
Paul Bolger	....	animator
David Bombardier	....	key clean-up artist
Daniel Bond	....	key clean-up artist (as Daniel L. Bond)
Carmen Brooks	....	painter
Stuart Brooks	....	painter
Ron Brown	....	assistant animator
Roy Burdine	....	assistant animator
Tania Burton	....	ink and paint supervisor (as Tania M. Burton)
Joan Boodnick Chang	....	painter (as Joan Boodnick)
Karen China	....	xerox checker (as Karen N. China)
Tony Claar	....	assistant animator
Casey Clayton	....	ink artist
Mimi Clayton	....	ink artist
Eleanor Dahlen	....	animation checker
James A. Davis	....	animator (as James Davis)
Diana Dixon	....	painter
Patricia Doktor	....	background artist
Shigeko Doyle	....	ink artist
Lillian Fitts	....	xerox checker
Chuck Gefre	....	animation checker (as Charles Gefre)
Peter Gentle	....	paint checker (as Peter Gentile)
Michael Gerard	....	animator (as Michael R. Gerard)
Rob Gibbs	....	assistant animation coordinator (as Robert Gibbs)
Deborah Goddard	....	ink artist
Darryl Gordon	....	assistant animator
Steven E. Gordon	....	animator: "Holli Would" and "Lonette" (as Steve Gordon)
Peggy Gregory	....	inking supervisor
Evan Gwynne	....	animation designer
Evan Gwynne	....	animator
Evan Gwynne	....	layout artist
Andrew Haggin	....	painter
Klay Hall	....	assistant animation coordinator (as Klay R. Hall)
Veronica Halmos	....	painter
Kit Harper	....	painter
Joe Hawkins	....	assistant animator
Sandy Henkin	....	key clean-up artist
Brad Hicks	....	background artist
Greg Hill	....	animator
Greg Hill	....	layout artist
Stephanie Hirsch	....	painter
Ron Hughart	....	animator (as Ronald P. Hughart)
Dorma Hughes	....	paint checker
Melody Hughes	....	paint checker
Will Huneycutt	....	assistant animator
Don Judge	....	assistant animator (as Donald Judge)
Lajos Kandra	....	pencil test
Mike Kazaleh	....	animator
Michael Kiely	....	animator
Milton Knight	....	character designer
Lureline Kohler	....	key clean-up artist
Elena Kravets	....	assistant animator (as Elena Kravitz)
Mi Kyung Kwon	....	painter
Kristin Lande	....	ink and paint repairs
Annette Leavitt	....	paint supervisor
Boowon Lee	....	key clean-up artist (as Boowan Lee)
Renate Leff	....	painter
Leticia Lichtwardt	....	key clean-up artist
Daniel Yoontaek Lim	....	assistant animator (as Daniel Lim)
Florence Lliboutry	....	painter
Christina Long	....	painter (as Christina M. Long)
Cristi Lyon	....	assistant animation coordinator
Kim Manley	....	painter
Greg Manwaring	....	animator (as Gregory A. Manwaring)
Tina Marcaccio	....	paint lab dupes
Jules Marino	....	animator
James McArdle	....	assistant animator (as Buddy James McArdle)
Kenn McDonald	....	assistant animator (as Ken McDonald)
Randall McFerren	....	painter (as Randy McFerren)
Tom McGrath	....	animation designer
Tom McGrath	....	animator
Tom McGrath	....	layout artist
Bill Melendez	....	animator
Roy Meurin	....	animator
Debbie Mihara	....	paint checker
Chris Miller	....	key clean-up artist
Ian Miller	....	background artist
Frank Molieri	....	assistant animator
Frances Moralde	....	cel service
Celeste Moreno	....	assistant animator
James Murphy	....	animator
Stephanie Myers	....	final check supervisor
Yoon Sook Nam	....	assistant animator (as Yoon Nan)
Donna Narhuminti	....	cel service
Delmy Navas	....	paint checker
Sam Nicholson	....	animator (as Samuel W. Nicholson)
Judith Niver	....	key clean-up artist (as Judith M. Niver)
Dana O'Connor	....	animator
Mark O'Hare	....	character designer (as Mark S. O'Hare)
Lisa O'Loughlin	....	background coordinator
Anthony Ostyn	....	color modeler
Katie Ownbey	....	paint lab dupes
Jessie A. Palubeski	....	cel service supervisor (as Jessie Palubeski)
Irene Parkins	....	key clean-up artist (as Irene Couloufis)
Catherine Parotino	....	painter (as Catherine Parotio)
Catherine Peterson	....	painter (as Cathy Peterson)
Bruce Phillipson	....	painter
Charles Pickens	....	background artist
Marilyn Pierson	....	painter
Silvia Pompei	....	animation consultant
David Ray Preston Jr.	....	assistant animator (as David Preston)
Letha Prince	....	animation checking supervisor
Teresita Proctor	....	cel service (as Theresita Proctor)
Gale Raleigh	....	mark-up
Andrew Ramos	....	assistant animator
Bonnie Ramsey	....	mark-up
Bev Randles	....	animation checker (as Beverly Randall)
David Recinos	....	assistant animator
Edward Rivera	....	key clean-up artist
Dorothy Roberts	....	painter
Sandra Ryan-Moran	....	key clean-up artist (as Sandra Ryan)
Lucinda Sanderson	....	assistant animator
Gina Shay	....	animation production coordinator
Won Chul Shin	....	overseas animation coordinator
Vincent Siracusano	....	assistant animator
Myoung Smith	....	animation checker
Sheryl Ann Smith	....	paint checker (as Sheryl Smith)
Richard Smitheman	....	character key
Theresa Smythe	....	assistant animator
Deanna Spears	....	xerox checker
Alan Sperling	....	animator
Clayton Stang	....	key color modelist
Jackie Stewart	....	painter (as Jackie Stewart-Mache)
Lea Stewart	....	xerox checker
S. Ann Sullivan	....	paint lab
Roxanne M. Taylor	....	paint checker
Jon Terada	....	ink and paint assistant coordinator
Greg Tiernan	....	animator
Maureen Trueblood	....	key clean-up artist
Helga van den Berge	....	paint checker (as Helga Vanden Berge)
Irma Velez	....	mark-up
Dirk Von Besser	....	painter
Ken Walker	....	animator (as Kenneth D. Walker)
Cathy Walters	....	mark-up supervisor
David Wasson	....	animator
David Wasson	....	layout artist
Debbie Weilhart	....	painter
Kathy Wilbur	....	ink artist
Roger Wilbur	....	painter
Leonor Gonzales Wood	....	ink and paint special effects (as Leonor M. Wood)
Bruce Woodside	....	animation supervisor
Yi So Young	....	painter
Louise Zingarelli	....	character designer
Louise Zingarelli	....	character layout artist
Janet M. Zoll	....	xerox checking supervisor
Micki Zurcher	....	mark-up (as Michele Zurcher)
Kent Butterworth	....	animator (uncredited)
Daryl Carstensen	....	xerox checker/inker (uncredited)
Tanya Moreau-Smith	....	mark-up artist (uncredited)
Tanya Moreau-Smith	....	painter (uncredited)
Mercedes J. Sichon	....	blue sketch artist (uncredited)
Pat Sito	....	checking (uncredited)
Irven Spence	....	animator (uncredited)
Frank Suarez	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Joe Suggs	....	animator (uncredited)
Conrad Vernon	....	character designer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Donna O'Neal	....	costume designer: Kim Basinger
Donna O'Neal	....	costumer: Kim Basinger

Editorial Department
Timothy Alverson	....	first assistant editor
Kelley Dixon	....	assistant editor
Stephen Eckelberry	....	additional editor
Lee Haxall	....	assistant editor
Bret Marnell	....	assistant editor
Neal Romanek	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John Dickson	....	composer: additional music
Christopher Kennedy	....	music editor: songs
Kevin Laffey	....	music consultant
Richard McIlvery	....	scoring stage manager
Jan Piepenstock	....	assistant recording engineer
Mark Tucker	....	assistant scoring engineer
Graham Walker	....	music production supervisor

Transportation Department
Roger Wooge	....	transportation

Other crew
Gwynne Adik	....	assistant: Ralph Bakshi
Chris Brewster	....	production assistant
Wendy Renskowski Dale	....	assistant accountant
Gary Douris	....	pilot
Dick 'Skip' Evans	....	pilot (as Skip Evans)
Tae Soo Kim	....	president: Big Star Enterprise, Inc.
Jon Kuyper	....	assistant to line producer
Jon-Michael Preece	....	script supervisor
Ginger Reynolds-Smith	....	assistant: Frank Mancuso Jr.
Eddie Sanchez	....	pilot
John D. Sarviss	....	pilot
Sussy Selbst	....	assistant location manager
Gene Starzenski	....	set medic
Nadia Venesse	....	additional dialect coach
William Winckler	....	rotoscope actor
Petra Frazer	....	set production assistant (uncredited)
Larry Gross	....	screenplay collaborator (uncredited)
Mercedes J. Sichon	....	production coordinator: layouts/backgrounds (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1992) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1992) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Cine Company S.A. (1993) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Galion Films (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1993) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2010) (Greece) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1994) (Greece) (VHS)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (Spain) (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Big Star Enterprise  ink and paint: Korea
• Pacific Studios Inc.  chromatrans background
• Warner Bros. Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and sensuality

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Spain:13 | UK:12 (original rating) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Germany:16 | Iceland:10 (original rating) | Iceland:L (video rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | South Korea:15 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Ralph Bakshi wanted Brad Pitt to play Jack Deebs.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Jack and Holli are about to have sex, Jack can be heard moaning. But in an up-close shot where Holli gets on top of him, his mouth doesn't move at all.

Quotes:

Holli Would:You want to know what it is about you that really kicks my ass, Harris?
Frank Harris:How about my foot?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nostalgia Chick: Top 10 Hottest Animated Guys (#5.4)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

HER SASSY KISS

Not a very good movie, but an interesting one that is worth seeing at least once

Here's my review of Ralph Bakshi's 1992 Paramount Picture "Cool World", starring Brad Pitt, Gabriel Byrne, & Kim Basinger.

I won't give a plot synthesis, as that would spoil the fun. Instead, I'll cut straight to the chase and give you my brutally honest opinion on this film. I'll start with my view on the widely-held opinion that "Cool World" is a rip-off of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Even though "Cool World" is undeniably Roger Rabbit-esquire, and Brad Pitt said in an interview that "'Cool World' is like 'Roger Rabbit' on acid", sexy cartoon women and combining live-action and animation have been staples of Bakshi's films before Gary K. Wolf even created Roger Rabbit. "Cool World" reminds me more of "Gremlins 2: The New Batch", because A: The rule that noids (humans) and doodles (cartoon characters) can not have sex with each other is similar to the 3 rules for owning a Mogwai because they are ancient sacred rules that must not be broken, lest cartoon-type chaos wreck havoc, & B: Holli's goons (Slash, Bash, Mash and Bob) reminded me of Gizmo's 2nd batch of offspring (Mohawk, Daffy, George and Lenny).

Anyway, there are a lot of things wrong with this movie. First of all, there are lots of plot holes and plot points that are never fully explained. This might be fun for those with imagination, but most would find it lazy and rushed. Kim Basinger is a pretty lousy actress in this movie. True, her character Holli Would was meant to be hated, but the doodle and noid versions of Holli look and behave so differently it's almost hard to believe that they're the same character. Gabriel Byrne plays a pretty dull character in this film, and only part I was interested in Jack was when he became a super-powered doodle, and that wasn't even Gabe voicing Super Jack, it was Maurice LaMarche (who is based known as the voice of Brain from 'Pinky and the Brain'). Also, the combination of live-action and animation is not nearly as smooth (in both the way the cartoons are placed onto the live-action and in the live-action actors' interactions and responses to the cartoon characters that are added later) as it was in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and similar films like "Space Jam" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" and "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle". To top it all off, the whole film just feels dated, even for 1992, I guess partly due to it using ink-and-paint-on-cells instead of digital ink-and-paint, which even Bakshi's protégés at the Ren and Stimpy show were able to afford on an animated TV series budget and use in several episodes of its 2nd season, which premiered only a few months after "Cool World"'s release.

But the disaster this film ended up being is actually not entirely Ralph Bakshi's fault. Ralph's original script for this had Holli (originally called Debbie Dallas) and Jack having a son who was a strange combination of live-action and animated body parts and who hated himself for what he was & what he wasn't and attempted to murder his father. But producer Frank Mancuso Junior (whose father, Frank Mancuso Senior, was then the head of Paramount Pictures) had the script completely rewritten which heavily muted the film's messages of the importance of fatherhood and the dangers of casual sex, and hired Kim Basinger (who was a pain in the butt during shooting and ruined the movie even more) and Gabriel Byrne (whom Bakshi felt was too much a foreigner to play an American underground cartoonist) when Bakshi wanted Drew Barrymore and Brad Pitt to play the leads.

But even with Mancuso's bastardizing Bakshi's original vision for the film, there are still some things in "Cool World" to enjoy. For one, the animation is mostly quite good and reminded me at times of Tiny Toons and Ren & Stimpy. Also, Brad Pitt does a rather decent job acting in this picture (despite his interactions with cartoon characters leaving a good amount to be desired, as he's no Bob Hoskins) as his character Frank Harris is rather likable. Also, Harris's arachnid doodle partner Nails is a delightful nutty character voiced by Charlie Adler, my personal favorite voice-over actor who has done many of my most favorite cartoon characters like Buster Bunny, Cow and Chicken, Ickis, Ed and Bev Bighead and many more. The secondary and minor doodles like Lonette (whom I consider a much more desirable woman than Holli due to her being a brunette and having a caring personality), the aforementioned Goons, Sparks and Doc Whiskers are all interesting (plus they're voiced by greats like Candi Milo and the aforementioned Maurice LaMarche), as are the noids Jennifer and Isabelle Malley. Too bad they're kind of stuck in the background. And there are quite a few memorable laugh-out moments that make this film worth seeing at least once IMHO.

So in the end, although this film would be perfect for Mystery Science Theater 3000, I still find "Cool World" interesting and enjoyable. It's certainly not as great as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", I'm not quite sure if I find it better than "Space Jam" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" and I definitely find it better than the well-intended but ultimately lame "Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" movie (despite AoR&B having better production values than CW). All in all, "Cool World"'s not a very good, but it is very interesting and I recommend that everyone should watch it at least once (but it's not for the immature and/or overly sensitive).

Look out for: Future Ren & Stimpy producer Steve Worth in a cameo as a comic book store patron (he's the fat guy), and also for Maggie "Maude Flanders" Roswell.