When Jack Deebs was behind bars he found escape by creating Cool World, a cartoon series featuring a vixen named Holli Would. The flesh proves weaker than ink, however, as Holli takes human ... Read allWhen Jack Deebs was behind bars he found escape by creating Cool World, a cartoon series featuring a vixen named Holli Would. The flesh proves weaker than ink, however, as Holli takes human form in Las Vegas.When Jack Deebs was behind bars he found escape by creating Cool World, a cartoon series featuring a vixen named Holli Would. The flesh proves weaker than ink, however, as Holli takes human form in Las Vegas.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Mom Harris
- (as Janni Brenn-Lowen)
- Interrogator
- (voice)
- …
- Interrogator
- (voice)
- …
- Sparks
- (voice)
- Craps Bunny
- (voice)
- …
- Bash
- (voice)
- Bob
- (voice)
- …
- Nails
- (voice)
- (as Charles Adler)
- Bouncer
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAs a publicity stunt, Paramount Pictures put a huge cut-out of Holli Would on the D of the Hollywood sign. The studio donated $27,000 to the sign's maintenance fund, another $27,000 to the Rebuild L.A. fund (it was just after the L.A. riots), and paid for 2 park rangers to guard the sign 24 hours a day. The stunt angered local residents, who picketed and demanded that the cut-out be taken down.
- GoofsIn the opening scene, as he gets off the plane, Brad Pitt's character is wearing the twenty-ninth division patch. Later, when he first shows his mother his motorcycle, he asserts that he won it in Italy. The twenty-ninth division was never in Italy.
- Quotes
Frank Harris: Baby, you and me, I can't have that in the real world. I can't live without you. But I can't be with you. What do you do, huh? What do you do?
Lonette: Well, we're just going to have to pretend, then, aren't we?
- Alternate versionsWhen shown on the sci-fi channel, the following scenes have been cut:
- When Sparks encounters doodle children in the alley he releases little coins with fangs that attack them, but they only show him say "I hate it when she meets guys without telling me".
- While being chased by the popper police, Slash (the baby-like doodle) urinates on them: they only show the popper police get hit by the train
- While waiting for the doodle telephone to get to Frank, Nails bites into his desk
- The sex scene between Holli Would and Jack Deebs has been altered and some footage has been deleted
- After Nails was "penned' by Holli, Frank encounters Sparks and knocks his French fries out of his hand, Sparks responded with "now you can buy me more fries, dick-head", but it was changed to "now you can buy me more fries, pinhead"
- At the end, Holli's "pencil-dick" remark is deleted.
- SoundtracksPlay with Me
Written, Performed and Produced by Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins perform courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
In 1972, Bakshi wrote and directed FRITZ THE CAT, a full-length animated feature film that touted a self-imposed X-rating and worldwide critical acclaim. Exactly twenty years later, Bakshi would go on to direct COOL WORLD, his sixth and most recent adult-oriented animated film to date.
On its own, the artwork and animation in COOL WORLD is excellent. The girls are sexy, the villains are ugly, and the backdrops have a surreal, almost psychedelic quality to them. The use of rotoscoping (still a relatively new technology at the time) to fluidly illustrate some of the more complex human movements was a wise choice, making the animated `Doodles' seem all the more lifelike. The animators went to great lengths to make their characters' interactions with live actors and actual scenery seem genuine. Many subtle touches, like the cartoons casting real shadows in the Humanoid world, and the direct eye contact between the Noids and the Doodles, were added to enhance the believability of these otherwise unbelievable situations.
Still, despite the great animation and the artists' valiant efforts at making the two-dimensional animation intermingle with our three-dimensional universe, the movie's visuals, while very impressive, are ultimately ineffectual. No matter how well these images are drawn, their lack of depth makes the contact with the live actors seem awkward and even distracting at times. Granted, they did the best they could at combining two very different mediums, but no amount of detail can shake the feeling that you're merely watching a 2-D overlay atop of a 3-D film, rather than 2-D characters within a 3-D film as was intended.
The high point of the film, I think, was Kim Basinger's portrayal of Holli Would as she fervently attempts to adjust to Humanoid life. Basinger is suitably perky as the deviant Miss Would, and did an outstanding job emulating the actions and mannerisms of her cartoon counterpart. Basinger succeeds at making Holli's reactions to the Las Vegas public both hilarious and embarrassing for the viewer, a feat which is probably not easy to pull off.
Gabriel Byrne's performance as Jack Deebs is another example of fine acting in this film. Byrne's character, although probably not as scared or confused by his predicament as he should have been, is portrayed convincingly, and there's enough of a well-developed backstory to accept his antisocial attitude and somewhat pessimistic outlook on life. Byrne also handles Deebs's gradual transition from calm and collected to a state of panic and exasperation exceptionally well, and his sheepishness as he futilely attempts to disassociate himself with Holli and her embarrassingly eccentric behavior is another high point in the film.
Brad Pitt plays his role as Detective Frank Harris in typical Pitt fashion. This is not to say he did a bad job, but his performances tend to be bland and unmemorable, and this movie is no exception. Even as early as 1992, the year COOL WORLD was released, we've already seen Pitt play the same no-nonsense `tough guy' character in a half-dozen or so other films, and he doesn't exactly add any kind of flair to make this role distinguishable from his others.
COOL WORLD's plot, although thin, is exciting and very original. The pacing is lightning fast, constantly jarring the viewer with over-the-top cartoon sight gags and playful innuendos. There are chase scenes, fight scenes, sex scenes, and death scenes; all seemingly back to back, and all set to an awesome adrenalin-pumping techno soundtrack. From the opening title to the closing credits, COOL WORLD plays out like a cinematic roller coaster.
However, as exciting as the movie was, I couldn't help feeling gypped after finally seeing it. COOL WORLD, although undoubtedly a clever picture, lacks the social themes and political commentary (as well as the bold, overt explicitness) that Ralph Bakshi is famous for. In FRITZ THE CAT, Bakshi takes jabs at a wide variety of hot-button issues and events that were controversial at the time, such as the Black Panthers, the alarming rise of police brutality, and the hippie movement. Cool World, at least from my own personal interpretation, is devoid of any kind of theme or commentary whatsoever.
Overall, COOL WORLD doesn't really do anything that hasn't been done before. We've already seen adult-oriented animation in FRITZ THE CAT. We've already seen the `cartoon/reality crossover' in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. And we've already witnessed rotoscoped animation in Bakshi's own THE LORD OF THE RINGS. But just because it isn't groundbreaking does not mean it isn't entertaining. When it comes to action, excitement, and eye candy, COOL WORLD definitely delivers the goods.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $14,110,589
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,556,451
- Jul 12, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $14,110,589
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1