Plot
A comic strip vamp seeks to seduce her cartoonist creator in order to cross over into the real world.
Release Year: 1992
Rating: 4.4/10 (9,968 voted)
Critic's Score: 28/100
Director:
Ralph Bakshi
Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Kim Basinger, Brad Pitt
Storyline Jack Deebs is a cartoonist who is due to be released from jail. His comic book "Cool World" describes a zany world populated by "doodles" (cartoon characters) and "noids" (humanoids). What Jack did't realize is that Cool World really does exist, and a "doodle" scientist has just perfected a machine which links Cool World with our world. Intrigued at seeing his creating come to life, Jack is nonetheless wary as he knows that not everything in Cool World is exactly friendly.
Writers: Michael Grais, Mark Victor
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)
Taglines:
There are two different worlds: The Real World and the Wacky, Animated World. Only one of them will survive.
Trivia:
In Ralph Bakshi's original script, Holli Would was named Debbie Dallas, after the porn film
Debbie Does Dallas.
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: Jack Deebs:
I'm a cartoonist. I drew all this. I have visions. I translate this. Frank Harris:
You do nothing, man. This place exists with or without you. You believe me, right? I'm not one of your creations. Jack Deebs:
Right. You're not pretty enough. Frank Harris:
Good one. Have a seat.
User Review
Not a very good movie, but an interesting one that is worth seeing at least once
Rating: 6/10
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.
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