Twenty-four years after its initial release, Ralph Bakshi's peculiar noir fantasy, Cool World, is now officially available to stream for free on YouTube. The 1992 film, starring Brad Pitt and Kim Basinger, was a box office disappointment and holds a low critical average, but remains a singularly strange entry in the director's filmography.
Bakshi, known for his pioneering work in adult animation with films like Fritz the Cat and The Lord of the Rings, was often ahead of his time. His distinct surreal style, evident in works such as American Pop, Fire and Ice, and Wizards, has been cited as an influence on later animated series like Liquid Television and the Adult Swim block. Cool World, Bakshi's final feature film, was reportedly troubled in production and met with a lukewarm reception from critics and audiences alike.
Despite its flaws and troubled history, Cool World is far from boring. The film centers on Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne), a cartoonist recently released from prison, who created a popular comic series called Cool World starring the alluring femme fatale Holli Would. Deebs discovers his 'hallucinations' were actually glimpses into a real dimension inhabited by cartoon characters known as 'doodles'. Holli, a doodle herself, wants to become human and escape Cool World, a plan that threatens to destabilize both her dimension and the human world. Deebs finds himself caught between Holli's desires and Frank Harris (Brad Pitt), a human detective residing in Cool World.
The film's production reportedly began with a different premise—a horror story about a cartoonist's child venturing into the real world. However, the script evolved, and the final product became a PG-13 action fantasy. Bakshi consciously incorporated stylistic clashes, drawing from various animation influences, from Disney parodies to Tex Avery-esque chaos. The world itself is depicted as unstable, a mix of neon-lit streets, dark ruins, and industrial landscapes, reflecting its inherent uncontrollability.
While Cool World is often compared to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the two films have fundamental differences. A closer comparison might be to the anthology film Heavy Metal, as both are considered early examples of adult animation and precursors to the 'New Weird' literary movement. The deliberate visual inconsistencies and boundary-pushing animation in Cool World were uncommon for its time but may resonate more readily with modern audiences accustomed to the diverse styles found in anime and contemporary adult animated series.
With Cool World now freely accessible on YouTube, it offers a unique opportunity to revisit or discover a film that, despite its polarizing reception, stands out for its ambition and its creator's distinctive vision. It remains a testament to Bakshi's enduring influence on the landscape of animated storytelling.