Bakshi's Coonskin!

When it came to Ralph Bakshi I knew about Fritz the Cat and Wizards and Lord of the Rings and pretty much nothing else. I knew he had been responsible for other movies, but for whatever reason I'd never stumbled across them, until now. Coonskin is a remarkable movie in many ways and I can see why someone would be offended by it. But I wasn't and I found this oddball movie which blends live action with some compelling animation to be hard to watch and hard to stop watching at the same time. It stars Scatman Crothers and Barry White (yeah...that Barry White) .

The movie is nothing less than  Uncle Remus meets Mario Puzo or to put it more bluntly Bre'r Rabbit meets The Godfather. It's ripe with violence and harsh language as we follow a trio of critters (Rabbit, Bear and Fox) who go to the big city and try to find success in arenas of organized crime. The movie is about loyalty and about the American Dream. You know that last bit is true because the "American Dream" is in the movie in all her red,whit, and blue blonde voluptuous glory.

It's a movie about Harlem and black culture but of course it's written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, a white Brooklyn Jew. Bakshi spent many of his critical youthful years in a black community and went to a black school back in he bad old days of segregation. This movie felt more like a Spike Lee joint than any film I've seen not by Spike Lee. Whatever you think of it ultimately, it's a fascinating watch and I recommend to the stout of heart.

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