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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Angry, Acid-Inspired Kick In the Nutz..., June 12, 2001
A fan of Bakshi's work I was ecstatic when I finally found this under its original title of Coonskin after an eight or nine year search. WHOA MOMMA!! Bakshi translates the tales of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby to Urban Decay USA and lets rip against the greedy, liars, cheats and creeps of society, by combining all the elements from his previous two films into one angry melting pot. Recycling the live action element, human characters and personal recollections from his second film "Heavy Traffic" and the political, animal character fantasies of his interpretation of "Fritz the Cat", in this Blaxpoitation inspired tale of three friends who attempt to knock the Godfather out of Harlem, Bakshi has created some of the most unbelievable and disturbing animation ever. Bear witness to phony evangalists, pimps, corrupt cops, criminals and revolutionary ideas that flow through the film like some hullucinogenic nightmare. When the film was released in 1975, it was pulled within a week of its release due to vehement protests by the political group CORE against what they perceived to be blatant racism against African-Americans. Certainly most of the blacks in the film are portrayed in an ugly light, but who in this film is not?! Black, White, Italian or Jew no-one comes out of this film untouched and ultimately (at least to me) it did not seem racist to anyone group, just very angry towards the corruption, greed and dishonesty that perpetrates itself at any level of society. Bakshi uses live action on its own (to set up and complete the story) and a mix of live-action and animation in the story itself (live backgrounds with animated characters). While most of the solely live-action bits are pretty weak (despite having the immensely talented Scatman Crothers in them), and some of the animation looks cheap, when the mix is right the film SOARS! This film contains some of the most unbelievable scenes I have ever seen! The aforementioned phony evangilist, a very funny funeral sequence and the absolute highlight of an LSD trip that wrenches out all the bad thoughts and ideas of its victim and gives him a suitable comeuppance.HEAVY HEAVY STUFF. I especially liked the way he introduced the chracters against a Warner Bros animation background. Despite the somewhat abrupt and confusing ending and the fact that I wished there was more animation than there was, I admire Bakshi very much for having the guts to do this. Powerful, heartfelt, funny, surrealistic, and exceedingly angry and confronting this is not a film for all tastes. However, it is obviously recommended for fans of Bakshi and people with open minds who know that films like this do not get made today and that if they did Barry White would not be starring in them.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bakshi Brilliance, October 17, 2002
Ever Since the ultra- notorious 'X-rated and animated' cult classic 'Fritz The Cat' hit the screens of 1972 , animation auteur Ralph Bakshi , in only four pictures ("Fritz The Cat" , "Heavy Traffic , "Street Fight" and "American Pop")shook up American animation like Fellini shook up live action. The most conterversiol of the foursome was "Coonskin" now retitled "Street Fight" , this film is not only Bakshi's masterpiece but arguably the greatest piece of animation ever created , written and directed by Bakshi the film is a brilliant acid satire of pop culture , this film manages to be super offenive about EVERYTHING , from Disney musicals to buxom blondes , "Street Fight" is a masterpiece , this film needs to be on DVD.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps Bakshi's Best, October 13, 2003
I'll admit this: this is probably one of my favorite animated films. Some think it should have never been made, but I think it is perhaps one of the greatest films to come out of American animation. Bakshi was definately a magician in his day through his early films that gave social satire while still making you laugh some how. Now, some black people who see this film will most likely be offended. And they have every right to, after all the black people in this movie are portrayed in a bit of a 1930's stereotype portrayel. However, one thing every one can understand is that the stereotyping or demoting of the black population was never the intention in this film. In fact, the film makes fun of racism and the exploitation of black Americans via the government, Hollywood, and society in general. In fact, one thing few people realized was that Bakshi actually went into Harlem with a tape recorder and asked people: "OK, tell me what its like being Black." That explains why much of this film is done through character monologues. Any way, most of the white people in this film are portrayed as gay, racist, idiots. Should I be offended? Well I'm not. Italian-Americans are REALLY mocked too, and I'm not offended by that either. In summary, this is Bakshi's greatest film. It was controversial then and still is today, but it still holds true to its ideals and how it views society.
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