Wizards: Flaws of Human Nature through Fantastical Animation

Western culture has long had a preconceived notion that animation is primarily for children. Two prominent reasons for this positioning were the arrival of the Hays Code, a motion picture guideline that made censorship stricter starting in 1934 up until 1968 (and which included the censoring of animated stars such as Betty Boop), and the dominant influence that the Walt Disney Studios had upon shaping the identity of the medium as family-friendly (see Lewis 2021). These two forces converged to create cartoons marketed primarily towards younger audiences, leaving future generations of animators and studios to adopt and perpetuate this convention. According to Billy Tooma (2016), this hindered the growth and innovation of the medium that was monopolized by a studio with such a strong grasp on Western culture.

One American animator by the name of Ralph Bakshi was tired of these same motion pictures being regurgitated and felt as though the medium was stunted by these repercussions that were now standardized by the Hays Code’s influence. He would later become one of the biggest influences in bringing adult animation into the limelight, with works such as Fritz the Cat in 1972, and the film that is the subject of this blog post, Wizards, released in 1977 (Fig. 1). For this analysis, I will explore how Bakshi juxtaposes traditional animation conventions of its time with unconventional visual techniques and concepts to create an absurdist story critiquing human nature’s unnerving route toward self-destruction.

Fig. 1 - Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards, released in 1977.

Wizards takes place three thousand years after Earth has been assumedly attacked by atomic weapons. Fairies and Elven folk have arisen back from the past and live out their days in the untainted land of the world known as Montagar, while the radiated land of Scorch is populated by the radiated mutants. Within the lands of Scorch rules an evil wizard by the name of Black Wolf, a wizard who disavows magic and instead opts for military weaponry and technology. He leads the mutants to war against the fairies and elves in the hope of taking over the world, but the protagonist that the majority of the film follows (who happens to be Black Wolf’s brother) Avatar, is called to action by the people of Montagar to stop him. The premise of the story is inexplicably rudimentary, that of a cliche fantasy tale for children; However, what makes the film interesting is its juxtapositions of late 1970’s societal norms with unhinged surrealistic imagery, adult topics, and unusual visual techniques. Black Wolf’s infatuation with fascism and Nazi imagery is coupled with the character’s belief that one of his greatest weapons in warfare is an old projector that broadcasts imagery of Hitler and warfare from World War II.

The climax to the film is probably the most potent example of how a register of absurdity within Wizards directly correlates to the naivety of humans represented within the narrative. When Avatar kills his brother, ironically with a gun and not with magic, there is a degree of tension in the character's escape sequence, but once events are resolved, the movie ends with an unusual “happily ever after” approach. Bakshi switches from an ironic gag that had been building up since the beginning of the movie, to a carefree ending that barely presents any closure. Avatar and the others essentially move on with no self-reflection, and the credits roll. This ending sequence alone directly correlates to how humans often treat important problems: fixing something in a manner that only brings new problems in the future, resulting in history simply repeating itself. The cyclical nature of wars repeating throughout history, the main call to action within the film itself, is enough to prove this point alone. Although Wizards ends with a positive tone, given the fantastical and deliberately ridiculous nature of the world it is hard to believe that the problem is truly gone.

Fig. 2 - The Black Wolf of Wizards.

Not only is there a portrayal of these themes throughout the story, but the aesthetic choices of the film are also allegorical to human nature. The stylized character designs contrast with the gritty and post-apocalyptic scenery in ways that serve as symbolism on the naivety of humanity as a whole. Characters are misleadingly designed as familiar from “family-friendly” cartoons, only to be involved in situations with adult sub-textual undertones. The clearest example is between Avatar, the “good” wizard, and his brother Black Wolf, the “bad” one (Fig. 2). Avatar relies on the purposely under-explained power system of magic, while his brother, Black Wolf, embraces past human war technology and fascism. Avatar’s character design and magical powers are bright, colourful, and nowhere near as harmful as the dark, withered evil his brother possesses with his weapons of mass destruction. Avatar does not kill anyone in the film until his brother pushes him to the edge, ironically shooting him with a pistol to end the warfare. Even when one of Black Wolf’s assassins, Necron 99, kills Elinore’s father, he does not exact revenge through violence, but instead incapacitates him and holds him hostage. Avatar and the world of Fairies and Elves, compared to Black Wolf’s world of chaotic and violent mutant society, are contrasting and highly loaded symbols of “good and evil”: two worlds that counteract one another through tension and conflict, much like international tensions to which Bakshi’s film is alluding in a sustained act of allegory.

Moreover, another striking instance of juxtaposition that occurs within Wizards emerges during one of the climactic battle sequences between the fairies, elves, and the mutant army. Unlike the typical action-packed scenes, this sequence unfolds with a pacing reminiscent of a montage. Rotoscoped medieval warfare, alongside tanks and aircraft, are aligned in contrast with colorful cartoon characters engaged in deadly combat, which creates an unconventional stylistic composition. The battle is akin to witnessing an animated collage of war rather than a traditional battle scene. Bakshi employed this stylistic technique not only due to budget constraints but also to symbolise the cyclical nature of war and conflict. A similar montage appears earlier in the film, which anticipates and echoes the format and composition of the final battle sequence. This repetition of rotoscoping combined with hand-drawn cartoon animation and the recurring theme of war within the plot underscores the inference that humanity, or in the case of the film’s characters, sapient creatures with human-like traits, persist in repeating the same mistakes of the past, regardless of technological advancements or accumulated knowledge.

Wizards is in many ways a flawed animated fantasy film, containing misshapen pacing and questionable editing choices that visually suggest the impact of its tremendously low budget (NBC-DFW). Bakshi himself speaks on this in a recent 2014 interview, stating that “the first three and a half minutes of a Pixar film equal the entire budget for Wizards” (qtd. in Anders 2014). Despite its flaws, the ideas found within the film, combined with the techniques of rotoscoping and still-frames with narration, arguably evoke more emotion and thought from the viewer. In Bakshi’s own words, “You can point at my lines or my colors or my sloppy in-betweens, but it’s all bullshit. At the end of my film, you’re going to feel something” (qtd. Thill 2016). The approach to Wizards, and all of Bakshi’s works for that matter, is to bring ideas and topics to life through the power of the animated medium, even if they are controversial. Nothing is off limits for animation and so, as Bakshi’s films illustrate, such topics should be embraced to their fullest extent.

**Article published: June 14th, 2024**

References

Anders, Jason. 2014. “‘A Conversation with Ralph Bakshi’ by Jason Anders.” Fülle Circle Magazine, available at: www.fullecirclemagazine.com/2009/11/conversation-with-ralph-bakshi.html.

Anon. NBC-DFW. “Animation Legend Ralph Bakshi Looks Back at His Cult Classic ‘Wizards.’” NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (May 30, 2012), available at: www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/ralph-bakshis-animated-look-back-at-his-classic/film-wizards/1944870/.

Lewis, Maria. 2021. “Early Hollywood and the Hays Code.” ACMI (January 14, 2021, available at: www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/early-hollywood-and-hays-code/.

Thill, Scott. 2016. “‘I Love Animators, I Just Want Them to Wake up:’ a Birthday Interview with Ralph Bakshi.” CartoonBrew (October 14, 2016), available at: www.cartoonbrew.com/interviews/i-loveanimators-i-just-want-them-to-wake-up-a-birthday-interview-with-ralph-bakshi-120559.html.

Tooma, Billy. 2016. “Animation Stagnation or: How America Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mouse.” Community College Humanities Association 1, no. 1: 17–27.

Biography

James Gorczyca is a Graduating student at the University of Texas at Dallas, Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology. They're a musician and visual artist with a passion for all things creative and groundbreaking in the art world. Earlier versions of this text were developed with the help of Dr. Christine Veras and peers from the Animation Studies course.