lunes, 23 de mayo de 2011

Interview - Ralph Bakshi



As I’m a humble person, my word is my bond. And I promised all of you, long ago, that we would post and interview with legendary director Ralph Bakshi, so here it is. Every one of us in the studio is very proud of this interview. I am very proud of having the opportunity to talk with such a rich man.

I don’t know if Bakshi is one of the greatest artists alive today, but he certainly is one of the artists I respect the most. I admire his lack of compromise with anything but his own worldview and the crude sincerity with which he expresses it. These are clearly not the political trades of businessman and it’s no wonder that it’s been more than ten years since his last movie, but there are still people, like me, who appreciate this kind of honesty. Kurt Vonnegut said “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.” I often feel this is one of Bakshi’s trademarks.



Throughout the last year, I’ve written at least five articles about the man and his works. Some of them are in Spanish and some in English; most of them are unpublished. But he always comes back to me as a cornerstone not only of my views about animation, but of art in general. So, yeah, it’s with great honor that I present you this interview.

At first, what he says might come off as kind of downer, but that’s mostly because we had to edit out the brightest parts of his gloomy discourse and his jokes due to time constrains. Check out his movies and see for yourself that he’s a jolly man. And a wise man.

I especially like what he has to say about writers :)

7 comentarios:

  1. Gracias Marty. El viejo este parece un personaje copado, Hagan las gestiones y consíganle una invitación para algún festival, lo esta pidiendo!

    Ahora no sólo habré dispensado 23 minutos para ver las entrevistas, sino que tendré que encargarme de averiguar de que se trata ese "Wizards", "Fritz the cat", entre otras. Gracias por hacerme sentir un poco más bruto que ayer.

    Felicitaciones por el material.

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  2. To comment on his remarks on "Wizards" and the notion of terrorists getting a hold of nuclear weapons: Pakistan is a hotbed of terrorists. And it's got The Bomb. This is why we treat them with kid gloves most of the time.

    I predict that al Qaeda will get The Bomb, they probably already have it actually, and they got it from Pakistan. They are infinitely patient...they waited 8 years after the failed first attack on the World Trade Center to attack it again successfully.

    Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, I'm sure they're counting down to another attack on the US. It will likely be nuclear and it will likely be targeted on a major American city. My own home town of Los Angeles has a big bullseye drawn on it according to files that were taken from the Abbotabad compound.

    If it happens, I hope I'm at Ground Zero, that's all. The people who got the worst of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the ones outside ground zero, who died of radiation poisoning.

    Bakshi is pessimistic because frankly, our situation is pessimistic. I totally agree with his assessment of the world.

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  3. I can't do other but love the bluntness with which this old man speaks his mind. Man, this is a Phd on DIGNITY in the face of isolation and massive generational failure.

    Of course, I admire his independent movies, anyone who loves animation should do so, but that was a long time ago. What remains of that times is a guy who has not a market for the transgressive film he wants to deliver, but will not sell his soul to the devil to do a "Princess movie" with the ensuing merchandising avalanche and shitty message. I think that the message of this Bakshi is clear: live your dream, fight for what you believe, never compromise, never be ashamed of your views. And if that means animation Siberia, so be it.

    Every single gram of you rocks this world, Ralph. Keep up at living by your standards and generally being awesome. Even while not making any movie, just with your moral standards you give me hope that we are not utterly sunk in the trash can.

    BTW, even if he's a genius, screw Crumb: Fritz the Cat is glorious, no matter what the skinny guy said about it.

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  4. El tipo es un grosso. Si lo vemos en perspectiva, fué de pionero. en mi opinión es grosso más allá del cine de animación. Y está pidiendo que lo traigana a Argentina!! La entrevista está buenisima porque tiene la calidad de una conversación. Abrazos!!!

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  5. queremos mas entrevistas!!! Y mas articulos!! Abrazos!!!!

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