Wizards
Also known as: War Wizards (Working Title)
- Studio
- Bakshi Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
- Distributor
- Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Synopsis
In a post-apocalyptic future, humankind is destroyed and the fantastic races of ancient legend emerge to repopulate the earth. In fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, twin sons- wizards- are born to a queen of the faeries: one good, the other aggressively evil. They are destined to collide in a war that will destroy the new earth. Blackwolf, the evil son, is a deformed mutant and is cast out of the community. He seeks to rediscover the ancient technologies of warfare and destruction in order to gain his revenge and subjugate the free peoples of the earth. Avatar, the good son, is human and seeks a passive life of non-aggression in order to avoid responsibility for the bloodshed and despair prophesied. Blackwolf's disastrous attempts to assassinate his brother compel Avatar to marshal forces against Blackwolf, leading to the ultimate confrontation.
Characters
Avatar, Elinore, Weehawk, Peace, President, Blackwolf, Fairy, Frog, Priest, Peewhittle, Sean, General, Prostitute, Fritz, Storm Trooper, Fairy Girl, Adolf Hitler
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Ralph Bakshi
Producing
- Producer
- Ralph Bakshi
Writing
- Writer
- Ralph Bakshi
Animation
- Animator
- Brenda Banks, Irven Spence, Martin Taras (as Martin B. Taras), Robert Taylor, Art Vitello (as Arthur Vitello), Cosmo Anzilotti uncredited
- Assistant Animators
- Stod Herbert, Charlotte Huffine, Ben Shenkman
- Sequence Animator
- Irven Spence
- Animation Effects
- Tasia Erickson (as Tasia Williams)
- Animation Checker
- Dotti Foell
- Ink and Paint Artists
- Sandy Benenati, Louise Cuarto, Diane Dunning, Alison Leopold (as Alison A. Victory), Manon Washburn, Micki Zurcher (as Michele Zurcher)
- Layout Artist
- John Sparey
- Background Supervisor
- Martin Strudler
- Background Artists
- David Jonas, Ian Miller, Martin Strudler, Ira Turek, John Vita (as Johnnie Vita)
- Background Designer
- Ian Miller
- Visual Development Artist
- Toby Bluth uncredited
- Cel Reproductions
- Enrique Alpizar, Edgar Gutierrez
- Color Modeler
- Janet Cummings
- Final Checkers
- Mary J. Adams, Alice Cowing, Nelda Ridley, Katherine Victor (as Kathrin Leichliter)
Voices
- Voice
- Bob Holt (Avatar), Jesse Welles (Elinore), Richard Romanus (Weehawk), David Proval (Peace), Jim Connell (as James Connell) (President), Steve Gravers (Blackwolf), Barbara Sloane (Fairy), Angelo Grisanti (Frog), Hyman Wien (Priest), Christopher Tayback (Peewhittle), Mark Hamill (as Mark Hamil) (Sean), Peter Hobbs (General), Tina Romanus (as Tina Bowman) (Prostitute), Ralph Bakshi (Fritz, Storm Trooper [uncredited]), Victoria Bakshi (Fairy Girl [uncredited]), Adolf Hitler (Himself [archive footage]) [uncredited]), Susan Tyrrell (Narrator [uncredited])
Music
- Music
- Andrew Belling
- Musical Director
- Andrew Belling
Editing
- Editor
- Donald W. Ernst
- Negative Cutter
- Jack Hooper
Crew
- Animation Production Manager
- Bill Orcutt (as William Orcutt)
- Illustrator (Histories)
- Michael G. Ploog (as Mike Ploog)
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Eileen Horta
- Animation Camera
- Ted C. Bemiller
- Assistant to Producer
- Leah Bernstein
- Production Coordinators
- Scott Citron, John Kaufman, Jose Kfuri, Christine Wirt
- Titles
- Howard Miller
Companies and other credits
- Sound Effects and Music Editing: Horta-Mahana Corp
Production notes
Budgeted at an estimated $1.2 million; grossed $9 million in the United States.
Awards
Nominee, Saturn Award, Best Fantasy Film, 1978.
Nominee, Hugo, Best Dramatic Presentation, 1978
Nominee, Hugo, Best Dramatic Presentation, 1978
Reviews
Wizards
Of the animated films I've enjoyed over the years, I found this one to be one of the best. The combination of fantasy and skewed look at technology used for evil played as well when first viewed as it does today. The animation itself was a marvel to look at at the time it was released and remains so today.
As for somewhat adult content, that doesn't take away from what the film was: pure entertainment.
Wizards
This is the reason that I am what I am today. Ralph Bakshi is a master of taking the dynamic and compositional world or cartooning and bringing it to life. I saw this movie for the first time when I was five, I still watch it so that I don't lose touch.
Wizards
Good, vile, raunchy fun for 17-year-old males of all ages.
Wizards
I'd give it a 5, but the foul language is what had me knock it down a notch. Well directed and animated, nonetheless! I saw this one when I was a senior in High School - 1992-1993. I had only seen this once, but it was enough for me. Ralph Bakshi is certainly a genius in his own right, that is for sure!