Teegra and Larn from FIRE & ICE (1983)
Does anyone like this movie? It rarely comes up anywhere in discussions of the genre, PEPLUM or the Sword & Sorcery trend of the 1980s. Conceived and co-directed by Ralph Bakshi and inspired from the works of Frank Frazetta, the animated movie is sorta forgotten these days. I like it but I find the story very simple or borderline awful, and the animation often looks more like sketches than full blown animation. Frazetta's work, though not intricately detailed, was filled with action, sex and verve. The animation rarely captures that sense in the movie. It feels underdeveloped. It's fun to watch but could have been more elaborate. I prefer these old school type of animated movies than today's variety so that aspect is a definite plus. The backgrounds are beautiful.
I had never heard of this film, but as I am passionate about the art of Frank Frazetta I decided to look for it and I will watch it as soon as possible. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI liked some aspects of the movie and am always fascinated by Ralph Bakshi's rotoscope animation style, but honestly the fact that they kept making the "camera" focus on the lady's near naked body and her HUGE rear really turned me off and kinda ruined the film for me.
ReplyDeleteI put this one in the "good not great" category and can see myself probably watching it again if it ever came up.
The backgrounds are definitely the best part of the film, all things considered. James Gurney of "Dinotopia" fame worked on some of them!
ReplyDeleteLoved the conclusion. Because of all the CGI today, people tend to forget how exciting it was to get any fantasy animation prior to 1980. It captures Frazetta's paintings, even if the details don't match. And someone is surprised there is a woman with a large butt in a Frazetta-based movie? Come on, he made a career out of painting those!
ReplyDeleteLike his Death Dealer character, Frank Frazetta had the concept and another made it come to life. In this case, Fire and Ice had the imagery of Frazetta and the unique style of Bakshi. I worked for Bakshi during the making of Lord of the Rings back in 1978 and it was a blast!
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