{"id":2569,"date":"2012-03-13T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T19:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2012-03-13T12:29:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T19:29:00","slug":"the-35th-anniversary-of-wizards-available-on-blu-ray-march-13th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=2569","title":{"rendered":"The 35th Anniversary of “Wizards” Available on Blu-ray March 13th"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nWhile watching \u201cWizards\u201d think to yourself \u201cThirty-five years ago, this is what a PG rated movie for kids looked like.\u201d The high Fantasy Sci-Fi flick features fratricide, loads of violence and a half-fairy princess nearly falling out of what little clothes she has draped over her voluptuous body. And the Conservatives don\u2019t think they\u2019re winning\u2026? Now you get a PG-13 if you light up a cigarette. <\/p>\n

Of course this is a kid\u2019s movie made by the famed Ralph Bakshi, the auteur who directed \u201cFritz the Cat,\u201d the counter-culture cult classic that bears the distinction of being the first animated film to be given an X rating. \u201cWizards\u201d holds a few distinctions of its own as it was the first animated to be released by Fox Studios and was produced on the lot in 1976 along side another high Fantasy Sci-Fi flick called \u201cStar Wars\u201d. In fact Mark Hamill, a.k.a Luke Skywalker, lends his voice to \u201cWizards\u201d as the scrappy leader of the fairies named Sean. <\/p>\n

All of this information can be found in the 24 beautiful pages of factoids and artwork that accompanies the 35th anniversary Blu-ray release of the film. I don\u2019t want you to think I\u2019m some super-smart expert on 70\u2019s family films only to find out later, once you purchase \u201cWizards\u201d and check out the notes for yourself, that I am a charlatan.
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\n\u201cWizards\u201d was Bakshi\u2019s take on the Tolkien mythology, his effort to make an American modern fairy tale with plenty of nonconformist views sprinkled in for good measure. Funny that the filmmaker riffed on Tolkien and then chose \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d as his next project, which was released a year later in 1978. <\/p>\n

The film takes place on Earth 2 million years after a nuclear war has decimated everything. From the ashes rose the ancestors of man; wizards, fairies and elves who live in the lovely land of Montagar. Meanwhile, there is an uprising in the wastelands as mutants are beginning to unearth relics from the past and learning to utilize the dread \u201cTechnology\u201d. <\/p>\n

The final battle is between twin wizarding brothers: the kind and gentle Avatar (Bob Holt \u2013 original voice of \u201cThe Lorax\u201d) and his mutant brother, Blackwolf. There are swords and sorcery and a few bright spots of comedy, none funnier than the classic \u201cFritz!! They killed Fritz!\u201d bit.
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\nWhile the film feels dated and fragmented in spots it is important to remember that Ralph Bakshi made his name in Hollywood as something that could not really happen nowadays: He was a genuine Independent Animation Filmmaker. The resources needed to make a full-length cartoon film are unbelievable and he was able to make a small library of them on his own terms. <\/p>\n

His works are subversive and challenging, the anti-Disney, and any shortcomings can easily be blamed on limitations of budget. My personal favorite is easily \u201cAmerican Pop,\u201d an epic drama that follows a family\u2019s blood for nearly a century and tells the story through the evolution of music. <\/p>\n

As for \u201cWizards,\u201d the film isn\u2019t perfect but it is an illustration of unique and personal storytelling in a genre that usually never allows such things. <\/p>\n

The 35th Anniversary Blu-ray features a descent transfer. The original must have some flaws because there are some fading and scratch issues throughout.
\nThe disc also features:<\/p>\n

24-Page Collectible Book Packaging
\nCommentary by Director Ralph Bakshi
\nRalph Bakshi: The Wizard of Animation
\nStill Gallery
\nTV Spot and Theatrical Trailers
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=A-xbUsVGdCc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While watching \u201cWizards\u201d think to yourself \u201cThirty-five years ago, this is what a PG rated movie for kids looked like.\u201d The high Fantasy Sci-Fi flick features fratricide, loads of violence and a half-fairy princess nearly falling out of what little clothes she has draped over her voluptuous body. And the Conservatives don\u2019t think they\u2019re winning\u2026? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[779,4984,13254,16618,22993,24397],"class_list":["post-2569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-adult-animated-movies","tag-cult-animated-movies","tag-mark-hamill","tag-ralph-bakshi","tag-tolkien","tag-wizards-35th-anniversary"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}