Hey, Kevin! You wrote:
> So what was the first hard-boiled animated feature?
I'd have to say
> BATMAN: THE MASK OF THE PHANTASM (sp?) was
hard-boiled, but somehow I
> doubt it was the first. I guess a case could be made
for Ralph
> Bashki's earlier HEAVY TRAFFIC & FRITZ THE CAT,
but to me they're
> more trippy freak show than hard-boiled, from what I
remember.
>
> Which ties into what Jim said about attitude being
more important
> than content, when it comes to
hard-boiled.
>
I'd say that Ralph Bakshi had the most hard-boiled attitude
of any animation producer/director who managed to get his
creation to the big screen. By that, I mean Bakshi himself
fitted the definition of a hardboiled character: a loner,
living by his own code (of what he wanted to put into his
films) no matter what the consequences, etc. But the closest
he came to putting a hard-boiled piece on the screen was
probably COONSKIN (1975) -- and that was more of a film
examining the black experience, examining the Superfly type
of character.
As to what was the first hard-boiled animated feature, I'd
say Bill Hagen pointed towards it when he asked:
>
> On animated hard-boiled, would any of the 1970s
Heavy Metal stories or
> related publications fit?
>
In terms of animation, I think the HEAVY METAL feature
(released in 1981?) had enough hard-boiled stories in it to
qualify by default (not all of the stories were in that vein,
but I wouldn't put BATMAN:THE MASK OF THE PHANTASM ahead of
it and I still would've put THE SPIRIT as the first if it had
been produced). This may be just a personal reaction because
I've worked in the industry for so long and can see the wires
and levers behind the curtain, but for me all animation since
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? has too much slick and not enough
grit to suit me.
John Celestri
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