Main Cast: Susan Tyrrell, Maggie Roswell, William Ostrander, Stephen Mendel, Clare Nono
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 81 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Ralph Bakshi's last stab at epic fantasy takes place shortly after the Ice Age. The evil queen Juliana (voice of Eileen O'Reill) plots to conquer the world and raises her son Nekron (Sean Hannon) as a master of sorcery and arcane mental powers. Together the two conquer the Ice Kingdom, and from their stronghold Nekron commands massive glaciers to destroy everything between them and their ultimate goal: Fire Keep, ruled by the wise and powerful King Jarol Leo Gordon. Nekron's latest advance destroys a Northern village, leaving Larn (Randy Norton) the sole survivor, bent on revenge; it also exhausts Nekron, who resorts to sending emissaries to coerce Jarol into surrendering. When words fail, they resort to kidnapping Jarol's daughter Teegra (Cynthia Leake), who escapes and accidentally hooks up with Larn. Aided by the mysterious masked warrior Darkwolf (Steve Sandor), they attempt to return to Fire Keep and mobilize their warriors to bring the fight to Nekron. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
Review
Although known for his adult, urban-themed animated films like Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, and American Pop, Ralph Bakshi also had a soft spot for fantasy -- the most famous (or perhaps infamous) example being the 1978 Lord of the Rings. Five years after attempting to take on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic, Bakshi tackled a more conventional sword-and-sorcery tale in the bare-chested, monosyllabic vein of Conan the Barbarian. Teamed up with veteran comics writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas and prodigious fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, Bakshi should have made Fire and Ice into a sweeping, imaginative epic; instead, you get the feeling that this has all been done before. The trouble is, it has been. From the moment Larn and his people set up barriers against an unknown menace, you know his village will be decimated and that he'll go on a quest for revenge. You also know that as soon as he spots Princess Teegra in her barely-there outfit, he'll be doing a whole lot of rescuing until the inevitable fade-out with the two of them embracing. Despite its clichés, it's not hard to see why Fire and Ice remains a cult favorite; the story structure is solid, and never feels sluggish. And despite Bakshi's typical use of rotoscoping -- tracing over film footage of live actors -- Frazetta's designs and Bakshi's direction occasionally provide some genuinely involving imagery. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
Alan Koss - Envoy; Hans Howes - Defender captain; Raymond Oliver - subhuman; Nathan Purdee - subhuman; Le Tari - subhuman; Leo Gordon - Jarol; Cynthia Leake; Mickey Morton - Otwa; Randy Norton; Steve Sandor - Darkwolf; Big Yank - Mongo; Elizabeth Lloyd Shaw - Roleil; Greg Wayne Elam - Pako; James Bridges
Credit
Ralph Bakshi - Director, John W. Hyde - Executive Producer, Richard St. Johns - Executive Producer, William Kraft - Composer (Music Score), Angela Morley - Musical Arrangement, Francis Grumman - Cinematographer, Ralph Bakshi - Producer, Frank Frazetta - Producer, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Gregg Landaker - Sound/Sound Designer, Bill Varney - Sound/Sound Designer, Roy Thomas - Screenwriter, Gerry Conway - Screenwriter
Fire and Ice, released in 1983, was a collaboration between Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, distributed by 20th Century Fox, which also distributed 1977's Wizards. The animated feature, based on characters Bakshi and Frazetta co-created, was made using the process of rotoscoping, in which scenes were shot in live action and then traced onto animation cels.
From their stronghold in Icepeak, the evil Queen Juliana and her son Nekron send forth a wave of glaciers, forcing humanity to retreat south towards the equator. Nekron sends a delegation to King Jarol in Firekeep to request his surrender, but this is a ruse orchestrated by Queen Juliana for Nekron’s sub-humans to kidnap Jarol’s daughter, the barefoot, microkini-wearing Princess Teegra (Queen Juliana feels that Nekron should take a bride to produce an heir). But Teegra makes an escape and comes upon Larn, the only survivor of a village razed by glaciers, who offers to escort her back to Firekeep. As Teegra is recaptured, Larn teams with the mysterious Darkwolf to save Teegra and then travel to Icepeak to stop Juliana. Darkwolf faces Nekron and kills him as Icepeak succumbs to lava released by King Jarol and is destroyed. The film finishes with Larn about to kill a sub-human until Teegra stops him saying that "it's over"; Darkwolf is seen atop a cliff and then disappears. Teegra and Larn kiss as the credits roll.
By 1982, fantasy films had proven to be considerably successful at the box office, including The Beastmaster and Conan the Barbarian, and Bakshi had a desire to work with long-time friend and fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta.[1] Bakshi received $1.2 million to finance Fire and Ice from some of the same investors as American Pop, and 20th Century Fox agreed to distribute the film based upon the financial longevity of Wizards.[1] Because Fire and Ice was the most action-oriented story Bakshi had directed up until that point, rotoscoping was again used, and the realism of the animation and design replicated Frazetta's artwork.[1] Bakshi and Frazetta were heavily involved in the production of the live-action sequences, from casting sessions to the final shoot.[1] The film's crew included background artists James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade, layout artist Peter Chung, and established Bakshi Productions artists Sparey, Steve Gordon, Bell and Banks.[1] Chung strongly admired Bakshi and Frazetta's work, and animated his sequences on the film while simultaneously working for The Walt Disney Company.[1]
Reception
Jerry Beck wrote, "The plot is standard [...] recalling nothing so much as a more graphic episode of Filmation's He-Man series. [...] Fire and Ice essentially stands as a footnote to the spate of barbarian films that followed in the wake of Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance as Conan."[2]
In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the 99th greatest animated film of all time.[3] In 2005, it was released on DVD by Blue Underground Entertainment on a limited edition two-disc set, paired with the documentary Frazetta: Painting With Fire, about the film's co-creator and producer, Frank Frazetta.[4]
References
^ abcdefGibson, Jon M.; McDonnell, Chris (2008). "Fire and Ice". Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe Publishing. pp. 192; 196. ISBN0789316846.
^Beck, Jerry (2005). "Fire and Ice". The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Review Press. p. 84. ISBN9781556525919.
