Debuting right before my senior year of high school, “Cool World” initially looked like it was going to be the movie amongst my demographic that summer: Kim Basinger slinking around, both in animated and human form, in a sleek, sexy looking Ralph Bakshi hybrid of live-action and animation? The trailers were sufficiently suggestive on top of it, yet the crushing reality of its PG-13 rating instantly sent up alarm signals that “Cool World” wasn’t the movie it was cracked up to be.
That, of course, turned out to be the case when Paramount’s July ’92 release instantly fizzled at the box-office. Neither the R-rated “Roger Rabbit” knockoff promised by its original ads, nor a fantasy appropriate enough for kids (of any age), “Cool World” is a bizarre, fascinating misfire wherein artist Gabriel Byrne finds his graphic novel coming to life in the form of a parallel universe. There, another human (Brad Pitt) who’s been playing detective since the 1940s (don’t ask) has been standing watch over “Cool World,” making sure humans and ‘toons don’t have intercourse. And that means you, Gabriel Byrne, even after he finds out his big creation Holli Would (Basinger) is a living entity who wants access to real Vegas.
Bakshi intended “Cool World” to be an animated horror movie wherein the lead character was an offspring of humans and animated characters. By the time the movie was made for producer Frank Mancuso, Jr., the concept was watered down and then basically altered completely once studio executives poured more money into the film. Envisioning it as a more mainstream, teen-centric animated hybrid, Bakshi would find only his animation bearing evidence of his original ideas, with the final result seemingly directed by the producer instead (at least, it seems the live-action portions were more Mancuso’s work than Bakshi’s). The end result is neither here nor there — fragmented to the point of incoherence at the outset, only Bakshi’s designs and the environment of Cool World itself captivate the viewer, as the Michael Grais-Mark Victor (“Poltergeist”) script offers no identifiable characters to care about. Meanwhile, the live-action sections seem positively awkward and stilted in comparison to the daffy Bakshi drawings and nightmarish “toonscape” of the alternate dimension’s backdrop.
Debuting on Blu-Ray in a new 4K scan approved by Bakshi (1.85), “Cool World” is at least an intriguing visual experience for animation fans. The 5.1/2.0 DTS MA tracks seem roughly identical, and a new 20-minute featurette includes fresh interviews with Basinger (who allegedly played a hand in the movie being brought down to PG-13 form), Mancuso (who doesn’t deny the film’s commercial considerations outweighing Bakshi’s intentions) and Bakshi, who at least is happy with his animation. Two trailers, both hinting at a darker, more dangerous direction than the film itself took, are also included. It should be noted Mark Isham’s score for this movie was one of his best, but — like Bakshi’s original concept for the film — much of it resides outside the scope of the movie itself.