Animator Ralph Bakshi has never been afraid to dip his toes… or any other body part… into the realms of fantasy (see 1977’s Wizards and 1978’s Tolkein adaptation, Lord of the Rings if your ass doubts me) but his magnum opus of the genre is 1983’s Fire and Ice.
Young warrior Larn (William Ostrander, Christine) is caught in a war between the noble King Jarol (Leo Gordon, Alienator) of the volcano kingdom of Firekeep, and Wolf Queen Juliana (Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, the Angel franchise) and her ice wizard son Nekron (animator Sean Hannon) after his village is destroyed by Nekron’s glaciers (which he appears to summon via orgasm apparently).
Soon Larn sets out to rescue Jarol’s daughter Teegra (Maggie Roswell, The Simpsons) who is kidnapped by Nekron’s Neanderthal troops, the Subhumans in order to provide the wizard an heir… at least that’s what Juliana desires, but Nekron apparently runs “cold” when it comes to mating with voluptuous prisoners.
As the adventure continues, Larn encounters monsters, witches, and more unholy nightmares on his quest, but luckily he gains the assistance of battle-axe wielding bad-ass murder machine Darkwolf (familiar TV heavy Steve Sandor)… but will his prowess be enough to help our hero obtain victory?!
Besides Bakshi utilizing fluid rotoscoped animation (a process of animating over footage of live actors) to give the heroes and villains populating the dangerous world of Fire and Ice life, said characters are designed by legendary artist Frank Frazetta (who’s work brought the Hyperborian world of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian to life on multiple paperback novel covers).
While we are talking talent, the muscle-bound men and curvy women that populate the film stride among environments that also would be at home in Frazetta’s work, which were provided by Dinotopia creator James Gurney with help of famous painter Thomas Kinkade… and while we are keeping score, animation genius Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) worked as a layout artist on the production.
The narrative here, while light on characterization, is a pitch-perfect pastiche of the pulp adventures found in publications such as Weird Tales, and is provided by long-time Marvel comics Conan scribes Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas (working from a story provided by Bakshi and Frazetta).
When your eyeballs have soaked in all of the barbaric action at hand, you may wish to learn more about Fire and Ice, and this 4K release from Blue Underground has your ass well and truly covered!
Things kick off with an audio commentary from Bakshi himself who takes us through the film’s production in detail, followed by a collection of featurettes that cover the art provided by Frazetta for the film, an appreciation of the film from filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (who was set to create a live-action version of the tale that never came to be), a fascinating archival ”making of” mini-doc, an appreciation of Frazetta courtesy of Bakshi, a collection of diary entries about the Fire and Ice’s filming provided by Sean Hannon, and an extensive behind-the-scenes photo gallery.
The film’s trailer and multiple poster & stills galleries are also included.
Additionally the package includes a Blu-ray edition of Fire and Ice, the film’s soundtrack on a seperate CD, and a steelbook to store it all in!
Featuring dynamic animation, furious action, and irresistible sword and sorcery atmosphere, Fire and Ice is a fantasy epic not be missed by fantasy fanatics!
