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Coonskin

Coonskin is a 1975 American satirical crime film written and directed by animator Ralph Bakshi, combining live-action footage with hand-drawn animation to depict anthropomorphic animal characters—Brother Rabbit, Brother Fox, and Brother Bear—rising through Harlem's underworld while lampooning racial stereotypes, organized crime, and institutional hypocrisies.^[1] Adapted loosely from Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus tales featuring Br'er Rabbit and his companions, the narrative frames these folkloric tricksters as black hustlers navigating pimps, mobsters, corrupt clergy, and Italian mafia figures in a gritty urban setting.^[2] Voiced by performers including Barry White as Brother Rabbit, Scatman Crothers as Brother Bear, and Charles Gordone as Brother Fox, the film employs jazz scoring, rotoscoped sequences, and explicit imagery to underscore its critique of both black exploitation films and whitewashed portrayals of criminality.^[2] Bakshi produced Coonskin amid his push for adult-oriented animation, following successes like Fritz the Cat (1972), aiming to expose what he saw as sanitized media narratives on race and power dynamics.^[3] The film's release ignited protests from groups including the NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality, who condemned its use of ethnic slurs, caricatured depictions of African Americans, and scenes blending stereotypes with violence, leading to boycotts and limited distribution in some cities.^[4]^[5] Bakshi countered that the content targeted racist assumptions in Hollywood and society, not endorsed them, drawing from his Brooklyn upbringing amid diverse communities to argue the satire demanded unflinching confrontation rather than evasion.^[3] Despite the backlash—or partly because of its raw stylistic fusion—the work garnered praise from outlets like The New York Times for its bold execution, with Bakshi later deeming it his most accomplished effort for its uncompromised vision.^[6]^[7]

Synopsis

Plot Summary

Brother Rabbit, a cunning anthropomorphic figure inspired by folktales, departs the rural American South alongside his companions Brother Bear and Preacher Fox, heading northward to Harlem in pursuit of opportunity in the urban underworld.^[1] The narrative unfolds primarily through animation, framed by live-action sequences depicting two convicts in a prison cell, where one recounts the tale to the other amid plans for escape.^[3] In Harlem, the trio immerses themselves in organized crime, engaging in gambling, bootlegging, and territorial disputes while rising through the ranks by exploiting the greed and incompetence of rivals.^[2] They clash with corrupt police officers, including a bumbling detective who becomes unwittingly involved in drug-fueled mishaps, and Italian-American mafia bosses controlling vice operations.^[3] Interludes feature satirical vignettes, such as a grotesque Miss America pageant where the titular character, a seductive blonde icon, lures and dooms black aspirants, culminating in lynchings and betrayals that underscore racial tensions.^[8] The protagonists' ascent peaks in direct confrontations with the mafia hierarchy, including a showdown with a powerful godfather figure, where Brother Rabbit employs trickery to seize control of Harlem's rackets.^[1] Brother Bear provides brute force in shootouts and heists, while Preacher Fox navigates religious hypocrisy among black clergy. The story resolves with the trio's dominance asserted through violence and guile, echoing the moral victories of Br'er Rabbit tales amid the decay of promised urban prosperity.^[3]

Production

Development and Pre-Production

Ralph Bakshi conceived Coonskin as a live-action/animated satire adapting Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus tales, reimagining characters such as Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear as anthropomorphic figures navigating 1970s Harlem amid blaxploitation tropes, organized crime, and racial tensions.^[9] Drawing from his formative years in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn—a low-income area marked by ethnic diversity, poverty, and inter-community frictions between Jewish, Italian, and African American residents—Bakshi aimed to capture unvarnished urban vitality and cultural authenticity, rejecting sanitized depictions of race relations prevalent in mainstream media.^[10] ^[11] Bakshi personally wrote the screenplay, conducting thorough research into Uncle Remus stories, African American history, music, and cultural expressions to underpin the film's parodic critique of stereotypes, exploitation films, and institutional hypocrisies.^[12] This followed directly from the success of his prior feature Heavy Traffic (1973), positioning Coonskin as a continuation of his raw, autobiographical approach to American underclass life, though Bakshi later expressed dissatisfaction with the title "Coonskin," which he claimed was imposed by producer Albert S. Ruddy for market appeal despite his preference for alternatives like Street Brat.^[5] In early 1973, Bakshi partnered with producer Albert S. Ruddy—fresh from The Godfather (1972)—securing a $1.6 million budget through Ruddy's production company and Paramount's involvement for distribution planning.^[13] ^[14] Pre-production emphasized conceptualizing the narrative's hybrid structure and satirical bite, with Bakshi outlining storyboards and timing sequences using a stopwatch to maintain pacing reflective of street rhythms observed in his youth, prior to full animation commencement.^[12]

Animation Techniques and Style

Coonskin utilizes a hybrid technique blending live-action footage with hand-drawn animation to achieve a gritty, immersive portrayal of urban environments. The film's framing narrative features live actors depicting two escaped convicts and a preacher sharing stories, while the inner tales transition into animated sequences where anthropomorphic characters navigate exaggerated depictions of Harlem. This integration involved compositing hand-drawn elements over real-world footage, such as color-doctored shots of elevated subways, to ground the satire in authentic backdrops without relying on rotoscoping.^[15] Director Ralph Bakshi emphasized hand-drawn methods over rotoscoping, which he viewed as producing "cold" and "lifeless" results that detracted from narrative vitality. Animators created stylized, caricatured figures—such as anthropomorphic rabbits, foxes, and bears—with fluid, exaggerated movements to convey the chaos of nightlife, street violence, and mob dynamics. These sequences employed rapid, comic-book-inspired line work and deformations to amplify visual impact, allowing for dynamic shifts between realistic human proportions and grotesque distortions.^[15] Merging the media presented technical hurdles, including precise overlay of animated cels onto live-action plates to maintain compositional coherence amid fast-paced action. Production required meticulous timing to synchronize improvised live dialogue with animated responses, often using photographed urban scenes as backgrounds enhanced with painted details for depth. This approach, honed from Bakshi's prior work like Heavy Traffic, enabled cost-effective realism but demanded innovative cel animation workflows to avoid visual seams during violent or surreal transitions.^[15]

Casting and Performances

The film's voice cast featured Philip Michael Thomas as Brother Rabbit (also known as Randy), Barry White as Brother Bear (also known as Sampson), Scatman Crothers as the narrator Pappy and additional roles including Old Man Bone, and Charles Gordone as Preacher Fox (also appearing as the Preacherman).^[16]^[17] These actors provided vocal performances for the anthropomorphic animal protagonists in the animated sequences, drawing on their natural cadences to convey the characters' rural-to-urban transitions.^[18] In addition to voicing animated roles, the principal cast members participated in live-action footage that framed the narrative and depicted human counterparts to the animal figures, such as Crothers as the storytelling elder and Gordone in preacher attire.^[19] This hybrid approach utilized rotoscoping techniques to integrate live performances into the animation, with actors like Thomas and White embodying parallel human archetypes in non-animated scenes.^[16] Bakshi's casting emphasized performers with backgrounds in music and theater, including White's soul singing expertise, which aligned with the film's incorporation of jazz and rhythm-and-blues elements.^[1]

Release

Initial Distribution

Coonskin premiered in the United States on August 20, 1975, following distribution negotiations finalized in May 1975 with Bryanston Distributing Company, after Paramount Pictures relinquished rights amid pre-release pressures from advocacy groups.^[13] ^[3] The rollout occurred through Bryanston, an independent outfit navigating a film industry increasingly focused on wide-release tentpoles from major studios.^[4] Marketing campaigns framed the film as an animated take on blaxploitation tropes, emphasizing urban crime narratives, trickster archetypes, and confrontational satire to attract inner-city audiences via targeted theater placements like the Bryan West in Manhattan.^[3] Advertisements highlighted its provocative edge, positioning it as a bold, system-challenging story blending live-action and rotoscoped animation.^[20] The initial theatrical push faced logistical constraints inherent to Bryanston's limited infrastructure, restricting playdates and promotional reach compared to mainstream releases. Compounding these were early operational disruptions from the distributor's precarious finances, culminating in bankruptcy proceedings shortly after launch, which hampered sustained rollout logistics.^[5]

Box Office and Challenges

Coonskin achieved modest box office returns following its limited theatrical release on August 20, 1975, constrained by distribution challenges and the broader economic downturn of the mid-1970s recession, which reduced theater attendance and film investments overall.^[20] The film opened in select urban venues, such as the Bryan West Theater in New York City, but major chains exhibited reluctance to book it extensively due to its independent status and unconventional animated style, restricting access to wider audiences.^[20] Comprehensive gross figures remain unreported in industry records, reflecting the era's spotty tracking for non-major studio releases. Bryanston Pictures, the independent distributor that assumed handling after Paramount Pictures withdrew support, encountered severe financial strain, filing for bankruptcy shortly after the film's debut, which disrupted marketing efforts and prevented broader rollout to additional screens.^[21] This insolvency compounded logistical hurdles, including delayed payments to exhibitors and halted expansion plans. To mitigate declining interest and rebrand for extended play in secondary markets, the film was reissued under the alternate title Bustin' Out, aiming to align it more closely with blaxploitation genre expectations and attract untapped viewers.^[22]

Recent Restorations and Editions

In 2012, a remastered high-definition edition of Coonskin was released on DVD through Warner Archive Collection, featuring improved visual quality from newly scanned elements of the original negative.^[23] This edition preserved the film's original 1975 Bryanston cut while enhancing clarity for archival purposes, marking the first widespread home video availability in over a decade.^[24] In 2023, Italian publisher Sinister Film issued a DVD edition incorporating a rediscovered longer Paramount cut sourced from an Italian VHS release, which includes approximately 10 additional minutes of footage such as extended dialogue scenes and uncut animation sequences absent from the Bryanston version.^[25] This variant, originally distributed in Europe, features differences in editing and content pacing compared to the U.S. theatrical release, providing scholars and fans access to alternate production decisions made during post-production.^[26] Subsequent digital restorations have expanded accessibility, with the film becoming available in HD on platforms including Amazon Prime Video since 2020 and services like Fandor, Philo, and Midnight Pulp as of 2024.^[27]^[28] These editions have facilitated broader viewership, enabling contemporary audiences to engage with the original uncensored content without reliance on degraded analog copies.^[29]

Reception and Controversies

Early Critical Reviews

Upon its release in August 1975, Coonskin received mixed critical reception, with reviewers acknowledging Ralph Bakshi's ambitious satire on race and urban life while divided over its narrative structure and accessibility. Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised the film as a "shatteringly successful effort to use an uncommon form—cartoons and live action combined—to convey the hallucinatory violence and frustration of American city life, specifically black city life," highlighting its lyrical yet denunciatory approach to violence and superior control compared to Bakshi's earlier works like Fritz the Cat (1972) and Heavy Traffic (1973).^[30] Canby noted the film's nested storytelling, adapting Br'er Rabbit folklore to critique corruption in Harlem's underworld, and deemed it potentially Bakshi's masterpiece for its emotional depth through rotoscoped animation and live-action integration.^[30] Roger Ebert, in his contemporary review, commended the "skillful and innovative mixture of animation and stylized live action" for its "vitality and visual exuberance," which forced audiences to confront raw depictions of black experiences without sanitization.^[3] However, Ebert criticized the episodic structure, observing that the segments "don’t really add up to a coherent whole" and that the satire "isn’t thought through," resulting in pacing issues that hindered broader accessibility despite its provocative intent.^[3] He awarded it three out of four stars, appreciating its underground vitality but lamenting its potential to alienate viewers unfamiliar with Bakshi's boundary-pushing style.^[3] Critics generally recognized the film's satirical ambition in lampooning racial stereotypes and institutional hypocrisies through exaggerated archetypes like pimps, priests, and mobsters, yet many pointed to its dense, fragmented pacing as a barrier to mainstream appeal, positioning it more as an artistic provocation for niche audiences than a polished narrative.^[30]^[3] This blend of acclaim for technical boldness and reservations about intelligibility underscored Coonskin's polarizing emergence in 1970s animation, appealing to those valuing raw experimentation over conventional storytelling.

Public Backlash and Bans

Upon its limited release on August 20, 1975, Coonskin faced immediate protests from civil rights organizations accusing the film of perpetuating racist stereotypes through depictions of Black characters as slaves, hustlers, and prostitutes.^[4] The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) led early efforts, with its Harlem chapter picketing the New York headquarters of Gulf and Western, Paramount's parent company, to demand suppression of the film.^[4] The Los Angeles CORE chapter announced plans for "direct action" to prevent theater screenings, while ten members protested based on promotional materials without viewing the film.^[4] The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also opposed the film, with its Boston chapter participating in pickets against screenings in that city.^[31] In New York, demonstrations included pickets outside theaters such as the Bryan West in Times Square and the Trans Lux East on Third Avenue, reflecting backlash in some Black communities.^[20] On the opening day, the Bryan West Theater received six anonymous bomb threats, and the Trans Lux East received two, prompting heightened security measures.^[20] These actions contributed to distribution challenges, as Paramount Pictures withdrew plans to release the film nationally under pressure from CORE, transferring it to the smaller Bryanston Films for a restricted rollout.^[4]^[20] The protests effectively limited availability, with the film remaining out of wide circulation for over a decade until re-releases in the late 1980s.^[32]

Bakshi's Intent and Defenses

Ralph Bakshi described Coonskin as a pro-black work intended to authentically portray the complexities of ghetto life, drawing directly from his childhood observations in the ethnically mixed neighborhoods of Brownsville and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, where he grew up amid Jewish, Italian, and predominantly black communities.^[33]^[4] He emphasized recording both the positive and negative elements he witnessed, including language, attitudes, and institutional hypocrisies, to counter sanitized depictions that he viewed as inauthentic pandering rather than truthful representation.^[33] Bakshi positioned the film as an anti-racist satire exposing failures in urban black experiences, such as exploitation and self-destructive cycles, rather than endorsing stereotypes.^[34] In defending against accusations of racism, Bakshi argued that the film's grotesque exaggerations of stereotypes served to dismantle them, mirroring the provocative style of underground comix artists who used shock to critique societal norms, a tradition he adapted to animation to highlight absurdities in racial dynamics and media portrayals.^[35] He rejected claims of anti-black intent, insisting the work humanized black characters by revealing their full humanity amid adversity, informed by his firsthand immersion in those communities.^[33]^[36] Contemporary support came from producer Albert S. Ruddy, who backed the project after major studios withdrew, enabling its independent release despite protests, and from black cast members including Scatman Crothers, Charles Gordone—a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright—and Philip Michael Thomas, whose participation underscored an appreciation for the film's raw examination of ghetto realities over polished avoidance.^[4]^[37] Bakshi noted that some black individuals he knew endorsed the unvarnished approach as more honest than idealized narratives that ignored harsh truths.^[33]

Themes and Interpretation

Satirical Commentary on Race and Society

The film employs anthropomorphic animal characters—such as Brother Rabbit, a street hustler; Brother Bear, a pimp; and Brother Fox, a corrupt clergyman—to allegorize cycles of self-inflicted harm within marginalized urban communities, portraying internal criminal enterprises and leadership failures as primary drivers of social stagnation rather than external forces alone.^[1] This universality through fable-like archetypes underscores a critique of agency in decay, where characters' pursuits of power via rackets, prostitution, and extortion perpetuate dependency and violence, mirroring documented 1970s Harlem crime surges tied to intra-community syndicates controlling 80-90% of illegal gambling and narcotics by the mid-decade.^[4] Bakshi's narrative rejects victimhood narratives by emphasizing causal chains: opportunistic alliances with external mafias erode autonomy, as seen in scenes where Italian mobsters infiltrate and dominate local operations, leading to betrayals that amplify bloodshed.^[22] Police portrayals highlight brutality not as isolated malice but as reactive enforcement amid rampant disorder, with officers depicted clubbing suspects in riots that stem from syndicate turf wars, critiquing how unchecked crime invites overreach while corrupt insiders—exemplified by a complicit Black sergeant—undermine reform.^[1] Religious hypocrisy manifests in Brother Fox's dual role as preacher and numbers runner, satirizing institutional betrayal where moral authority cloaks exploitation, a motif drawn from real 1970s exposes of Harlem clergy involvement in vice, which fueled community distrust and sustained poverty traps.^[38] These elements form a causal realism: self-destructive behaviors, enabled by hypocritical gatekeepers, create feedback loops of alienation and retaliation, subverting blaxploitation genre conventions that often romanticized hustlers as anti-heroes—evident in films like Shaft (1971), which grossed $12 million by glorifying vigilantism—by instead exposing the futility and moral erosion.^[22] Bakshi, drawing from his Brooklyn tenement upbringing amid similar dynamics, intended this as unvarnished truth-telling, arguing in 1975 defenses that sanitized depictions in media perpetuated illusions over accountability.^[4]

Adaptation from Folklore

Bakshi adapted elements from Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus tales, which feature Br'er Rabbit as a diminutive trickster employing guile to outmaneuver physically superior antagonists like Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear in a rural Southern context. In Coonskin, released in 1975, these figures are reimagined as anthropomorphic African American archetypes—Brother Rabbit as a streetwise rural migrant, Brother Fox as a Harlem mafia boss, and Brother Bear as a venal cop—transposed into an urban criminal milieu where they vie for control of vice rackets including prostitution and numbers gambling.^[12]^[39]^[40] The core trickster dynamics endure, with Brother Rabbit leveraging intellect and deception to infiltrate and subvert the Harlem underworld dominated by Fox and Bear, paralleling the folklore's emphasis on the underdog's triumph via wits rather than strength. Yet the structural shift relocates the action from antebellum plantation escapades to 1970s post-civil rights Harlem, recasting the animals as hustlers navigating blaxploitation-era tropes of pimping, mob warfare, and police corruption, thereby infusing the allegory with contemporary markers of Black urban survival post-1960s legal reforms.^[41]^[2] This framework merges the original tales' motif of evasion from Southern rural perils—evident in Brother Rabbit's northward flight from a lynch mob—with disillusionment upon arrival in the North, where promised liberation yields to entrenched ghetto hierarchies mirroring Southern oppressions in altered form. Bakshi forwent the bowdlerized, family-suitable Disney adaptation in Song of the South (1946), which rendered the tales as nostalgic fables, in favor of an unvarnished adult variant incorporating graphic violence, sexual explicitness, and profane dialogue to underscore raw existential stakes.^[42]^[43]

Artistic Innovations

Coonskin employs a hybrid of live-action footage, photographic backgrounds, and varied animation styles, including monochrome silhouette sequences inspired by George Herriman's Krazy Kat, to create a disorienting visual texture that mirrors the chaotic urban environments it depicts.^[44] This mixed-media approach integrates stock footage of 1970s New York City with animated overlays, allowing for seamless transitions between realistic grit and exaggerated caricature, which heightens the film's capacity to confront societal hypocrisies without softening their impact.^[44] Such techniques eschew polished Disney-esque animation in favor of raw, improvisational aesthetics that prioritize visceral authenticity over narrative polish. The film's jazz score, composed by drummer Chico Hamilton, fuses with vocal performances by Barry White and Scatman Crothers to evoke the improvisational energy of African American cultural life in mid-20th-century America.^[45]^[46] Hamilton's contributions, drawing from his cool jazz background, underscore surreal vignettes and action sequences, syncing rhythmic percussion and horns with visual freneticism to immerse viewers in an unfiltered portrayal of Harlem's underbelly.^[47] This auditory-visual synergy amplifies the milieu's tensions, using music's spontaneity to parallel the characters' adaptive survival strategies amid systemic pressures. Structurally, Coonskin deploys non-linear vignettes and hallucinatory dream sequences—such as recurring motifs of a seductive Miss America figure embodying national betrayal—to probe causal links between individual psyche and broader social pathologies.^[37] These fragmented narratives, framed within a live-action prison escape, reject linear plotting for associative leaps that mimic subconscious processing, enabling deeper excavation of racial exploitation's psychological toll.^[44] By interweaving profanity-laden dialogue, graphic violence, and philosophical undertones in this format, the film prefigures subsequent adult animations' uncompromised integration of mature content, establishing a template for animation as unflinching social critique rather than escapist entertainment.^[48]

Legacy

Influence on Animation and Film

Coonskin advanced the use of rotoscoping in animated features by integrating live-action footage with hand-drawn elements to depict urban realism and surreal satire, a technique Bakshi refined from earlier experiments in films like Heavy Traffic.^[49] This hybrid approach influenced later animators seeking gritty, adult-oriented narratives, as seen in Bakshi's own subsequent works and echoed in boundary-pushing projects by protégés.^[11] The film's provocative style inspired animators like John Kricfalusi, who collaborated with Bakshi and credited his early films for demonstrating animation's potential beyond children's entertainment, enabling more visceral, unfiltered storytelling in series such as The Ren & Stimpy Show.^[50] Bakshi's willingness to blend animation with live-action and tackle taboo subjects in Coonskin paved the way for adult animation's expansion, influencing creators who prioritized raw expression over sanitized content.^[51] In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked Coonskin (listed as Streetfight) 97th among the top 100 animated features of all time, acknowledging its technical innovations and narrative boldness despite commercial challenges.^[52] This placement highlights its enduring impact on filmmakers experimenting with animation's capacity for social commentary and stylistic fusion in narrative cinema.^[53]

Cultural Impact and Reappraisals

Over time, Coonskin transitioned from a pariah of 1970s cinema, widely condemned for its provocative imagery, to a cult favorite among animation enthusiasts and film scholars reevaluating its satirical bite.^[5]^[54] This shift is evidenced by its enduring appeal in niche screenings and home video releases, where audiences have increasingly appreciated its unfiltered critique of racial stereotypes, institutional hypocrisy, and ghetto exploitation rather than dismissing it as mere provocation.^[53] Contemporary aggregators reflect this reevaluation, with Rotten Tomatoes compiling a 79% approval rating from critics, highlighting the film's bold fusion of animation styles and its unflinching assault on blaxploitation tropes and Disney folklore sanitization.^[7] Bakshi himself has repeatedly identified Coonskin as his finest achievement, emphasizing its raw exposure of systemic absurdities over surface-level offense, a stance corroborated by his broader career trajectory of challenging cultural pieties from Fritz the Cat onward.^[55] Persistent debates persist regarding its racial portrayals, yet biographical details—such as Bakshi's Brooklyn upbringing amid diverse ethnic tensions—and cross-references to his oeuvre provide empirical substantiation that the film's intent targeted establishment complicity in perpetuating division, not endorsement of it.^[22] Reappraisals in outlets like Cinapse underscore this, framing Coonskin as a prescient railing against dehumanizing media conventions that predated and outlasted the era's moral panics.^[56] This recognition has fostered a niche legacy, where the film's causal dissection of power dynamics garners respect for prioritizing unvarnished realism over palatable narratives.

References

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Coonskin | Bakshi Film Studios
Coonskin is a 1975 American live action/animated crime film about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of the organized crime racket ...
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Coonskin (1974) - IMDb
Rating 6.4/10 (4,207) Ralph Bakshi, one of the most revolutionary cartoonists in recent times, had a long history with the making of Coonskin. He experienced segregation first-hand ...Parents guide · Trailer · 1 of 145 · 4 of 145
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Coonskin movie review & film summary (1975) - Roger Ebert
Rating 3/4 · Review by Roger EbertRalph Bakshi's “Coonskin” is said by its director to be about blacks and for whites, and by its ads to be for blacks and against whites.<|control11|><|separator|>
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The Campaign to Suppress 'Coonskin' - The New York Times
Jul 20, 1975 · One of CORE's main objec tions is to the title of the film. Bakshi points out that the title of his original script was “Coonskin No More.» He ...
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Revisiting the Controversy That Was 'Coonskin' - Blavity
Mar 31, 2017 · But in 1975, no film was more controversial nor created an intense furor that year than Bakshi's animated adult film “Coonskin.” On a roll ...
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Coonskin - Amazon.com
Remastered in high definition. Review: Coonskin could be Ralph Bakshi's masterpiece. --New York Times
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Coonskin - Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 79% (91) Out of all of his films, Ralph Bakshi himself considers Coonskin to be his greatest work, and I couldn't agree more.
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Coonskin is a 1975 live action/animated Blaxploitation Parody written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, and produced by Albert S. Ruddy (The Godfather).Missing: synopsis | Show results with:synopsis
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Sep 1, 2025 · In 'Coonskin', Bakshi uses the same techniques to make a blaxploitation movie, set in dreary, present-day Harlem, New York City. Br'er Rabbit, ...
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Cartoon vision and Brownsville reality - The New York Times
Oct 14, 1973 · As a teen‐ager Bakshi was strongly influenced by reading Hubert Selby Jr.'s “Last Exit to Brooklyn,” a searing story of working‐class sexuality ...
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An Animated Life RALPH BAKSHI with Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker
We came to Brownsville, Brooklyn, where I grew up. There was a vitality to Brownsville when I was growing up. My family was very poor, but we never felt poor.
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May 5, 2014 · On Coonskin, I read every Uncle Remus tale I could find, I read every black history book I could find, I read [about] black music and black ...Missing: development | Show results with:development
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AFI|Catalog
A 24 Jan 1973 news item in Var reported that Coonskin is one of four films that Albert S. Ruddy was set to produce for Paramount. In a 12 Mar 1973 report in ...
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Coonskin (1974) - FAQ - IMDb
Who was the producer of Coonskin? Albert Stotland Ruddy ... What was the budget for Coonskin? $1.6 million ... QT 3 Film Festival. Charlton Heston, Raquel ...
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A 2006 Interview with Ralph Bakshi — Ethan Gilsdorf | writer • teacher
Mar 22, 2014 · It's the same technique I used in 'Coonskin' and 'Heavy Traffic.' I am not using rotoscope. I think it takes the fun away from the stories I ...
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Scatman Crothers, Charles Gordone, Philip Michael Thomas, Jesse Welles, and Barry White. Full cast & crew. Coonskin ... /Brother Rabbit. (voice) (as Philip Thomas).Missing: 1975 | Show results with:1975
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Coonskin (1975 Movie) - Behind The Voice Actors
The Coonskin Cast: Randy voice, Randy voiced by Philip Michael Thomas, Philip Michael Thomas, Samson voice, Samson voiced by Barry White, Barry White.
[18]
Coonskin Cast and Crew - Cast Photos and Info | Fandango
Barry White: Sampson/Brother Bear; Scatman Crothers: Pappy/Old Man Bone; Philip Michael Thomas: Randy/Brother Rabbit; Charles Gordone: Preacherman/Preacher ...
[19]
Coonskin - Xenon Pictures | CATALOG
Bakshi opens and closes Coonskin with a live-action tale starring Scatman ... actor Charles Gordone. In between is an animated urban film featuring ...<|separator|>
[20]
'Coonskin' Controversy Waning After 3 Weeks - The New York Times
Sep 11, 1975 · controversy in black community over Ralph Bakshi film Coonskin appears to have waned; on Aug 20, day film opened at Bryan West Theater, ...Missing: marketing | Show results with:marketing
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No new light shed on Bakshi's dark animation - Los Angeles Times
Jun 26, 2008 · As the controversy over “Coonskin” grew, Paramount dropped the film; Bryanston Films distributed it. Advertisement. Bakshi still doesn't seem ...Missing: Distributors | Show results with:Distributors
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Bakshi's COONSKIN (1975) is a Must-Watch Racial Satire - Cinapse
As a formal experiment and as a narrative film, Coonskin is an audacious work of blunt force trauma. It's also sadly/wearingly/frustratingly still relevant ...Missing: plot summary -
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Advanced Search Results - Deep Discount
Coonskin · Starring: Philip Thomas, Scatman Crothers · Genre: Animation · Studio: Xenon · Release Date: 3/13/2012 · Features: Remastered, Amaray Case · Remastered in ...<|separator|>
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Paramount Pictures originally attached to distribute the film, but was taken over by Bryanston Distributing Company. An original Paramount cut of the film ...
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Coonskin (film) - Wikiwand
Aug 20, 1975 · Coonskin was released straight to VHS in Italy ... Sinister Film released Coonskin on DVD including both the standard and the extended version.Plot · Production · Release
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Feb 13, 2020 · Coonskin is now streaming in HD on Amazon Prime Video - http://bit.ly/Coonskin_HD_Streaming.
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Coonskin streaming: where to watch movie online? - JustWatch
Rating 49% (77) Currently you are able to watch "Coonskin" streaming on Fandor, Philo, Midnight Pulp, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel. It is also possible to buy "Coonskin" on ...Missing: restorations | Show results with:restorations
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How to watch and stream Coonskin - 1975 on Roku
Coonskin, a fantasy movie starring Barry White, Scatman Crothers, and Philip Thomas is available to stream now. Watch it on Cineverse - Stream Movies & TV, Xumo ...
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Aug 21, 1975 · “Coonskin” is two stories, one set within the other. The first is filmed with live actors it tells of the effort of two. Southern blacks to ...Missing: challenges | Show results with:challenges
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Aug 16, 2023 · Coonskin/Fun Facts. From The Grindhouse Cinema Database. < Coonskin ... In 2005, Ralph Bakshi stated in interviews that he along with hip-hop ...
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Dec 14, 2012 · “The thing about 'Coonskin' was, I didn't consider it as anti-black, but pro-black. I was trying to record some of the things I'd observed and ...Missing: intent | Show results with:intent
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Ralph Bakshi - BOMB Magazine
Apr 19, 2010 · The legendary animator and filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, innovator of documents of generational angst like Fritz the Cat and Coonskin , has turned to ...
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Artist Arik Roper on the art and inspiration of filmmaker Ralph Bakshi
Dec 1, 2021 · After seeing Coonskin, I knew Bakshi was something of a maniac—an ... Underground comics started this; Bakshi took it to the screen.
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Ghetto Blast | Movies | The Guardian
May 14, 1999 · Part cartoon, part film, Coonskin traces three black country boys from the South to Harlem on a mission to break a friend out of gaol.
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Scatman Crothers and “Coonskin” | - Cartoon Research
May 26, 2025 · Ralph Bakshi directed Coonskin. At age 35 in 1973, he was already an animation veteran, having started at Terrytoons in the late 1950s. He ...Missing: achievements | Show results with:achievements
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They don't make them like Ralph Bakshi anymore - Salon.com
Nov 5, 2015 · ... Bakshi was mixing live actors like Scatman Crothers (in “Coonskin”) with animated creations long before anyone framed Roger Rabbit. He ...
[39]
Coonskin (1974) - Plot - IMDb
Plot. Coonskin. Jump to. Summaries (2), Synopsis (1). Edit. Summaries. Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing ...
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Coonskin (1975) - Moria Reviews
Sep 24, 2019 · Coonskin was the third of Bakshi's counter-culture films. His name had risen such by this point that he now had the backing of producer Albert S ...
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Coonskin (1975) Trailer HD | Ralph Bakshi | Barry White - YouTube
Sep 27, 2024 · Coonskin (1975) Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing opposition from the ...Missing: dynamics Br' er civil rights
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The Free-For-All — Ralph Bakshi's 'Coonskin' (1974) has something ...
Oct 5, 2023 · If a movie is so offensively bad, sure, you can take it as an insult, but Ralph Bakshi's Coonskin takes you by the collar, shoves its middle ...
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Metroactive Movies | Ralph Bakshi - Metro Silicon Valley
Feb 27, 2003 · Bakshi is bringing to Cinequest his controversial film Coonskin (1975). ... I told them I want to make the Uncle Remus stories. And then I ...Missing: adaptation | Show results with:adaptation
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Ralph Bakshi Retrospective 3: Coonskin - Evvycology
Mar 30, 2016 · Like all of Bakshi's work, Coonskin never aspires to perfection. It spits on perfect, contemptuous of whitewashing and romanticism of any kind.Missing: summary | Show results with:summary
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Chico Hamilton dies at 92; drummer forged California cool jazz sound
Nov 26, 2013 · ... scores for the Roman Polanski thriller “Repulsion” in 1965 and Ralph Bakshi's 1975 animated film “Coonskin.” When Hamilton returned to ...
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Soundtracks - Coonskin (1974) - IMDb
... Michael Thomas, Jesse Welles, and Barry White. Soundtracks. Coonskin. Edit. Ah'm A Nigger Man. Lyrics by Ralph Bakshi. Music by Scatman Crothers. Ain't No ...Missing: jazz | Show results with:jazz
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Coonskin (Remastered) (1975) On DVD - Loving The Classics
Buy Coonskin (Remastered) (1975) On DVD today! Rare Animation film starring ... Jazz great Chico Hamilton provides the score. Details. Actors: Scatman ...
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ADULT ANIMATION FROM THE 1970s: RALPH BAKSHI & CO
COONSKIN ... In an innovative mix of freestyle animation and stylized live action, Ralph Bakshi employs blatant stereotypes to force us to reflect on racism and ...
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Animator Ralph Bakshi On Four Decades Of Provocative Films And ...
May 15, 2014 · In the four decades since, Bakshi has continued to push the boundaries of what is considered appropriate material for a "cartoon." Coonskin ...<|separator|>
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An Interview with Ralph Bakshi - IGN
May 25, 2004 · In Coonskin, I was able to stop an entire movie and integrate Miss ... John Kricfalusi, who's a guy that worked for me for a number of ...
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"A Conversation with Ralph Bakshi" By Jason Anders
Ralph Bakshi is an animation rebel. A hero. An fearless innovator. And just ... COONSKIN. In the words of Tarantino, "serious treatment of this very ...Missing: development Uncle Remus
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OFCS Top 100: Top 100 Animated Features
Sep 29, 2010 · The Online Film Critics Society's Top 100 Animated Features of all Time ... Streetfight (aka Coonskin) (1975) 98. The Adventures of Mark Twain ...
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Ralph Bakshi: A Forgotten Pioneer - Flickering Myth
Oct 6, 2025 · For Bakshi, Coonskin was to be the movie that showed critics and audiences that he was a serious filmmaker with something to say. Taking his ...
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Classic Corner: Coonskin - Crooked Marquee
May 20, 2022 · ... Bakshi saw as hypocritically romanticizing of white criminality. The controversy that would erupt around Coonskin wasn't set off by the ...
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Coonskin | Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh score. Out of all of his films, Ralph Bakshi himself considers Coonskin to be his greatest work, and I couldn't agree more. Full Review ...
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From a Time Before BlackBerries - The New York Times
Apr 27, 2008 · Mired in controversy as to whether its use of cartoonish black stereotypes made it racist, “Coonskin” was in fact trying to be a sharp satire on ...