Fire and Ice
film poster by Frank Frazetta
Directed by	Ralph Bakshi
Produced by	Ralph Bakshi Frank Frazetta
Written by	Gerry Conway Roy Thomas
Starring	Susan Tyrrell Maggie Roswell William Ostrander Stephen Mendel Steve Sandor Clare Nono Alan Koss Hans Howes Randy Norton
Music by	William Kraft
Cinematography	Francis Grumman
Editing by	A. David Marshall
Studio	Producers Sales Organization
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	August 27, 1983
Running time	81 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$1,200,000

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.

The screenplay was written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, both of whom had written Conan stories for Marvel Comics. Background painter was James Gurney, the author and artist of the famous Dinotopia illustrated novels. Thomas Kinkade also worked on the backgrounds to various scenes.

As with 1977's Wizards, the film was rated PG by the MPAA.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Voice Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

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.

[edit] Voice Cast

• Randy Norton as Larn
• Cynthia Leake as Teegra
• Steve Sandor as Darkwolf
• Sean Hannon as Nekron
• Leo Gordon as Jarol
• William Ostrander as Taro/Voice of Larn
• Eileen O'Reill as Queen Juliana
• Elizabeth Lloyd Shaw as Roleil
• Micky Morton as Otwa
• Tamarah Park as Tutor
• Big Yank as Monga
• Greg Wayne Elam as Pako

[edit] Production

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]

[edit] 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]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fire and Ice at the Internet Movie Database
• Fire and Ice at Allmovie
• Fire and Ice at Ralph Bakshi.com
• Online trailer at Blue Underground

v • d • e Ralph Bakshi Feature films Fritz the Cat · Heavy Traffic · Coonskin · Wizards · J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings · American Pop · Hey Good Lookin' · Fire and Ice · Cool World Unfinished Last Days of Coney Island Theatrical shorts The Fuz · Mini-Squirts · Marvin Digs · Mouse Trek Television series The Mighty Heroes · Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures · Spicy City Television features Christmas in Tattertown · The Butter Battle Book · Cool and the Crazy Television shorts This Ain't Bebop · Malcom and Melvin · Babe, He Calls Me

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