# Wizards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041 "2016-03-05T20:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/21 "2016-03-06T16:26:56Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > As with everything Bakshi ever put his hands on, it has flaws. But it has good bits, some clever parts, some very humorous bits, and even something to think about. I liked _American Pop_. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/22 "2016-03-06T19:58:42Z")
I feel like it could have been good. The main problem IMHO is that goofy looking wizard. The character completely ruins the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/23 "2016-03-06T20:48:28Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I feel like it could have been good. The main problem IMHO is that goofy looking wizard. The character completely ruins the movie. I disagree. But then, I like Bode(-esque) characters. And I liked the Peter Falk-like voice. I thought christening the robot ‘Peace’ was hippy-dippy silly, but I’ve already mentioned those stylings. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/24 "2016-03-06T23:31:21Z")
I loved it back then, and I still do now. C’est la vie. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/25 "2016-03-07T01:15:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You know, I swore I remembered this, too, but I must have been thinking of something else. Bode died two years before _Wizards_ came out, and Bakshi (who was a friend of Bode) has talked openly about his influence on both _Wizards_ and Bakshi’s version of _Lord of the Rings_. > > ETA: I might be wrong about Bakshi acknowledging Bode’s influence. And it looks like Bode’s son, Mark, is the one who’s been calling the film plagiarized. Mark Bode is probably my source for this, as I talked to him at comic shows several times in the mid-80s. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/26 "2016-03-07T01:42:21Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > I loved it back then, and I still do now. I hated it back then, and I doubt if it has improved much in the can. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/27 "2016-03-07T03:06:29Z")
I’m completely embarrassed: I had always thought Vaughn Bode (I tried to figure out how to enter an e with a bar on top – e macron – but can’t get it to work) swiped the design from Wizards! I completely got cause and effect reversed here! I knew about Junkwaffel and Cheech Wizard, but just thought they had come later. I’m mighty happy to learn better! Ignorance fought! (Shout out to Mark Bode’s “The Lizard of Oz,” a delightful tour through the Emerald Kingdom of Oz with Bode characters. Naughty as sin, and funnier than hell!) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/28 "2016-03-07T04:15:31Z")
I watch it at least once a year and enjoy it as much as ever. One local theater does a “request night” and I got it back on the big screen maybe a little less than two years back. Yeah - its aged; but so have I. And it still fills that part of my brain that enjoys some of that stuff. (Never liked Fritz the Cat much though. Own a copy but rarely watch it.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/29 "2016-03-07T12:11:39Z")
I wrote a review of the film when it came out. It was every bit as odd and inconsistent when it was brand new. One of the things I loved was that the advertising posters featured Necron 99 atop that weird sorta ostrich mount. In the original version it’s mean and nasty, with skull and crossbones on the back of the saddle: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=6&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fb7%2F84%2Fcd%2Fb784cd9015fffb3aed9f65d913b5d243.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=6&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fb7%2F84%2Fcd%2Fb784cd9015fffb3aed9f65d913b5d243.jpg&action=click) And he’s in a bleak landscape: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=21&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fclzimages.com%2Fmovie%2Flarge%2F10%2F10\_d\_\_0\_WizardsARalphBakshiFilm.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=21&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fclzimages.com%2Fmovie%2Flarge%2F10%2F10_d__0_WizardsARalphBakshiFilm.jpg&action=click) In the revamped version the tagline reads “A film of Peace and Magic”, and, sure enough, there’s “Peace” on the back of the saddle: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=8&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamikes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F04%2F01%2Fwizards.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=8&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamikes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F04%2F01%2Fwizards.jpg&action=click) And instead of being in a war-torn apocalyptic hell-hole, they’re in a field of flowers and butterflies: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=1&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Flatimesherocomplex.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F03%2Fralph-bakshi-new.jpg%3Fw%3D355%26h%3D450&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT6Izbt1Wy94Aba1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyczhndnJhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Wizards+Bakshi&fr=yfp-t-201#id=1&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Flatimesherocomplex.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F03%2Fralph-bakshi-new.jpg%3Fw%3D355%26h%3D450&action=click) [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizards_(film)#/media/File:Wizards_poster.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizards_(film)#/media/File:Wizards_poster.jpg) Both of these posters were out at the same time (although Peace and Love was issued a little later). Talk about pandering to your audience! ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/30 "2016-03-08T19:49:15Z")
I love this movie. Haven’t watched it in a long time, but have seen plenty of other movies since then that would take 20 years to kill me … and had me screamin’ for mercy in the first five seconds. > [@Miller](#): > > You know, I swore I remembered this, too, but I must have been thinking of something else. Bode died two years before _Wizards_ came out, and Bakshi (who was a friend of Bode) has talked openly about his influence on both _Wizards_ and Bakshi’s version of _Lord of the Rings_. > > ETA: I might be wrong about Bakshi acknowledging Bode’s influence. And it looks like Bode’s son, Mark, is the one who’s been calling the film plagiarized. I’ve seen a few places on The Internet (you can Google it) where a woman was saying that Bode and Bakshi were good friends, and that Avatar and Necron-99’s designs in _Wizards_ were derived from Bode’s work by mutual (unwritten) agreement. Of course, on The Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog; this could just be all BS slanted to help Bakshi out of a jam since he had never officially credited Bode for his influences. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I thought the final showdown was great. But yeah, what came after was preachy. I’m glad you changed your last name, you son-of-a-bitch! 😉 > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > As for _Heavy Metal_, I liked it for the most part. If you start a thread, I’ll post there. Emperor’s Teeth! _Another_ thread about classic animated films? OK. Sign me up, too. > [@kopek](#): > > I watch it at least once a year and enjoy it as much as ever. My son is only 11, so he’s really too little to watch the film and “get” anything out of it, but it’s on our list (I talked about similar things [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18946942#post18946942)) for when he grows up a little more. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041/31 "2016-03-08T21:48:21Z")
I saw this film only once, in college, sometime in the 90s. I found it… not good. There were a couple of gems like the “final showdown” and the “You killed Fritz!” scene but they were nowhere near good enough to support the entire film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizards/748041.md?page=1)