Fire and Ice

Overview

Filmed under the working title Sword and the Sorcery, Fire and Ice is one of the best of Ralph Bakshi's "mainstream" animated features. The story takes place after the destruction of the city of Fire Keep by the unspeakable Ice Lord. Despite the villain's efforts, several Subhumans manage to survive the apocalypse. They kidnap the Ice Lord's daughter Teegra, whereupon the bad guys' Dragonhawks swoop down to wreak all sorts of havoc. Coming to everyone's rescue is the enigmatic hero Darkwolf. The man responsible for most of Fire and Ice's vivid character and background design is the legendary Frank Frazetta, the film's co-producer and co-writer--not to mention the best friend the sword-and-sorcery genre ever had.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2008
UPC:	0827058110198
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	PG
Source:	Blue Underground
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	5,030

Special Features

Closed Caption; Audio commentary with producer/director Ralph Bakshi; The Making of Fire and Ice; Bakshi on Frazetta; Sean Hannon's Diary Notes; Behind-the-scenes still gallery; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

William Ostrander	Larn/Taro,Larn / Taro
Maggie Roswell	Teegra
Steve Sandor	Darkwolf
Stephen Mendel	Nekron
Leo Gordon	Jarol
Susan Tyrrell	Juliana
Elizabeth Lloyd Shaw	Roleil
Mickey Morton	Otwa
Clare Nono	Tutor
Big Yank	Mongo
Greg Elam	Pako,Actor
Holly Frazetta	Subhuman Priestess
Alan Koss	Envoy
Hans Howes	Defender Captain
James Bridges	Subhuman,Actor
Shane Callan	Subhuman
Archie Hamilton	Subhuman
Michael Kelloff	Subhuman
Dale Park	Subhuman
Douglas Payton	Subhuman
Candy Candido	Actor
Emma Samms	Actor
Raymond Oliver	subhuman
Nathan Purdee	subhuman
Le Tari	subhuman
Cynthia Leake	Voices
Randy Norton	Voices
William Kraft	Composer

Technical Credits

Frank Frazetta

Gerry Conway

Roy Thomas

Ralph Bakshi	Director,Producer
Frank Frazetta	Producer,Screenwriter
John W. Hyde	Executive Producer,Producer
Richard R. St. Johns	Executive Producer,Producer
Tom Tataranowicz	Director
Gerry Conway	Screenwriter
Roy Thomas	Screenwriter
Steve Maslow	Sound/Sound Designer
Bill Varney	Sound/Sound Designer
Gregg Landaker	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Although known for his adult, urban-themed animated films like Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, and American Pop, Ralph Bakshi also had a soft spot for fantasy -- the most famous (or perhaps infamous) example being the 1978 Lord of the Rings. Five years after attempting to take on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic, Bakshi tackled a more conventional sword-and-sorcery tale in the bare-chested, monosyllabic vein of Conan the Barbarian. Teamed up with veteran comics writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas and prodigious fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, Bakshi should have made Fire and Ice into a sweeping, imaginative epic; instead, you get the feeling that this has all been done before. The trouble is, it has been. From the moment Larn and his people set up barriers against an unknown menace, you know his village will be decimated and that he'll go on a quest for revenge. You also know that as soon as he spots Princess Teegra in her barely-there outfit, he'll be doing a whole lot of rescuing until the inevitable fade-out with the two of them embracing. Despite its clichés, it's not hard to see why Fire and Ice remains a cult favorite; the story structure is solid, and never feels sluggish. And despite Bakshi's typical use of rotoscoping -- tracing over film footage of live actors -- Frazetta's designs and Bakshi's direction occasionally provide some genuinely involving imagery.