Critics panned the film for its story, acting, animation, and effects combining animation with the live-action footage however, the soundtrack and visuals received praise. Upon its release, the film was a critical and commercial failure. As a result, relations between Bakshi, Mancuso, and the studio deteriorated, and the film had a highly tumultuous production.Ĭool World was released by Paramount on July 10, 1992. led to an extensive rewrite from Michael Grais, Mark Victor, and an uncredited Larry Gross. However, interference from producer Frank Mancuso Jr. He brought the idea to Paramount Pictures, and became attached to direct it was his first feature film in nearly a decade. įollowing the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and his own professional resurgence in television in the late 1980s, Bakshi conceived it as a live-action animated horror film. In this world, he is seduced by one of the characters, a femme fatale who wants to become human. Starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt, it tells the story of a cartoonist who finds himself in the animated world he thinks he created, but has existed long before. Cool World is a 1992 American live-action/ adult animated dark fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi and written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor.