Editing Ralph Bakshi (section)

===''Cool World'', continued television projects and semi-retirement (1990–1997)===
{{main|Cool World}}
In 1990, Bakshi pitched ''[[Cool World]]'' to [[Paramount Pictures]] as a partially animated [[horror film]]. The concept involved a cartoon and human having sex and conceiving a hybrid child who visits the real world to murder the father who abandoned him. The live-action footage was intended to look like "a living, walk-through painting", a visual concept Bakshi had long wanted to achieve. Massive sets were constructed on a sound stage in Las Vegas, based on enlargements of designer Barry Jackson's paintings. The animation was strongly influenced by the house styles of [[Fleischer Studios]] and Terrytoons.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-219"/> As the sets were being built, producer [[Frank Mancuso Jr.]], son of Paramount president [[Frank Mancuso Sr.]], had the screenplay rewritten in secret; the new version, by [[Michael Grais]] and [[Mark Victor]], was radically different from Bakshi's original.<ref name="Naugle">{{cite web|first=Patrick |last=Naugle |url=https://www.dvdverdict.com/interviews/ralphbakshi.php |title=Rotoscoped Memories: An Interview with Ralph Bakshi |access-date=January 10, 2007 |date=August 2, 2004 |publisher=DVD Verdict |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312215829/http://www.dvdverdict.com/interviews/ralphbakshi.php |archive-date=March 12, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="IGN">{{cite web|last=P. |first=Ken |url=http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/518/518805p1.html |title=Interview with Ralph Bakshi |access-date=January 10, 2007 |date=May 25, 2004 |website=IGN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218211315/http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/518/518805p1.html |archive-date=February 18, 2006 }}</ref> Paramount threatened to sue Bakshi if he did not complete the film.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last=Rose |first=Steve |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/aug/11/1 |title=''Who flamed Roger Rabbit?'' |access-date=December 29, 2006 |date=August 11, 2006 |work=[[The Guardian]] | location=London}}</ref> As Bakshi and Mancuso wrangled over their creative differences, Bakshi and the studio also began to fight over the film's casting. To keep actor [[Brad Pitt]], Bakshi had to replace [[Drew Barrymore]], his original choice for the character of Holli Would, with [[Kim Basinger]], a bigger box office draw at the time.<ref name="Naugle"/> The film's animators were never given a screenplay, and were instead told by Bakshi, "Do a scene that's funny, whatever you want to do!"<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-227">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |page=227 |chapter=Ups & Downs |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref>

[[File:Ralph Bakshi.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Head and upper torso view of a lightly-bearded, middle-aged man in glasses and a plain T-shirt, sitting behind a table with a microphone on it.  Two small posters that read "Comic Con International" hang on the wall behind.|Bakshi speaking at [[San Diego Comic-Con]] on July 26, 2008]]
Designer [[Milton Knight]] recalled that "audiences actually wanted a wilder, raunchier ''Cool World''. The premiere audience I saw it with certainly did."<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-227"/> The critical reaction to the film was generally negative. Roger Ebert wrote, "The DJ who was hosting the radio station's free preview of ''Cool World'' leaped onto the stage and promised the audience: 'If you liked ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit|Roger Rabbit]]'', you'll love ''Cool World''!' He was wrong, but you can't blame him—he hadn't seen the movie. I have, and I will now promise you that if you liked ''Roger Rabbit'', quit while you're ahead."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19920713/REVIEWS/207130301/1023&template=printart |title=Review of ''Cool World'' |access-date=January 10, 2007 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |work=Chicago Sun-Times |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930062040/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19920713/REVIEWS/207130301/1023&template=printart |url-status=dead }}</ref> The film was a box-office disappointment.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Animated Movie Guide |chapter=''Cool World'' |page=58 }}</ref> While other film projects followed, Bakshi began to focus more attention on painting.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-230">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |page=230 |chapter=Ups & Downs |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref>

In 1993, [[Lou Arkoff]], the son of [[Samuel Z. Arkoff]], approached Bakshi to write and direct a low-budget live-action feature for [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]]'s ''[[Rebel Highway]]'' series. For the third time, Bakshi revisited his screenplay for ''If I Catch Her, I'll Kill Her'', which he retitled ''[[Cool and the Crazy]]''.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-230"/> The picture, which aired September 16, 1994, starred [[Jared Leto]], [[Alicia Silverstone]], [[Jennifer Blanc]] and Matthew Flint. Reviewer Todd Everett noted that it had the same "hyperdrive visual sense" of Bakshi's animated films. He said, "Everything in 'Cool' [...] seems to exist in pastels and Bakshi shoots from more odd angles than any director since [[Sidney J. Furie]] in his heyday. And the closing sequences ably demonstrate how it's possible to present strong violence without any blood being shed onscreen. Bakshi pulls strong [performances] from a cadre of youngish and largely unknown actors".<ref>{{cite book |last=Everett |first=Todd |editor=Prouty |title=Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews, 1993–1994 |volume=18 |year=1996 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0-8240-3797-9  |page=16 |chapter=Review of ''Cool and the Crazy'' (September 16, 1994) }}</ref>

In 1995, [[Hanna-Barbera]] producer [[Fred Seibert]] offered Bakshi the chance to create two animated short films for [[Cartoon Network]]'s ''[[What a Cartoon!]]'': ''Malcom and Melvin'' and ''Babe, He Calls Me'', focusing on a trumpet-playing cockroach named Malcom and his best friend, a clown named Melvin. Both were heavily edited after Bakshi turned them in and he disowned them as a result.<ref name="Grant"/> Bakshi was subsequently contacted by [[HBO]], which was looking to launch the first animated series specifically for adults, an interest stirred by discussions involving a series based upon [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]]'s video Christmas card, ''[[The Spirit of Christmas (short film)|Jesus vs. Santa]]''. Bakshi enlisted a team of writers, including his son Preston, to develop ''Spicy Detective'', later renamed ''[[Spicy City]]'', an [[anthology series]] set in a [[Film noir|noir-ish]], technology-driven future.<ref name="Grant"/> Each episode was narrated by a female host named Raven, voiced by [[Michelle Phillips]]. The series premiered in July 1997—one month before the debut of Parker and Stone's ''[[South Park]]''—and thus became the first "adults only" cartoon series.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-230"/> Although critical reaction was largely unfavorable, ''Spicy City'' received acceptable ratings.<ref name="Grant"/> A second season was approved, but the network wanted to fire Bakshi's writing team and hire professional Los Angeles screenwriters. When Bakshi refused to cooperate, the series was canceled.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-230"/>