Wizards

Bakshi, maker of Fritz the Cat and Heavy Traffic, is still waving a tattered flag for Underground Culture in this sentimental animated satire on the future ways of the world. Two brother wizards battle for supremacy. One's good, with a vast ginger beard and a George Burns voice, and is supported by a host of elf and fairy helpers (fairies are the true ancestors of man, we're told). The other's evil, all bones and no flesh; he fuels the hatred of his subjects with Nazi propaganda films found along with a movie projector in the rubble of the 20th century. Provided one can stomach the combination of elves and Nazis (and it's a big proviso), then there's moderate fun here and there. But the film shows all the signs of an economic freeze: it has quite lavish backgrounds, but bare, unimaginative character movement, and frequent use of still drawings to fill in portions of the narrative.