Fields nose, a hat that looks too big, and a bright red beard. Yes, “Wizards” is an elaborate allegory about good, evil, and the ever-present rise of fascism, but it’s also a throwback to the Sixties, with the wizard Avatar standing in sharp contrast to the darker, comic-book style character of Blackwolf. But after one of the evil legions is captured, Avatar goes with the Princess Elinore (Jesse Welles), the warrior Weehawk (Richard Romanus), and the captured warrior named Peace (David Proval). Blackwolf uses it as inspiration, and, emboldened by Hitler’s own plan, begins attacking various kingdoms on the planet with the goal of world domination driving him. Good triumphs, but evil vows a return, and what facilitates that return is the discovery of Nazi propaganda artifacts-including a projector that brings black-and-white newsreels of Hitler and his charismatic rise to power over his goose-stepping minions. And in the aftermath, races of wizards, elves, and fairies reestablished themselves-in particular, two wizards born to the same woman, one good (Avatar, voiced by Bob Holt) and one evil (Blackwolf, voiced by Steve Gravers). “Wizards” is a post-apocalyptic film that happens long after Earth has destroyed itself via a series of gigantic explosions. Compared to Bakshi’s X-rated full-length animated feature “Fritz the Cat” (1972), which depicted cartoon sex and drug use, “Wizards” IS pretty tame. It’s also pretty bizarre-partly because of the story itself, partly because of Bakshi’s aesthetic (he mixes animation styles), and partly because of the low-budget animation. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. “No,” I said, thinking of other scenes showing fallen fairies with equally skimpy outfits, a fairy in chains who starts to disrobe for Nazi-armband wearing mutant soldiers, and plenty of elves, fairies, mutants, and quasi-humans who are killed by arrows, guns, spears, tanks, and other weapons of destruction. But on the commentary track, writer-director Ralph Bakshi says, “This is my first kid’s film, my family film.”
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