Wizards

Boundary-pushing adult animator Ralph Bakshi’s first foray into fantasy is, in true Bakshi style, a dark, strange, psychedelic wonder. Set in a postapocalyptic world of elves, fairies, and mutant monsters, it charts the struggle between two warring wizard brothers—one good, one evil (naturally)—for control of the Earth. The director’s cracked, counterculture worldview courses through every frame, while the thorny, disturbing themes—the horrors of war, nuclear annihilation, Nazism—stand in marked contrast to the film’s PG rating. The result is an uncompromisingly personal, defiantly anti-commercial vision. In between filming scenes for Star Wars, Mark Hamill provided the voice of leader of the fairies Sean at the suggestion of George Lucas, a Bakshi fanatic.