Channel Frederator Blog

When I wrote about the new Kanye West video for “Heartless” earlier this week, I wondered what Ralph Bakshi was thinking about the fact that his feature American Pop was cited as the source of its inspiration. Well, I received an email from Bakshi and it seems that he is definitely pleased:

First of all I absolutely loved the video for its color, strength, and music. I appreciate your writing about it, and the honesty of its original inspiration. We are all so excited about Obama, I am doubly proud that West also did the Obama song.

You can watch the trailer for American Pop on this page, which is part of the official Ralph Bakshi website. The site features an extensive store, where you can buy DVDs, production art, T-shirts, and even original clown paintings.

After the jump, a link to “The Obama Song” mentioned above (I think!)… [Read more…]

Kanye West got my attention this week because his latest video is animated and greatly influenced by Ralph Bakshi. Also, The Jetsons make a cameo appearance.

This statement is from Kanye’s blog:

“This video was rotoscoped. We recorded real people and then had 65 animators in Hong Kong hand draw over every cell. Inspired by the movie American Pop. Hype [Williams] showed me the movie and I was sold.”

The question on every animation fan’s mind is, of course, did he also show him the controversial Coonskin? And what does Bakshi think about this tribute? Did they throw any bling his way?

(For more on Bakshi, check out the comprehensive book Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi by Jon M. Gibson and Meathaus publisher Chris McDonnell.)

—Anne D. Bernstein