Cool World

 

Cool World (1992)

NEUTRAL
Various
Movie Reviews37%
PG-13
1992, Fantasy, 1h 42m
RT Critics’ Score: 4% (BIAS DETECTED)
RT Audience Score: 31%
Awards & Nominations: 2 nominations

 

Critics Consensus

Cool World throws a small handful of visual sparks, but they aren’t enough to distract from the screenplay’s thin characters and scattered plot
 

Audience Consensus

Cool World is a movie that tries to be both a live-action and animated film, but ends up being a hot mess. Critics have described it as having no internal logic, a major disappointment, and a disaster. The characters are grating and dislikable, and the plot is too sketchy to provide much of a framework. The only thing that seems to be enjoyable is the occasional burst of zany goings-on. Overall, it’s a movie that’s best left in the past.
 
Movie Trailer

Movie Info

Storyline

When cartoonist Jack Deebs was behind bars, he found escape by creating “Cool World”, a cartoon series featuring a voluptuous femme fatale named Holli Would. But the cartoonist becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli transports Jack into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. A hard-boiled detective

 
Production Company(ies)
Alcon Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Sony
 
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for language and sensuality
 
Year of Release
1992
 

Technical Specs
  • Color:
    Color
  • Sound mix:
    Dolby SR
  • Aspect ratio:
    1.85 : 1
  • Runtime:
    1h 42m
  • Language(s):
    English
  • Country of origin:
    United States
  • Release date:
    Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 1992 Wide
    Release Date (Streaming): Nov 11, 2003

 
Genre(s)
Fantasy
 
Keyword(s)
starring Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, Michele Abrams, Deirdre O’Connell, Carrie Hamilton, directed by Ralph Bakshi, written by Michael Grais, Mark Victor, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr., fantasy, PG-13, box office gross $13.7M, reviewed by Dave Kehr, Peter Rainer, Steven Rea, Jay Boyar, Jeff Shannon, Owen Gleiberman, Sergio Benítez, Malcolm Johnson, Gary Thompson, Roger Hurlburt, Stephen Hunter, Brad Pitt as Detective Frank Harris, Kim Basinger as Holli Would, Gabriel Byrne as Jack Deebs, Frank Mancuso Jr as producer, Michael Grais as writer, Mark Victor as writer, Ralph Bakshi as director, animation, live-action, cartoon, intermingling, risk, lustful, blonde bombshell, dire consequences, visual sparks, screenplay, thin characters, scattered plot
 

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $14,110,589
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $30,204,076
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,547
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,293,792
 
US/Canada gross: $14,110,589
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $30,204,076
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,272
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,556,451
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $11,893,725
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 898
 
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $30,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $64,215,767
Production budget ranking: 644
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $34,580,190
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$68,591,881
ROI to date (est.): -69%
ROI ranking: 1,803

 
Movie Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew

Kim BasingerGabriel ByrneBrad PittMichele AbramsDeirdre O'Connell
Kim Basinger
Gabriel Byrne
Brad Pitt
Michele Abrams
Deirdre O’Connell
Holli Would
Jack Deebs
Detective Frank Harris
Jennifer Malley
Isabelle Malley
Kim Basinger – Holli Would
Gabriel Byrne – Jack Deebs
Brad Pitt – Detective Frank Harris
Michele Abrams – Jennifer Malley
Deirdre O’Connell – Isabelle Malley
Carrie Hamilton – Comic Bookstore Cashier

 

Ralph BakshiMichael GraisFrank Mancuso Jr.
Ralph Bakshi
Michael Grais
Frank Mancuso Jr.
Director
Writer
Producer
Producer
Producer

Director(s)
Ralph Bakshi
 
Writer(s)
Michael Grais, Mark Victor
 
Producer(s)
Frank Mancuso Jr.

 
Movie Reviews & Awards
Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
2 nominations
 
Academy Awards

 

Top Reviews
Dave KehrPeter RainerSteven ReaJay BoyarJeff Shannon
Dave Kehr
Peter Rainer
Steven Rea
Jay Boyar
Jeff Shannon
Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles Times
Philadelphia Inquirer
Orlando Sentinel
Seattle Times
COOL WORLD
 All Critics (49) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (2) | Rotten (47)
 A few of Bakshi`s inventions, such as a rattled telephone that panics every time it rings, are amusing and well animated, but most of the characters are grating and dislikable.
 
 May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1/4
 
 Dave Kehr
 Chicago Tribune
 TOP CRITIC
 What Bakshi and his screenwriters don’t recognize is that even dream worlds have their own fierce logic.
 
 May 4, 2014
 
 Peter Rainer
 Los Angeles Times
 TOP CRITIC
 Watching Byrne, Basinger and Pitt struggle to bring verisimilitude to this cockeyed business is painful. And watching the parade of ricocheting doodles is just headache-inducing.
 
 May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4
 
 Steven Rea
 Philadelphia Inquirer
 TOP CRITIC
 The plot is too sketchy to provide much of a framework, and the only logic here is the logic of fevered daydreams. Yet, in spurts, the movie’s enjoyable.
 
 May 4, 2014
 
 Jay Boyar
 Orlando Sentinel
 TOP CRITIC
 Bakshi’s world is typically subversive, anti-nostalgic and, at times, a brilliantly conceived grafting of two and three dimensions. Unfortunately, its ingenuity matrix seems to have short-circuited.
 
 May 4, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
 
 Jeff Shannon
 Seattle Times
 TOP CRITIC
 After the painstaking technical bravado of Roger Rabbit, it’s no longer possible to get away with scenes in which a cartoon has obviously just been pasted onto an actor’s wooden movements.
 
 September 7, 2011 | Rating: C
 
 Owen Gleiberman
 Entertainment Weekly
 TOP CRITIC
 The reluctant performance of the actors joins the lousy combination of live action actors and the animation – with looks and gestures that never end up agreeing. [Full Review in Spanish]
 
 August 24, 2019
 
 Sergio Benítez
 Espinof
 Its story stretches a fey idea to the breaking point, its dialogue delivers little wit and few laughs and its performances range from adequate to feeble. But Bakshi crams the screen full of zany goings-on, occasionally breaking out with brilliance.
 
 June 4, 2018
 
 Malcolm Johnson
 Hartford Courant
 Without understanding the motion control cameras and all the other subtle techniques Roger Rabbit employed, it’s amateur hour.
 
 August 6, 2017
 
 Fred Topel
 We Live Entertainment
 The movie has no internal logic. It’s a mess.
 
 May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1/4
 
 Gary Thompson
 Philadelphia Daily News
 Cool World is a major disappointment — a repellent oddity with unsavory overtones.
 
 May 4, 2014
 
 Roger Hurlburt
 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
 Much ballyhooed, much-advertised, the live-action/animation feature is much disaster. Not even an animated Kim Basinger dancing the hoochie-coochie can save it from its own death-wish combination of outsized ambition and undersized budget.
 
 May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1/4
 
 Stephen Hunter
 Baltimore Sun…

 
Movie Plot & More
Plot
When cartoonist Jack Deebs was behind bars, he found escape by creating “Cool World”, a cartoon series featuring a voluptuous femme fatale named Holli Would. But the cartoonist becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli transports Jack into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. A hard-boiled detective
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast includes Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, and Gabriel Byrne, but their performances are poorly integrated into the animation.
 
Movie Links Wikipedia and Rotten Tomatoes

Links
Wikipedia: Go to Wiki
Rotten Tomatoes: Go to RT

 
Where to Watch

Where to Watch

 
Move the ScoreRalph-Bakshi.jpg

Movies, Streaming