Movies - Coonskin

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Coonskin, directed by Ralph Bakshi in 1975, is a unique combination of live action footage and animation, for adults only. It was originally distributed by Paramount Pictures. The storyline about a black rabbit and his two buddies, a fox, and a bear, who try to take over the crime rackets in Harlem, is a satire combining story elements of Walt Disney's Song of the South
and several blaxploitation films (although film critic Roger Ebert notes that Coonskin should not be classified as blaxploitation, because the film is far more interesting than a majority of the films in the genre ).

Despite being supported by the NAACP as a "difficult, but valid satire," Paramount Pictures, the film's original distributor, withdrew the film from theaters after a frenzy of protests from the racial equality group CORE, who had also protested several of the films being mocked by Bakshi. Ironically, the film later became a cult classic among African-American viewers (including film director Spike Lee ), because of its strong political and social satire. Following Paramount's withdraw, Bryanston Distributing Company quickly attached itself and released to theatres to continued fevered controversy.

Coonskin was later released on VHS under the title Street Fight (originally by Academy Entertainment, and later by Xenon Entertainment Group), and on laserdisc under the title Bustin' Out. It was also released in Sweden under the title Rabbit: The Killer.

Bootleg DVDs have turned up on eBay with the Blax Films logo on the back cover. No legit DVD releases have yet been planned, due to the fact that investors are unsure of who currently owns the distribution rights. The rights to the film itself are owned and held by Ralph Bakshi. Recently, it has been reported that Warner Brothers is interested in re-releasing the film on DVD. This story has been confirmed on the official Bakshi website's message board. Source:

Synopsis

The film begins in live-action—Sampson (Barry White) and the Preacherman (Charles Gordone) rush to help their buddy, Randy (Philip Michael Thomas) out of jail. While waiting for them, Randy sits quietly outside the prison. An older inmate (Scatman Crothers) sits with him, and decides to tell the young man about a trio he used to know who are extremely similar to Randy and his pals.

Live action changes to animation. Brother Rabbit (voice of Philip Michael Thomas) is Randy's animation counterpart, Brother Bear (voice of Barry White is Sampson's, and Preacher Fox (voice of Charles Gordone) is the Preacherman's counterpart. The animated trio decides to pack up and leave their southern settings after the bank mortgages their home and sells it to a "fat city slicker" who turns it into a house of ill repute. While packing up their stuff, they find out that one of the prostitutes is the daughter of the white, racist sheriff. The sheriff and one of the deputies enter the brothel. When the other deputy drools over the girl, the sheriff shoots him, and is in turn stabbed by our trio of heroes. Upon arriving in Harlem, the boys find that it isn't all that it's made out to be. They turn the tables on a black con man ("Simple Savior") who passes himself as the distant, Afro-American cousin of Jesus Christ. Killing Savior puts Brother Rabbit in line to be the head of all organized crime in Harlem. But first, he has to get rid of a few other opponents.

His first opponent is Maddigan, a borderline racist white cop, and bagman for the Mafia. When Maddigan finds out that Rabbit has been taking his payoffs, he is led to a nightclub called "The Cottontail." A black stripper distracts him while an LSD sugercube is dropped into his drink. Maddigan then is shoved into women's clothing and blackfaced before being shoved out into the back of the club where he gets into a shoot-out with the police and is shot to death by a group of his peers.

Next, Rabbit takes on the Mafia, which consists of a repulsively fat Godfather (voice of an uncredited Al Lewis) and his gay sons. In order to gid rid of them, Brother Bear becomes a boxer for the Mafia. During one of Bear's fights, Brother Rabbit sets up a melting imitation of himself made out of tar. As the Mafiosos take turns stabbing at the "tar rabbit," they become stuck together. The three heroes rush out of the boxing arena as it blows up. When we turn back to the live-action story, Randy and the other prisoner escape in broad daylight while being shot at by various white cops, but managing to make it out of there alive.

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