Return to television (1987–1989) Ralph Bakshi

in april 1987, bakshi set meeting judy price, head of cbs s saturday morning block. 3 days before meeting, bakshi, kricfalusi, naylor, tom minton, eddie fitzgerald , jim reardon met brainstorm. bakshi remembers, car packed windows. judy last stop before driving cross country new york family. price rejected bakshi s prepared pitches, asked else had. told had rights mighty mouse, , agreed purchase series. however, bakshi did not own rights , did not know did. while researching rights, learned cbs had acquired entire terrytoons library in 1955 , forgotten it. according bakshi, sold them show owned, gave me rights nothin !

kricfalusi s team wrote story outlines thirteen episodes in week , pitched them price. next week, kricfalusi had hired animators knew had been working @ other studios. mighty mouse: new adventures went production month greenlighted; scheduled premiere on september 19, 1987. haste required crew split 4 teams, led supervising director kricfalusi, fitzgerald, steve gordon , bruce woodside. each team given handful of episodes, , operated entirely independently of others. although scripts required approval cbs executives, kricfalusi insisted artists add visual gags drew. bruce timm, andrew stanton, dave marshall , jeff pidgeon among artists worked on series. despite time constraints, cbs pleased way bakshi productions addressed network s notes.

during production of episode littlest tramp , editor tom klein expressed concern sequence showing mighty mouse sniffing remains of crushed flower resembled cocaine use. bakshi did not view footage; believed klein overreacting, agreed let him cut scene. kricfalusi expressed disbelief on cut, insisting action harmless , sequence should restored. following kricfalusi s advice, bakshi told klein restore scene, had been approved network executives , cbs standards , practices department. episode aired on october 31, 1987, without controversy.

in 1988, bakshi received annie award distinguished contribution art of animation . same year, began production on series pilot loosely adapted junktown comic strips. according bakshi, proposed series going revitalization of cartoon style 20s , 30s. gonna have duke ellington , fats waller jazzing soundtrack. nickelodeon willing greenlight 39 episodes of junktown.

on june 6, 1988, donald wildmon, head of american family association (afa), alleged littlest tramp depicted cocaine use, instigating media frenzy. afa, during incarnation national federation decency, had targeted cbs accessory murder after mother killed daughter following airing of exorcist ii: heretic. concerning bakshi s involvement mighty mouse: new adventures, afa claimed cbs intentionally hired known pornographer cartoon children, , allowed him insert scene in cartoon hero shown sniffing cocaine. bakshi responded, pick still out of lady , tramp , same impression. fritz cat wasn t pornography. social commentary. smacks of burning books , third reich. smacks of mccarthyism. m not going sniffs what. lunacy! on cbs s order, klein removed sequence master broadcast footage. wildmon claimed edits de facto admission that, indeed, mighty mouse snorting cocaine . despite receiving award action children s television, favorable reviews, , ranking in time magazine s best of 87 feature, mighty mouse: new adventures canceled cbs following controversy.

the incident had ripple effect, weakening nickelodeon s commitment junktown. bakshi has stated trying different [...] series didn t make sense. didn t work . series scrapped, , completed pilot aired special, christmas in tattertown, in december 1988. first original animated special created nickelodeon. bakshi moved warehouse loft in downtown los angeles clear head, , offered $50,000 direct half-hour live-action film pbs s imagining america anthology series. mark bakshi produced film, ain t bebop, first professional collaboration father. bakshi wrote poem influenced jack kerouac, jazz, beat generation , brooklyn served narration, spoken harvey keitel. after car crash, bakshi completed post-production in stitches , casts. bakshi said of work, s proud ve been of picture since coonskin—the last real thing did total integrity.

as result of film, bakshi received offer adapt dr. seuss s butter battle book tnt. ted geisel had never been satisfied previous screen versions of dr. seuss work. bakshi wanted produce entirely faithful adaptation, , geisel—who agreed storyboard special himself—was pleased final product. bakshi next directed pilot hound town nbc; described result embarrassing piece of shit .