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Last Days of Coney Island

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Last Days of Coney Island
Directed byRalph Bakshi
Written byRalph Bakshi
Produced byRalph Bakshi
Eddie Bakshi
Adam Rackoff
Matthew Modine
StarringOmar Jones
Libby Aubrey
Ron Thompson
Tina Romanus
Richard Singer
Jonathan Yudis
Robert Costanzo
Joey Camen
CinematographyEddie Bakshi
Jess Gorell[1]
Edited byZac Wittstruck
Music byMark Taylor
Animation byRalph Bakshi
Mark Phillips
Elana Pritchard
Omar Jones
Release date
  • October 29, 2015 (2015-10-29)
Running time
22 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$174,195

Last Days of Coney Island is a 2015 American adult animated short film written, produced, directed and animated by Ralph Bakshi. The story concerns a NYPD detective, the prostitute he alternately loves and arrests, and the seedy characters that haunt the streets of New York City's run-down amusement district. It is notable for being the last film that Bakshi directed and animated before he retired from animation.[2]

Plot

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In 1960s Brooklyn, little person Shorty (Omar Jones) contemplates his lonely life as a freak show act on Coney Island. He is routinely beaten up by customers and carnival employees. One night, he catches his mother, a fortune teller, having sex with a clown; Shorty violently murders them both, catching the attention of the mafia.

Shorty is infatuated with the prostitute Molly (Tina Romanus), who is in love with the cop Max (Robert Costanzo). At a police hangout, Max's partner Louie (Rick Singer) suggests busting the whorehouse where Molly works; Max reluctantly agrees on the condition that Molly is escorted out first. During the raid, Max finds Molly still working; she is promptly arrested, leaving Max in tears. In a nearby bar populated by cross-dressers, Louie reveals that he planned for Molly to be arrested, leaving Max for himself.

Five years later, Shorty is now a mob collector, demanding money from the freak show workers. When a clown refuses to pay, Shorty butchers him in front of everyone. Despite Louie's constant affection, Max is still pining over Molly. Louie is fed up and leaves Max to fend for himself on the boardwalk. On his way home, Max meets Molly, just released from prison; he claims that he's changed too much to continue their relationship and leaves. Shorty witnesses their meeting and shoots Molly in cold blood.

Max is arrested for Molly's death and savagely beaten by the cops. The mob questions Shorty about the murder; he blames Lee Harvey Oswald, prompting his own assassination at the hands of Jack Ruby. The lights dim on Coney Island while Louie, dejected, drives off into the night.

Production

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Development

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A still from an earlier version of the project.

Ralph Bakshi had previously pitched the film to major studios such as Pixar and DreamWorks, but was unable to find anyone who wanted to take on the project.[3] When technology began advancing to the point where Bakshi could begin the project on a lower budget, he decided to take on the project himself and produce it independently working with a small development crew in New Mexico. Bakshi is quoted as saying that the animation is "probably higher quality than anything I ever made, at a cost so low it's embarrassing. Everything I used to do in my old movies that required hundreds of people and huge salaries is now done in a box. It took 250 people to make Heavy Traffic, now I'm down to five. I kiss the computer every morning — f-----' unbelievable!"[3]

Production was announced in 2006, attracting much interest, but no official funding, and according to Bakshi, "I had about eight minutes of film and a completed script. I thought budget was a slam dunk. For a Bakshi comeback film, it seemed like a no-brainer. [...] I asked one guy [in Hollywood], 'Should I have a budget of $150 million and pocket the rest?' He said, 'Yeah, but you have to make it PG'".[4] Bakshi ended the production to rethink his approach towards the film. Its production status was left uncertain.[5]

On October 20, 2012, at Dallas Comic-Con: Fan Days, Ralph Bakshi participated in a Q&A where it was stated that he would take Last Days of Coney Island to Kickstarter in an attempt to crowdsource the funding.

A Kickstarter campaign was launched on February 1, 2013 to complete funding for the first short in the film.[6][7][8] On March 3, the film was successfully funded and raised $174,195 from 1,290 backers, and Bakshi confirmed production had begun.

Casting

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When the project was first announced on Kickstarter, voice actress Tina Romanus, who had previously worked with Baskhi on Wizards and Hey Good Lookin', was confirmed to play the role of Molly, the main character's love interest.[6] In February 2013, actor Matthew Modine was cast in the film after coming across the film's Kickstarter campaign online in the role of Shorty, described as "a 4-foot-tall mafia collector who thinks he's Elvis Presley and sings like Chet Baker".[9][10]

Omar Jones ended up replacing Matthew Modine in the lead role of Shorty.[11] Other voices include Ralph himself, Eddie Bakshi, Jess Gorell, Jonathan Yudis, Joey Camen and Ron Thompson.

Animation

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Animation on Last Days of Coney Island was drawn traditionally and completed digitally.

Much of the production was aided with the use of Toon Boom Studio, computer software designed to assemble 2D animation. Ralph Bakshi is quoted as saying "Eddie [Bakshi's son] began some coloring and refining of artwork in Photoshop then gradually moved over to doing this in Toon Boom Studio. The crossover was relatively painless. The programs worked well together. [...] I set up the picture in a traditional manner then Eddie uses Toon Boom Studio to do everything else. My animator Doug Compton also uses Toon Boom Studio to assemble and send pencil tests and animatics. Toon Boom Studio essentially becomes the studio."[12]

Early on, Colleen Cox was announced to be the lead animator of the film. Tsukasa Kanayama was also hired as a storyboard artist, with Joseph Baptista helping with the storyboarding and also helping with some of the character designs. Animator Elana Pritchard was also hired to contribute a sequence in January 2014.[13] British illustrator Ian Miller was hired to help with the background art for the film; Miller had previously worked with Baskhi on Wizards and Cool World.[6]

Release

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Last Days of Coney Island premiered on Bakshi's 77th birthday on October 29, 2015 on Vimeo.[11] Bakshi released the film for free on YouTube on October 13, 2016.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ Silverstein, Joel. "Jess Gorell's photographic memory". The Inquirer and Mirror. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  2. ^ "Ralph Bakshi Shoot Interview!". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  3. ^ a b Rose, Steve (August 11, 2006). "Who flamed Roger Rabbit?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  4. ^ "Pixels to the people". The Boston Globe. September 24, 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  5. ^ Segundo, Bat (May 21, 2008). "The Bat Segundo Show #214: Interview with Ralph Bakshi". Edward Champion's Reluctant Habits. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  6. ^ a b c "Last Days of Coney Island". Kickstarter.
  7. ^ Connelly, Brendon (2013-02-01). "Support Ralph Bakshi And The Last Days Of Coney Island On Kickstarter". Bleeding Cool.
  8. ^ Saul, Josh (February 18, 2013). "Legendary BK filmmaker to make tribute to 'raw' Coney Island". New York Post.
  9. ^ Yamato, Jen (February 16, 2013). "Matthew Modine Joins Ralph Bakshi's Crowdsourced 'Last Days Of Coney Island'". Deadline Hollywood.
  10. ^ Labrecque, Jeff (2013-02-28). "Still Bakshi after all these years: Iconoclastic 'Fritz the Cat' director has another tale to tell". Entertainment Weekly.
  11. ^ a b Amidi, Amid (October 8, 2015). "Ralph Bakshi's 'Last Days of Coney Island' Will Premiere on Vimeo". Cartoon Brew.
  12. ^ "April 2006 Newsletter" (PDF). Toon Boom. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  13. ^ Bakshi Productions, Inc. (2014). The Making of Last Days of Coney Island - Behind the Scenes Entry #4. Vimeo.
  14. ^ "'Last Days of Coney Island' by Ralph Bakshi". Cartoon Brew. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Last Days of Coney Island". YouTube. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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