Artwork by Robin Elliott-Knowles’

Adult Animated Revolution

The Adult Animated Revolution is the brainchild of local film programmer, Robin Elliott-Knowles, the guy behind The B-movie Fan Club, now well into it’s second year at The Electric Palace Cinema in Hastings.

With a flare for finding the unusual, Robin has set his sights on the world of animation and in particular animated features aimed at adults. Beginning with a season of Ralph Bakshi films – the godfather of adult animation – the subsequent seasons will explore different themes: political, musical, horror and fantasy.

The opening season is not without it’s controversy. Ralph Bakshi is best known for taking animation away from the safe clutches of Disney and letting rip with the first ever X-rated animated feature Fritz The Cat, based on R Crumbs notorious drug and alcohol addled, sex obsessed, comic cartoon creation. Fritz the Cat was a huge financial success, grossing over $90,000,000 at the box office, paving the way for Bakshi to explore his own interests, both personal and political.

The season will contain both X-Rated and PG rated films, so make sure you check before going. Opening with Fritz the Cat, the season continues with Wizards, a fantasy epic; American Pop, a film filled with a full on sound track; Heavy Traffic, Bakshi’s most personal work and Coonskin, without doubt Bakshi’s most controversial film. Coonskin sought to shine a light on the exploitation of African Americans in mainstream Hollywood films, including Disney’s own Song of the South (a film you are unlikely to ever see on general release again due to it’s racial stereotypes). However Bakshi, in using racial stereotypes himself to make his point, fell foul of the very groups he was trying to support. The film is however, despite its difficult subject matter, a favourite of Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino – and it was rumoured that The Wu Tang Clang Clan were hoping to make a sequel!

Bakshi was given several accolades for his animation work and The Museum of Modern Art has added his films to their preservation archives. Bakshi is still producing work from his New Mexico studio, including a much awaited animation, The Last Days of Coney Island.

The season, which runs from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October, has been supported by The Electric Palace Cinema and Film Hub South East. Tickets are available via the Electric Palace website, where a special All Weekend Ticket is available at just £25 for all five films.

There will also be an exhibition supporting the season: a mix of Bakshi related material, Robin’s handwritten reviews of the films and a selection of adult comics supplied by Wow and Flutter, our local comic book and record store.

Robin Elliott-Knowles is a young autistic artist and film buff, whose passion for his subject matter is infectious; he continues to work with local film-makers and cinemas and is currently working on his own animation script, U-Slip, an anti-intolerance film based on the rise of UKIP.

For full details of the season and the films visit The Anti-Disney website and for all venue and and ticketing information visit The Electric Palace Cinema website.

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