Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing opposition from the institutionalized racism of the Mafia and corrupt police.Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing opposition from the institutionalized racism of the Mafia and corrupt police.Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing opposition from the institutionalized racism of the Mafia and corrupt police.
- Samson
- (voice)
- …
- Preacherman
- (voice)
- …
- Pappy
- (voice)
- (as Scat Man Crothers)
- …
- Randy
- (voice)
- (as Philip Thomas)
- …
- Clown
- (voice)
- Referee
- (voice)
- Miss America
- (voice)
- …
- Cop with megaphone
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Mannigan
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- …
- Brother Bear
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- The Godfather
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Boxing referee
- (uncredited)
- Sonny
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDespite claims made without evidence, director Ralph Bakshi did not research this film by going into into Harlem with a tape recorder and asked various people "What's it like being black in America?" This was actually his method of acquiring improvised monologues for the crows in his previous film, Fritz the Cat (1972). In actuality, Bakshi's socially conscious Afrocentric themes in this film originated from growing up with black friends and his views regarding racism in America originated from an event in his childhood in which Bakshi successfully persuaded his parents to enroll him in a black school, but the principal, upon learning that Bakshi was not black, pulled him out of the school during a class, as the school administration feared that a white student attending a black school would enrage racists who opposed state integration of schools.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Man in Blue: Fuck you.
Man in Yellow: Alright, I'm gonna give some example: I heard that 350 white folks committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. And out of the 350, there was two that was niggers.
Man in Blue: And one of them was pushed.
Man in Yellow: [laughs]
- Alternate versionsThe 95 minute cut of the film originally planned for release by Paramount was long thought lost, until 2024, when an Italian YouTuber uploaded this cut in it's entirety, albeit dubbed in Italian.
- ConnectionsEdited from The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Ralph Bakshi, one of the most revolutionary cartoonists in recent times, had a long history with the making of Coonskin. He experienced segregation first-hand growing up in Brooklyn where he was forced out of an all-black school due to the fear that the whites may discover it and cause havoc. These racist attitudes seem to have left their mark on Bakshi and he wanted to satirise it brutally, leading to the birth of Coonskin, a film that was picketed and protested against by various groups before any screenings of the film had been arranged, and a film that remained so misunderstood by many until recently.
Bakshi savagely attacks stereotyping and racist iconography by using, well, stereotyping and racist iconography. He employs characters in minstrel show blackface that were so popular in Civil War-era America, and portrays the black characters as loud, crude and violent. Yet no one is safe here - homosexuals, Italians, white-trash, Jews - all are portrayed as wildly over-the-top stereotypes. Bakshi conquers the problem by facing it head on, exaggerating it ten-fold, and then throwing it in our face. If you don't get satire or if you completely miss the point of Coonskin, then this is possibly the most offensive film ever made.
The animation is crude and dirty-looking, but I believe this was Bakshi's intention. By giving it a grimy, almost sloppy feel, he brings the story closer to the street, where his characters live out their lives. The mixture of animation set against real backdrops evokes Disney's still-banned Song of the South (1946), a film that Disney are so ashamed of due to the fact that it could be construed as racist, that they placed the ban on it themselves. The film is also quite strange, jumping between different styles and tones, and the result is as often confusing as it is mesmerising.
They are some truly inspired moments, such as the scene when our animated trio enter Harlem (the "home to every black man") to be greeted by a wailing saxophone in the street, as well as Scatman Crothers' rendition of Ah'm a N****r Man over the opening credits. I would recommend anyone with a fleeting interest in racial history to watch this film as long as they can stomach the viciousness of the satire, as it is as powerful as it funny, and as smutty as it is sophisticated. How this film was managed to be made escapes me, and how it was made by a white man simply perplexes me. Essential viewing.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
- tomgillespie2002
- Feb 8, 2012
- How long is Coonskin?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Street Fight
- Filming locations
- New York City, New York, USA(location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Sound mix