Ralph Bakshi was born in October, 1938. He grew up in Brooklyn and went to the High School of Industrial Arts, now called High School of Art and Design. After graduation, armed with a cartooning diploma, he went to work at Terrytoons Animation Studio in New Rochelle,N.Y. where he started as a cel painter. He quickly became an animator, working on major characters like Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Deputy Dog. He became the director on these shows when he was 25; then was made Creative Director of the studio by CBS when he created and wrote The Mighty Heroes. He was offered the position of producer and director of Paramount Cartoon Studios, which had been the old Max Fleicher Studio, in 1967. There he did four theatricals: Marvin Digs, Mini Squirts, Super Basher and Bop, and the Fiendish Five. He hired and worked with Mort Drucker, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Joe Kubert, Jim Steranko, Grey Morrow, Roy Krenkel. He was asked by Steve Krantz Productions to take over direction and production of Rocket Robin Hood, and then, the Spiderman series. At that point, he moved into animated features with Fritz the Cat which he wrote and directed in 1971. Heavy Traffic was created, written, and directed by Ralph and released in 1973. In the same year, he established Bakshi Productions, Inc. There he enjoyed working with key names from the history of animation: Jim Tyer, Virgil Ross, Irv Spense, John Sparey, Manny Perez, Bob Carlson, Jonny Vita, and Ed Barge. He created, wrote and directed Coonskin (Streetfight) with Producer Al Ruddy (Godfather, Longest Yard). It was released in 1975. Wizards was created, written, directed and produced by him and released in 1977. He next directed Lord of the Rings using rotoscoping technique, which was the Disney method for animating realistic characters. It was released at the end of 1978. At this point he started painting seriously, preparing for a show at the Ulrica Cantor Gallery in Los Angeles. Hey Good Looking was also created, written and directed and released by Ralph in 1980 . His American Pop was directed and produced for release in 1981; then his Fire and Ice was created, directed, and co-produced in 1983 with world renowned fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta. Two years later, Ralph did a live-action and animated video for the Rolling Stones called the Harlem Shuffle. The next year, he began The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse for the 1987 and 88 TV seasons with John Krisfaluchi who went on to do Ren and Stimpy. In the summer of 1987 Ralph had another solo art show at the Philip Dash Gallery in New York then did his first live action short for PBS American Playhouse called This Ain't Be Bop which he wrote and directed. It starred Harvey Keitel, and was a look at the values of the beat generation. Tattertown, a Christmas Special, was done at the same time. The Butter Battle Book Special was done with Ted Geisel(Dr. Seuss) in 1989. Cool World, a mix of live action and animation featuring Brad Pitt and Kim Basinger was directed by Ralph and released by Paramount in 1991. The live action TV movie The Cool and The Crazy was written and directed by him, and filmed in LA in 1994 for Showtime. It starred Alicia Silverstone and Jared Leto. In 1997 he created a science fiction detective series for HBO called Spicy City. In 1998 his fine art was showcased once again at the Nardin Gallery in New York City. His next shows were at Animazing Gallery in SOHO in the spring of 2000 and again in 2001. Ralph has created controversy with all of his films and continued to break new ground in his art form. He has helped the public look at animation in a new way by creating worlds that are familiar yet strange and powerful. He pioneered the design of animation with adult themes using political commentary and satire. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has added his films to their collection and most recently his cult classics Fire and Ice and Wizards were released on DVD and he wrote and began work on a new project, Last Days Of Coney Island. After completing a promotional teaser for Last Days of Coney Island, Ralph set his sights on creating a comprehensive art book, Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi covering his extensive career, released in summer 2008. After another Art show in NYC at Animazing Gallery, Ralph received the Inkpot Award at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. In 2009, three of his films were shown at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, TX to sold out crowds. Ralph is currently preparing for another new Spring Art show in NYC.