Malcolm and Melvin-Babe He Calls me (by Ralph Bakshi)

In his usual immodest humor, Bakshi once claimed to be the biggest ripped off cartoonist ever. Is he? Debatable, but he is most certainly a cartoonist, and a great one at that. Why? He makes cartoons, an absurd, non linear, surreal creation, something not inherently associated with animation in modern times. In an era where people think classic animation is the old Transformers, Bakshi, a decidedly New York animator from the truly classic cartoon studio Terrrytoons, must seem like a living dinosaur. He worked with full animation, tore up or ignored model sheets, and simply drew what was in his head. It may make complete sense only to him, but he does take the viewer on a wild ride. This is true even when he and one other animator work on a cartoon (or two). Think about this; the following two cartoons are made by a handful of people, yet are more entertaining than almost all TV shows or features made by armies of (admittedly bored) computer monkeys. And if you like this, check out his films: Coonskin and Wizards may change not only your animation perspective, but your view of the world. I know they did for me.

Malcom and Melvin (08:14)

Babe He Calls Me (07:29)

Bonus: http://www.karmatoons.com/bakshi.htm
This site talks about the people behind the cartoon, with sketches of the characters and background information.