Coonskin (film)

Coonskin is a 1975 American live actionanimated crime film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists, and the Mafia. The film, which combines liveaction with animation, stars Philip Thomas, Charles Gordone, Barry White, and Scatman Crothers, all of whom appear in both liveaction and animated sequences. Coonskin makes reference to various elements from AfricanAmerican culture, ranging from African folk tales to the work of cartoonist George Herriman, and satirizes racist and other stereotypes, as well as the blaxploitation genre, Song of the South, and The Godfather which was another film produced by Albert S. Ruddy.

In the South, Sampson and the local Preacherman plan to bust out their friend Randy from prison. As they rush to the prison, the two are stopped by a roadblock and have a shootout with the police. Meanwhile, Randy and another cellmate named Pappy escape from inside the prison and wait for Sampson and the Preacherman to help them get out. While waiting for them, Randy unwillingly listens to Pappy tell a story about three guys that resemble Randy and his friends. Pappys story is told in animation set against liveaction background photos and footage.Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox are forced to pack up and leave their Southern settings after the bank mortgages their home and sells it to a man who turns it into a brothel. The trio moves to Harlem, home to every black man. When they arrive, Rabbit, Bear, and Fox find that it is not all that it is made out to be. They encounter a con man named Simple Savior, a phony revolutionary leader who claims to be the cousin of Black Jesus, and that he gives his followers the strength to kill whites. In a flashy stage performance in his church, Savior acts out being brutalized by symbols of black oppressionrepresented by images of John Wayne, Elvis Presley, and Richard Nixon, before asking his parishioners for donations. Rabbit and his friends quickly realize Saviors revolution is merely a money making scam. Rabbit openly steals a large portion of the donation money, prompting Savior to try and have him killed. After Rabbit tricks his wouldbe murderers in a paraphrasing of the story of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch, he and Bear kill Savior. This allows Rabbit to take over Saviors racket, putting him in line to become the head of all organized crime in Harlem. Rabbit lays out his plan to keep all organized crime money in Harlem. But first, he has to get rid of a few other opponents. Saviors former partners tell Rabbit they will join him but only if he can kill his opponents, otherwise they will kill him instead. ...

Source: Wikipedia