Ralph Bakshi  is a director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote. He has been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator. Bakshi began his career at Terrytoons Cartoon Studio in 1957, and made his debut feature film, Fritz the Cat  in 1972. Over the next eleven years, Bakshi directed seven additional animated features, including Hey, Good Lookin' (1982), American Pop (1981), Coonskin (1975) and Heavy Traffic (1973). He is well known for his fantasy films, which include Wizards (1977), The Lord of the Rings, part 1 (1978) and Fire & Ice (1983). In 1987, Bakshi returned to television work, producing the series Mighty Mouse, The New Adventures which ran for two years. After a nine-year hiatus from feature films, he directed  Cool World (1992), The Cool and the Crazy TV film (1994), and Spicy City HBO TV series (1997).  After painting for more than 15 years and having art shows around the world, Ralph returned to animation to create and animate "Last Days of Coney Island" which was successfully funded on Kickstarter.com in March 2013. Look for LDCI on youtube.