Wolfsbane the Savage (1987 animated film)

Wolfsbane the Savage is a 1987 Canadian animated adventure-fantasy-comedy feature film directed by Smits (who was also the film's co-writer and character designer) and Ethan Gauthier, who co-founded Cinemator Artworks Company, where it was produced.

The film is a primarily comedic take on the sword-and-sorcery subgenre of fantasy, particularly Conan the Barbarian as the title is indicative, but with anthropomorphic animals as many of its characters.

It was theatrically released in Canada on July 3, 1987 by Cineplex Odeon Films and internationally by Cannon Films. Despite middling reception and disappointing box office returns, it developed a cult following through home video and TV broadcasts, spawning a sequel in 1991.

Summary
Long before the year 567 A.B. (Anno Blablabli), a war that the narrator mentions rather than describing in great detail what happened had somehow resulted in a land where anthropomorphic creatures lived in a fantasy world of barbarians, sorcery and tribes.

Wolfsbane witnesses the invasion of his village which prompts the elder to keep male and female wolves of the tribe separated for safety reasons, as well as to impose a regiment of masculinity in preparation for further threats. But Wolfsbane suffers an emotional toll from being forced to act like something he's not.

When being assigned to help keep look-out for the village fails (because the guard was too distracted to heed his warnings), Wolfdbane is blamed for the resulting destruction and told not to return unless Lord Bastian is defeated by his mind or hand.

On the advice of a mage, he must find clues in four different lands to obtain the secret to defeating Bastian, meeting an ursine barbarian, a vixen mage, a lion seductress and cheetah bard.

Release and reception
The film opened nationwide in Canada (in both English and French versions) on July 3, 1987. Despite (or because of) considerable promotion as well as connections to a comic book, which was at the time slowly gaining momentum, the film barely managed to crack more than $1 million CAD at the box office overall.

According to Smits himself, one reason for its disappointing commercial intake was because some parents were put off by the suggestive content and humour since they assumed it was geared towards children.

Critical response of the time was largely mixed, with praise mainly towards the animation (albeit one critic noted it "didn't live up to the Disney standard") but also criticism towards the plot for being "excessively madcap" and "chaotic", not to mention believing that the film's target couldn't decide between family audiences or mature fans of sword-and-sorcery.

However, the film did better elsewhere, mainly in various countries across Europe, the UK, Japan and so forth. Cannon's successful bid to purchase the movie (in a preview state) at the 1986 American Film Market in Los Angeles and marketing in Cannes months later helped to secure video, television and theatrical rights. As Gauthier recalled, the purchase alone helped prevent Cinemator from facing debt.

As the years went on, its audience reception improved considerably with contemporary reviews lauding the narrative for its balance of humour, action, tension and pathos, characterization and message about gender equality.

Cinemator, however, were themselves not fond of the final product (in large part because of the turbulent production and Gauthier felt it didn't fall in line with his studio's goals), choosing not to participate in its 1991 sequel.