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Ralph Again...

“Why did I get out of film? Because films ain’t the world, films ain’t everything. One has to have a life that’s not about film. I paint pictures, that’s as much rewarding to me as film is. I mean, Hollywood and film, people can’t ever see themselves leaving L.A. or Hollywood. Film was just a step on the road to me living my life. I’m now living in New Mexico watching cowboys round up cattle. It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, the fact that I’m now living in America watching guys who really work hard for their money. 

I started out as an artist. Animation was something I got into. And then when I had too many fights, and things changed, and I had to give in a little, I decided not to give in at all and quit. Certainly Hollywood caught up to me, they didn’t let me get away with it. I got away with a lot of stuff. I shot God in Heavy Traffic—go do that today. They eventually caught up to me and started to make life difficult for me, so I said, You know what, guys? It’s all yours. And I split. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to make a film. That doesn’t mean sometimes I [don’t] feel like making a film. But there is a life outside of film. It’s just another medium to me. I love radio, I’d like to do a radio show. I love comic books, I’d like to do Wizards comic books. 

What I’m trying to say is it’s just important to keep busy. That’s the most important thing to humanity, just to keep busy and push one’s mind as far as one can go. But film itself—I mean, Scorsese and Lucas dropped out of film, Coppola dropped out of film. There are other things to do if you’re human.”