the visual design of the live-action footage was intended to look like "a living, walk-through painting", a visual concept bakshi had long wanted to achieve. the film's sets were based upon enlargements of designer barry jackson's paintings. the animation was strongly influenced by fleischer studios (whose cartoons were released by paramount) and terrytoons (where bakshi once worked, and whose mighty mouse character was also adapted into a series by bakshi). the artwork by the character jack deebs was drawn by underground comix artist spain rodriguez. the film's animators were never given a screenplay, and were instead told by bakshi to "do a scene that's funny, whatever you want to do!"