in 1997, john grant wrote in "the encyclopedia of fantasy" that "cool world" "stands as one of the fantastic cinema's most significant achievements, an instauration fantasy that reveals greater depths with each viewing." animation historian jerry beck described the film as being "for adults and bakshi completists only," writing that the film "has a great premise, a great cast, and the best animation he's ever been involved with," but critiquing it as a "pointless rehash of many of ralph's favorite themes, and the story literally goes nowhere." the film garnered a razzie award nomination for worst actress (kim basinger; also for "final analysis").