Fire and Ice is a total and complete departure from any other animated film you would see playing in theaters around 1983. I’m not sure if it is possible to be more different than the standard Disney animated film of the time. There’s graphic violence, beyond-scantily-clad male and females, mature themes including a witch that appears to be a Lesbian and a subplot involving a magical prince who is sexually repressed, among many other things.
So although not recommended for anyone under 10 years old, this is still a pretty cool and absolutely unique fantasy adventure story. It’s a Ralph Bakshi film so if you’ve seen Wizards or the original animated Hobbit / Lord of the Rings, that should give you an idea what you’re getting into. The animation is like nothing you’ve ever seen before though. Guided by the great Frank Frazetta, it has all of his “barbarian elements” at play here. Supposedly, the entire thing was filmed with live action actors first, then the animators came in and drew over every scene to animate it. That’s what gives the film this other-worldly quality and the movements of the humans are so much more realistic than what we are used to seeing from animation of this time.
Fun side note, watch the backgrounds in many scenes. They were actually painted by a then very young, Thomas Kinkade (yep, the highly commercialized Painter of Light). If you like fantasy and enjoy animation, this is one to check out.