Fritz the Cat
This film is an underrated animated film that was very popular during the 1970s but went unnoticed after the release of Cool World, when Bakshi stopped making animated films. Some kids may think this a kids' film because it involves cats and is animated. No, that's Felix the Cat. Fritz the Cat is an animated film reserved for adults. In fact, this film is the first animated film to ever receive an X rating. By today's standards, this film would definitely receive an R rating. But this film was released in the 1970s, and this is before the MPAA introduced the NC-17 rating. Despite this film being an X-rated film, Fritz the Cat is not a porn. However, this film has a lot of sex scenes, violence and drugs.
Fritz the Cat is based on the R. Crumb comics of the same name. Bakshi spent many days mimicking Crumb's style and their drawing style is quite similar. Bakshi made the characters animated, with the background being water colored photographs. What I could infer from this is that Bakshi wasn't intending this animated film to be cartoony, but rather go for a more realistic approach.
The voice acting is also good. Rather than recording the dialogue in a studio, Bakshi recorded the dialogue on the street; making the voices of the characters sound more natural. In fact, Bakshi voices one of the pigs and does a terrific job at it. Bakshi also went to a bar in Harlem and interviewed African Americans and used their responses as the dialogue of the crows. And the voice of Fritz is surprisingly Skip Hinnant from the Electric Company. This means that Skip Hinnant is doing the voice for a children's show AND an animated film for adults!
The film doesn't really have much of a story, it just revolves around the main character Fritz. A bunch of different events occur and Fritz experiences a bunch of them in order to find a cause for himself. This film is pretty much a political satire that pokes fun of the 60s culture; where Fritz explores the hippie movement, race relations and the free love movement.
There are things I like about this film but also things I dislike about this film.
I really like how Fritz seems like he's an intellectual but is also very stupid at the same time. Fritz seems to be interested in sophisticated subjects such as existentialism; but starts complaining about how his friends prefer studying over living life to the fullest. I also love the scene featuring the two pig cops. This by far is my favorite scene in the film. When the pigs hear a lot of noise in the apartment, they try and stop Fritz's shenanigans. The pigs constantly quarrel with each other and eventually catch Fritz; but end up in a synagogue. They get distracted by a bunch of rabbis dancing after being informed about weapons being deployed to the US from Israel.
I also love the character Duke. Duke is a crow who represents an African American. Most of the characters in the film are jerks, but Duke is the only one who has a bit of sanity. Duke serves as Fritz's guardian; saving his life and protecting him after he starts a riot. Unfortunately, Duke gets killed during the riot. It's a pretty dramatic scene, but the death scene of Duke and his final heartbeats coordinate perfectly with pool balls bouncing into their pockets. This summarizes Duke's debut in the film, where we first see him playing billiards in a Harlem bar.
There are also things I dislike about the film. There are a bunch of violent scenes in the film. Some scenes can be too violent, such as the scene where Blue, the heroin-addicted Nazi rabbit beats his cow girlfriend Harriet. There are also a bunch of filler scenes that serve as vignettes and don't pertain to the story of the film. The most obvious example is after Fritz's fussing in his dorm, where we cut to an establishing shot of Harlem being zoomed in, with a crow snapping his finger and "Bo Diddley" being played in the background. I also dislike how some of the characters are introduced during the strangest times. Winston Schwarz, Fritz's girlfriend who takes him to San Francisco, wasn't introduced, but just shows up unexpectedly. At the start of the picture, when Fritz has lured three girls into a bathtub, we hear Fritz mention the name "Winston," even though there is little similarity in voice, personality or even appearance to tie the two "Winstons" together. To make matters worse, the bathtub "Winston" reappears at the end of the film, when the orgy is replayed in a hospital bed.
Crumb strongly hated the film, thinking Skip Hinnant was the wrong voice for Fritz. Crumb also found the film to be racy, but the Crumb comics were originally racy. This film inspired animators to draw influence from Fritz the Cat to create adult cartoon sitcoms, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park. The film was so popular it spawned a sequel; but without Bakshi's involvement.
This film is an underrated animated film that was very popular during the 1970s but went unnoticed after the release of Cool World, when Bakshi stopped making animated films. Some kids may think this a kids' film because it involves cats and is animated. No, that's Felix the Cat. Fritz the Cat is an animated film reserved for adults. In fact, this film is the first animated film to ever receive an X rating. By today's standards, this film would definitely receive an R rating. But this film was released in the 1970s, and this is before the MPAA introduced the NC-17 rating. Despite this film being an X-rated film, Fritz the Cat is not a porn. However, this film has a lot of sex scenes, violence and drugs.
Fritz the Cat is based on the R. Crumb comics of the same name. Bakshi spent many days mimicking Crumb's style and their drawing style is quite similar. Bakshi made the characters animated, with the background being water colored photographs. What I could infer from this is that Bakshi wasn't intending this animated film to be cartoony, but rather go for a more realistic approach.
The voice acting is also good. Rather than recording the dialogue in a studio, Bakshi recorded the dialogue on the street; making the voices of the characters sound more natural. In fact, Bakshi voices one of the pigs and does a terrific job at it. Bakshi also went to a bar in Harlem and interviewed African Americans and used their responses as the dialogue of the crows. And the voice of Fritz is surprisingly Skip Hinnant from the Electric Company. This means that Skip Hinnant is doing the voice for a children's show AND an animated film for adults!
The film doesn't really have much of a story, it just revolves around the main character Fritz. A bunch of different events occur and Fritz experiences a bunch of them in order to find a cause for himself. This film is pretty much a political satire that pokes fun of the 60s culture; where Fritz explores the hippie movement, race relations and the free love movement.
There are things I like about this film but also things I dislike about this film.
I really like how Fritz seems like he's an intellectual but is also very stupid at the same time. Fritz seems to be interested in sophisticated subjects such as existentialism; but starts complaining about how his friends prefer studying over living life to the fullest. I also love the scene featuring the two pig cops. This by far is my favorite scene in the film. When the pigs hear a lot of noise in the apartment, they try and stop Fritz's shenanigans. The pigs constantly quarrel with each other and eventually catch Fritz; but end up in a synagogue. They get distracted by a bunch of rabbis dancing after being informed about weapons being deployed to the US from Israel.
I also love the character Duke. Duke is a crow who represents an African American. Most of the characters in the film are jerks, but Duke is the only one who has a bit of sanity. Duke serves as Fritz's guardian; saving his life and protecting him after he starts a riot. Unfortunately, Duke gets killed during the riot. It's a pretty dramatic scene, but the death scene of Duke and his final heartbeats coordinate perfectly with pool balls bouncing into their pockets. This summarizes Duke's debut in the film, where we first see him playing billiards in a Harlem bar.
There are also things I dislike about the film. There are a bunch of violent scenes in the film. Some scenes can be too violent, such as the scene where Blue, the heroin-addicted Nazi rabbit beats his cow girlfriend Harriet. There are also a bunch of filler scenes that serve as vignettes and don't pertain to the story of the film. The most obvious example is after Fritz's fussing in his dorm, where we cut to an establishing shot of Harlem being zoomed in, with a crow snapping his finger and "Bo Diddley" being played in the background. I also dislike how some of the characters are introduced during the strangest times. Winston Schwarz, Fritz's girlfriend who takes him to San Francisco, wasn't introduced, but just shows up unexpectedly. At the start of the picture, when Fritz has lured three girls into a bathtub, we hear Fritz mention the name "Winston," even though there is little similarity in voice, personality or even appearance to tie the two "Winstons" together. To make matters worse, the bathtub "Winston" reappears at the end of the film, when the orgy is replayed in a hospital bed.
Crumb strongly hated the film, thinking Skip Hinnant was the wrong voice for Fritz. Crumb also found the film to be racy, but the Crumb comics were originally racy. This film inspired animators to draw influence from Fritz the Cat to create adult cartoon sitcoms, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park. The film was so popular it spawned a sequel; but without Bakshi's involvement.