When watching this film it is very important to consider the time it was made in. If you aren't willing to consider the youth revolution and the hippie movement of the 60s then this film isn't for you. You will just be confused and offended. This film is simply a commentary and criticism of the 'flower power' movement of the 1960s. This film compares humans to the animal kingdom. White people are cats, dogs and rabbits; the police are pigs; and the black people are depicted as crows, oppressed by everyone over years. To me the most prominent theme of the film is criticising white middle class students and the flower power movement. The young people who are anti-establishment, but when they get 30+ years old will become the establishment they are rebelling against.
First off, I love how New York City is depicted in this. It depicts it as a grimy metropolis full of drugs, murder, racism, robbery, segregation, sex and police brutality. Regardless of the characters being animals and some of the violence being animated It is all so in your face that sometimes it can get too much. It is a depiction which many can argue is realistic to this date.
Fritz himself is a character who is simply confused about what he actually stands for, but is disillusioned with academia and believes that real life experience is more valuable and rewarding. This quote from the film really sums up his character and the young people being criticised:
"You think learning is a really big thing an' you become this big *** intellectual and sit around trying to out-intellectual all the other big ***intellectuals "
One thing Fritz definitely knows he wants is as much sex and drugs as possible. Fritz indeed does live a really hedonistic lifestyle. The film is full of animated sex. The film opens with Fritz trying to get girls by playing his guitar, but then managing to 'pull' a group of them by pretending to be an intellectual. What then proceeds is an orgy in the bathtub. This definitely isn't a movie to watch with kids.
Fritz really does also believe that he understands the black (crow) struggle and problems in the black (crow) community, but when his adventures take him to a black (crow) neighbourhood, Duke (a crow who befriends him) rightfully tells him that he will never fully understand the problem of racism from a black (crow) perspective as he himself is not black (a crow). Indeed Fritz is himself a criticism of white young people of the flower power movement as in the film he also starts a riot screaming 'we shall overcome' but at the end runs away when things get heated and doesn't even get involved, while his crow buddies get all the violence from police. What a douche.
I reckon after this the film kinda looses its impact and gets less interesting and exciting. It's a pity they killed off Duke so quick as well, as the character had so much potential. There are also so many ideas in this film, that as a result the end product is messy and unorganised, like an overstuffed sandwich. They should have stuck to one theme and explored this in detail, though I read this film was like this due to budgetary restraints.
This film as said can be argued to be as offencive as ever, especially as many who watch this probably won't 'get it'. Issues of sexuality and race are still relevant issues today, but Fritz the Cat, like many in its era explains these in a different way. I think this movie is good and historically significant, but cartoons like South Park and The Boondocks really have outdone this film now. I say this film is an important watch for anyone who is really interested and passionate about cartoons, anime, etc and wants to see a piece of history, but for regular members of the Joe public, I can't say the same.
First off, I love how New York City is depicted in this. It depicts it as a grimy metropolis full of drugs, murder, racism, robbery, segregation, sex and police brutality. Regardless of the characters being animals and some of the violence being animated It is all so in your face that sometimes it can get too much. It is a depiction which many can argue is realistic to this date.
Fritz himself is a character who is simply confused about what he actually stands for, but is disillusioned with academia and believes that real life experience is more valuable and rewarding. This quote from the film really sums up his character and the young people being criticised:
"You think learning is a really big thing an' you become this big *** intellectual and sit around trying to out-intellectual all the other big ***intellectuals "
One thing Fritz definitely knows he wants is as much sex and drugs as possible. Fritz indeed does live a really hedonistic lifestyle. The film is full of animated sex. The film opens with Fritz trying to get girls by playing his guitar, but then managing to 'pull' a group of them by pretending to be an intellectual. What then proceeds is an orgy in the bathtub. This definitely isn't a movie to watch with kids.
Fritz really does also believe that he understands the black (crow) struggle and problems in the black (crow) community, but when his adventures take him to a black (crow) neighbourhood, Duke (a crow who befriends him) rightfully tells him that he will never fully understand the problem of racism from a black (crow) perspective as he himself is not black (a crow). Indeed Fritz is himself a criticism of white young people of the flower power movement as in the film he also starts a riot screaming 'we shall overcome' but at the end runs away when things get heated and doesn't even get involved, while his crow buddies get all the violence from police. What a douche.
I reckon after this the film kinda looses its impact and gets less interesting and exciting. It's a pity they killed off Duke so quick as well, as the character had so much potential. There are also so many ideas in this film, that as a result the end product is messy and unorganised, like an overstuffed sandwich. They should have stuck to one theme and explored this in detail, though I read this film was like this due to budgetary restraints.
This film as said can be argued to be as offencive as ever, especially as many who watch this probably won't 'get it'. Issues of sexuality and race are still relevant issues today, but Fritz the Cat, like many in its era explains these in a different way. I think this movie is good and historically significant, but cartoons like South Park and The Boondocks really have outdone this film now. I say this film is an important watch for anyone who is really interested and passionate about cartoons, anime, etc and wants to see a piece of history, but for regular members of the Joe public, I can't say the same.