| Fritz the Cat | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ralph Bakshi |
| Screenplay by | Ralph Bakshi |
| Based on | Fritz the Cat byR. Crumb |
| Produced by | Steve Krantz |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Renn Reynolds |
| Music by | |
| Animation by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Cinemation Industries |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Languages |
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| Budget | $700,000 |
| Box office | $90 million |
Fritz the Cat is a 1972 Americanadult animatedblackcomedy film written and directed byRalph Bakshi in hisdirectorial debut. Based onRobert Crumb'scomic strip of the same name, the film focuses on itsSkip Hinnant-portrayed titular character, a glib, womanizing and fraudulent cat in ananthropomorphic animal version of New York City during the mid-to-late 1960s. Fritz decides on a whim to drop out of college, interacts with inner cityAfrican American crows, unintentionally starts arace riot and becomes aleftist revolutionary. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, and thefree love movement, as well as serving as a criticism of thecounterculturalpolitical revolution and dishonest political activists.
The film had a troubled production history, as Crumb, who is aleftist, had disagreements with the filmmakers over the film's political content, which he saw as being critical of the political left. Produced on a budget of US$700,000 (equivalent to $5.26 million in 2024), the film was intended by Bakshi to broaden the animation market. At that time, animation was primarily viewed as a children's medium. Bakshi envisioned animation as a medium that could tell more dramatic or satirical storylines with larger scopes, dealing with more mature and diverse themes that would resonate with adults.
The film's depiction of profanity, extreme violence, sex, nudity, anti-religious humor, smoking, drinking and drug use, particularlycannabis, provoked criticism from more conservative and nationalist members of the animation industry, who accused Bakshi of attempting to produce apornographic animated film, as the concept ofadult animation was not widely understood at the time. TheMotion Picture Association of America gave the film anX rating (the predecessor of theNC-17 rating), making it the first American animated film to receive the rating, which was then predominantly associated with morearthouse films.
The film was highly successful, grossing over $90 million worldwide, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. It earned significant critical acclaim in the 1970s, for its satire, social commentary and animations, despite attracting some negative response accusing it ofracial stereotyping and having an unfocused plot, and criticizing its depiction of graphic violence, profanity, sex and drug use in the context of an animated film. The film's use ofsatire and mature themes is seen as paving the way for future animated works for adults, includingThe Simpsons,South Park andFamily Guy. A sequel,The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974), was produced without Crumb's or Bakshi's involvement.
Set in 1960s Manhattan, a group ofhippies gather at a city park to perform protest songs. Fritz, an anthropomorphictabby cat, arrives with his friends in an attempt to impress three girls, who instead show interest in an anthropomorphiccrow standing nearby. In their effort to connect, the girls make unintentionally condescending remarks about black people. After the crow rebukes the girls and leaves, Fritz then presents himself as a troubled intellectual and invites the girls to "seek the truth" with him.
The group arrives at a friend’s apartment, where a party is taking place. Due to crowding in other rooms, Fritz drags the girls into the bathroom, where they engage in anorgy. Meanwhile, two police officers—depicted as pigs—call on the apartment. As they climb the stairs, a partygoer discovers the scene in the bathroom, prompting others to join. Fritz, marginalized in the crowded bathtub, turns to marijuana for comfort. When the police enter, one begins attacking the attendees. Seizing an opportunity, a dazed Fritz grabs the officer’s gun and accidentally shoots the toilet, breaking the water main and flooding the apartment. The chaos allows Fritz to flee, and he escapes into asynagogue. There, he blends into the congregation as they erupt in celebration over the U.S. decision to supply more weapons toIsrael.
Fritz returns to his college dormitory, where his studious roommates ignore him. Disillusioned with academic life, he sets fire to his notes and textbooks, unintentionally igniting a blaze that consumes the entire building. Afterwards, Fritz meets Duke the Crow at thepool table of a Harlem bar. After narrowly avoiding a fight with a bartender, Duke invites Fritz, and the pair steal a car. Fritz crashes the vehicle off a bridge, but is saved by Duke. They make their way to the apartment of Bertha, a drug dealer whose potent cannabis enhances Fritz’s urge. While having sex, Fritz claims he has discovered his purpose to start an insurrection. He runs into the street and incites a riot, eventually leading to Duke being shot and killed by police. The situation escalates, with the police andNew York Air National Guard called in to suppress the uprising. The violence culminates in an airstrike, with fighter jetscarpet-bombing Harlem as Disney characters cheer from the sidelines.
Fritz takes refuge in an alley, where he's found by his olderfox girlfriend. She insists on taking him toSan Francisco, but when their car runs out of gas in the desert, Fritz abandons her. He later encounters Blue, a drug-addictedrabbit biker, and hishorse girlfriend, Harriet. The three travel to an underground bunker, where two revolutionaries—John, a hoodedsnake, and a femalegecko known as the "lizard leader"—plan to bomb a power plant. When Harriet attempts to leave for aChinese restaurant, Blue physically assaults her and restrains her with chains. Fritz intervenes, prompting the lizard leader to burn his face with a candle. Blue and the others then throw Harriet onto a bed andgang rape her. After the group plants dynamite at the power plant, Fritz experiences a change of heart and tries to disarm the explosives, but fails and gets caught in the resulting explosion.
Fritz is hospitalized inLos Angeles. Harriet, disguised as anun, visits him alongside the three girls from the New York park. Believing Fritz to be nearly dying, they attempt to console him. However, Fritz revives and repeats the same speech he initially used to seduce them. The film ends with him having sex with the trio, while Harriet looks on in disbelief.
R. Crumb first createdFritz the Cat in 1959 as a teenager,[5][6] and made his official debut in 1965 inHelp!, a humor magazine edited byHarvey Kurtzman.[7] Crumb’s strips used anthropomorphic animals—typically associated with children's comics—to explore adult themes such as sex, drugs, and countercultural disillusionment.[8] In the late 1960s, after Crumb moved to San Francisco and immersed in thecounterculture,[9] he began publishing his work in underground publications,[10] emerging as a leading figure in theunderground comix movement.[11][12] Fritz quickly became one of his most recognizable characters, including mainstream audiences outside of the underground scene.[13]
[The idea of] grown men sitting in cubicles drawing butterflies floating over a field of flowers, while American planes are dropping bombs in Vietnam and kids are marching in the streets, is ludicrous.
Ralph Bakshi began his career atTerrytoons studio in New York City in the late 1950s.[15][16] He then met and formed a partnership with producerSteve Krantz to form Bakshi Productions.[17] By the late 1960s, Bakshi felt creatively stifled and wanted to pursue more personal, ambitious projects.[14] He developedHeavy Traffic, a tale of inner-city street life.[18] However, Krantz told Bakshi that studio executives would be unwilling to fund the film because of its content and Bakshi's lack of film experience.[18]
While browsing the East Side Book Store onSt. Mark's Place, Bakshi discovered a copy ofR. Crumb's Fritz the Cat (1969).[19] Impressed by Crumb's sharp satire, Bakshi purchased the book and proposed to Krantz that it could serve as the basis for a feature film.[20] Believing Crumb's sensibilities aligned with his own, Bakshi wanted to direct it. Krantz arranged a meeting with Crumb, during which Bakshi presented sample drawings he had made in Crumb’s style, demonstrating his ability to faithfully adapt the work into animation.[21][18] Impressed by Bakshi's tenacity, Crumb lent him one of his sketchbooks for reference.[20]
As development began, a pitch package was assembled—including a paintedcel over a photo background, showcasing Bakshi's vision for the film’s aesthetic.[20] Though Crumb was initially enthusiastic, he ultimately declined to sign the contract, unsure about the film’s direction.[20] Fellow cartoonistVaughn Bodē warned Bakshi against working with Crumb, describing him as "slick".[20] Bakshi later agreed with Bodé's assessment, calling Crumb "one of the slickest hustlers you'll ever see in your life".[20] Krantz sent Bakshi to San Francisco, where Bakshi stayed with Crumb and his wife Dana, in hopes of persuading Crumb to sign the contract.[22] After a week, Crumb left, leaving the film's production status uncertain, but since Dana had power of attorney, she signed the contract.[22] Crumb received $50,000, which was delivered throughout different phases of the production, in addition to ten percent of Krantz's share of the profits.[22]
With the rights toFritz the Cat, Bakshi and Krantz began searching for a distributor, though Krantz stated that "every major distributor turned it down",[23] as studios were reluctant to distribute an independent animated film—especially one radically different from the family-friendly fare associated withWalt Disney Productions.[14]
In the spring of 1970,Warner Bros. agreed to finance and distribute the film.[24][25] The Harlem sequences were the first to be completed, and Krantz intended to release them as a 15-minute short if the film's funding was pulled; Bakshi was nevertheless determined to complete the film as a feature.[22] Late that November, Bakshi and Krantz screened a presentation reel for the studio with its sequence, pencil tests, and storyboard footage.[26] Reflecting on their reaction, Bakshi recalled, "You should have seen their faces in the screening room when I first screened a bit ofFritz. I'll remember their faces until I die. One of them left the room. Holy hell, you should have seen his face. 'Shutup, Frank! This is not the movie you're allowed to make!' And I said, Bullshit, I just made it."[27]
Warner executives requested for the sexual content to be toned down and to cast big names for the voices. Bakshi refused, and Warner pulled their funding from the film, prompting Krantz to seek funds elsewhere.[26][24] This led to a deal with Jerry Gross, head ofCinemation Industries, a distributor specializing inexploitation films.[26] Although Bakshi had little time to pitch the film, Gross agreed to both fund and distribute it, seeing potential in its provocative content.[22] Additional financing came fromSaul Zaentz, who agreed to distribute thesoundtrack album on hisFantasy Records label.[22] InAustralia, the film was also distributed by20th Century-Fox.[28]
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Bakshi was initially heistant to directFritz the Cat, having spent years animating animal characters and aspiring instead to create films centered on humans.[29] Despite this, he was drawn to the project because he admired Crumb's work, considered him a "total genius".[24] During the development of the film, Bakshi said that he "started to get giddy" when he "suddenly was able to get a pig that was a cop, and this particular other pig was Jewish, and I thought, 'Oh my God—a Jewish pig?' These were major steps forward, because in the initialHeckle and Jeckle for Terrytoons, they were two black guys running around. Which was hysterically funny and, I think, great—likeUncle Remus stuff. But they didn't play down south, and they had to change two black crows to two Englishmen. And I always told him that the black crows were funnier. So it was a slow awakening."[30] In his notes to animator Cosmo Anzilotti, Bakshi's attention to detail extended to character habits, even specifying that the crows smoked marijuana rather than tobacco.[31] Bakshi states that "The weed had to read on screen. It's an important character detail."[31]
In the film's opening sequence, the setting of the story's period is not only established by the title, but also by a voiceover from Bakshi, who portrays a character giving his account of the 1960s: "happy times, heavy times".[24] The film's opening dialogue, featuring three construction workers on their lunch break, establishes many of the themes discussed inFritz the Cat, including drug use, promiscuity, and the social and political climate of the era.[24] When one worker urinates off the scaffold, the film's credits play over a shot of the liquid falling against a black screen.[24] When the credits end, it is shown that the construction worker has urinated on a long-haired hippie with a guitar.[24] Karl F. Cohen writes that the film "is a product of the radical politics of the period. Bakshi's depiction of Fritz's life is colorful, funny, sexist, raw, violent, and outrageous."[24]
Of his direction of the film, Bakshi stated, "My approach to animation as a director is live action. I don't approach it in the traditional animation ways. None of our characters get up and sing, because that's not the type of picture I'm trying to do. I want people to believe my characters are real, and it's hard to believe they're real if they start walking down the street singing."[14] Bakshi wanted the film to be the antithesis of any animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions.[24] Accordingly,Fritz the Cat includes two satirical references to Disney. In one scene, silhouettes ofMickey Mouse,Daisy Duck, andDonald Duck are shown cheering on the United States Air Force as it dropsnapalm on a black neighborhood during a riot. Another scene features a reference to the "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence fromDumbo.[32] A sequence of the camera panning across a garbage heap in an abandoned lot in Harlem sets up a visual device that recurs inHey Good Lookin'.[29]
The original screenplay ofFritz the Cat consisted largely of dialogue and remained close to Crumb's source material, though it was ultimately set aside in favor of a more experimental storytelling approach.[33][26] Bakshi said, "I don't like to jump ahead on my films. The way you feel about a film on Day One, you may not feel the same way forty weeks down the road. Characters grow, so I wanted to have the option to change things, and strengthen my characters ... It was sort of a stream of consciousness, and a learning process for myself."[26] Bakshi wrote the characters without feral animal behavior to lend the material greater realism.[34]
The first half of the film's plot was adapted from a self-titled story published in a 1968 issue ofR. Crumb's Head Comix,[33][35] while the second part is derived from "Fritz Bugs Out", which was serialized in the February to October 1968 issues ofCavalier,[33][36] and the final part of the story incorporates elements of "Fritz the No-Good", published in the September/October 1968 issue ofCavalier.[37] The last half of the film marks a major departure from Crumb's work. Animation historian,Michael Barrier, describes this section of the film as being "much grimmer than Crumb's stories past that point, and far more violent."[33] Bakshi stated that he deviated from the comics because he felt that the strips lacked thematic depth:
It was cute, it was sweet, but there was nowhere to put it. That's why Crumb hates the picture, because I slipped a couple of things in there that he despises, like the rabbis—the pure Jewish stuff. Fritz can't hold that kind of commentary. Winston is 'just a typical Jewish broad from Brooklyn'. ... [The strip] was cute and well-done, but there was nothing that had that much depth.[38]
Bakshi's unwillingness to use animal-like behavior led him to rewrite a scene in "Fritz Bugs Out", in which Duke saves Fritz's life by flying while holding Fritz. In the film, Duke grabs a railing before the car crashes into the river, a solution that Bakshi wasn't entirely satisfied with, but more grounded in realism.[34]
In the film, there are two characters named "Winston" – one appears at the beginning and end of the film, while the other is Fritz's girlfriend, Winston Schwartz.[33] Michael Barrier notes that Winston Schwartz (who appears prominently in "Fritz Bugs Out" and "Fritz the No-Good") never has a proper introduction in Bakshi's film, and interprets the naming of a separate character as Bakshi's attempt to reconcile this; however, the two characters look and sound nothing alike.[33] Bakshi intended to end the film with Fritz's death, but Krantz objected to this ending, and Bakshi eventually changed it to the final ending.[34]
Many of the animators who worked onFritz the Cat were professionals who Bakshi had previously worked with at Terrytoons, including Jim Tyer, John Gentilella, Nick Tafuri,Martin Taras, Larry Riley, and Cliff Augustine.[39] According to Bakshi, it took quite a long time to assemble the right staff.[40] Those who entered with a smirk, "wanting to be very dirty and draw filthy pictures", did not stay very long, neither did those with a low tolerance for vulgarity.[40] One cartoonist refused to draw a black crow shooting a pig policeman.[40] Two female animators quit; one because she could not bring herself to tell her children what she did for a living, the other because she refused to draw exposed breasts.[40]
In order to save money by eliminating the need for model sheets, Bakshi allowed animator John Sparey to draw some of the first sequences ofFritz.[18] Bakshi states that he knew that "Sparey would execute them beautifully."[18] Poses from his sequences were photocopied and handed out to the rest of the crew.[18] The film was produced almost entirely withoutpencil tests.[14] According to Bakshi, "We pencil tested I'd say a thousand feet [of footage], tops. ... We do a major feature without pencil tests—that's tough. The timing falls off. I can always tell an animator to draw it better, and I know if the attitude of the characters is right, but the timing you really can't see." Bakshi had to judge the timing of the animation simply by flipping an animator's drawings in his hand, until he could see the completed animation on the screen.[14] Veteran Warner Bros. animator, Ted Bonnicksen, was incredibly dedicated to his work on the film, to the point where he completed his animation for the synagogue sequence while suffering from leukemia, taking the scenes home at night to work on them.[41]
In May 1971, Bakshi moved his studio to Los Angeles to hire additional animators there.[42] Some animators, includingRod Scribner,Dick Lundy,Virgil Walter Ross,Norman McCabe, andJohn Sparey, welcomed Bakshi's presence, feeling thatFritz the Cat would bring diversity to the animation industry.[42] Other animators disliked Bakshi's presence and placed an advertisement inThe Hollywood Reporter, stating that Bakshi's "filth" was unwelcome in California.[42] According to Bakshi, "I didn't know who these guys were because I was from New York, so I threw the ad away."[43] However, Bakshi found the negative reaction to the film from his peers to be disheartening.[42]
The film's voice cast includesSkip Hinnant,Rosetta LeNoire, John McCurry, Judy Engles, Mary Dean, and comic book distributor/convention organizerPhil Seuling.[44][45][46] Hinnant, recognized as a featured performer onThe Electric Company, was cast as Fritz, because he "had such a naturally phony voice", according to Bakshi.[47] Bakshi and Seuling improvised their dialogue as the comically inept pig officers Al and Ralph; Bakshi enjoyed working as a voice actor and went on to provide voice roles for his later films.[34] Bakshi recreated the voice he did in this film for a storm trooper in his 1977 animated science fiction film,Wizards.[48]
Some scenes used documentary recordings, made and edited by Bakshi to fit the scene, wantingFritz the Cat to "feel real".[29][49] According to Bakshi, "I made tons and tons of tapes. ... When I went to have the film mixed, the sound engineers gave me all kinds of crap about the tracks not being professionally recorded; they didn't even want to mix the noise of bottles breaking in the background, street noise, tape hiss, all kinds of shit. They said it was unprofessional, but I didn't care."[29] Although the sound designers requested that Bakshi should re-record the dialogue in the studio, he refused to relent.[29]
Nearly all of the film's dialogue, excluding a few main characters, was recorded entirely on the streets of New York City.[50] For the film's opening sequence, Bakshi paid two construction workers $50 each, and drank Scotch whisky with them, recording the conversation.[29] In the Washington Square Park sequence, only Skip Hinnant was a professional actor; Fritz's friends were voiced by young males Bakshi found in the park.[29] One of the sequences that was not based upon Crumb's comics involved a comic chase through a synagogue full of praying rabbis.[41] For the voices of the rabbis, Bakshi used a documentary recording of his father and uncles.[41] This scene continued to have a personal significance for Bakshi, after his father and uncle died.[41] Bakshi states, "Thank God I have their voices. I have my dad and family praying. It's so nice to hear now."[41] Bakshi also went to a Harlem bar with a tape recorder and spent hours talking to black patrons, getting drunk with them as he asked them questions.[26]
Because it was cheaper for Ira Turek to trace photographs to create the backgrounds, Bakshi and Johnnie Vita walked around the streets of the Lower East Side, Washington Square Park, Chinatown, and Harlem to take moody snapshots.[18] Turek inked the outlines of these photographs onto cels with aRapidograph, atechnical pen preferred by Crumb, giving the film's backgrounds stylized realism unprecedented in animation.[18] After Turek completed a background drawing in ink on an animation cel, the drawing would be photocopied onto watercolor paper for Vita, then onto animation paper for use in matching the characters to the backgrounds. When Vita finished his painting, Turek's original drawing, on the cel, would be placed over the watercolor, obscuring the photocopy lines on the painting.[26] However, not every background was taken from live-action sources.[51] The tones of the watercolor backgrounds were influenced by the "Ash Can style" of painters, which includesGeorge Luks andJohn French Sloan.[52] The film also used bent andfisheye camera perspectives to replicate the way the film's hippies and hoodlums viewed the city.[53]
The film's score was composed byEd Bogas andRay Shanklin.[54] The soundtrack was released by Fantasy Records, featuring songs byCharles Earland,Cal Tjader,Bo Diddley, andBillie Holiday.[54] Bakshi purchased the rights to use Holiday's performance of the song, "Yesterdays", for $35.[55]
Fritz the Cat was ratedX from theMotion Picture Association of America, becoming the first American animated film to receive such a rating.[56] However, at the time, the rating was associated with morearthouse fare, and since the recently releasedMelvin Van Peebles film,Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, released through Cinemation, had received both an X rating and considerable success, the distributor hoped thatFritz the Cat would be even more profitable.[57] Producer Krantz stated that the film lost playdates due to the rating, and thirty American newspapers rejected display advertisements for it or refused giving it editorial publicity.[24] The film's limited screenings led Cinemation to exploit the film's content in the film's promotion, advertising it as containing "90 minutes of violence, excitement, and SEX ... he's X-rated and animated!"[58] According to Ralph Bakshi, "We almost didn't deliver the picture, because of the exploitation of it."[14]
Cinemation's advertising style and the film's rating led many to believe thatFritz the Cat was apornographic film. When it was introduced at a preview at theUniversity of Southern California, Bakshi stated firmly, "Fritz the Cat is not pornographic."[14] In May 1972,Variety reported that Krantz had appealed the X rating, saying "Animals having sex isn't pornography."[24] The MPAA refused to hear the appeal.[24] The misconceptions about the film's content were eventually cleared up when it received praise fromRolling Stone andThe New York Times, and when it was accepted into the1972 Cannes Film Festival.[58] Bakshi later stated, "Now they do as much onThe Simpsons as I got an X rating forFritz the Cat."[59]
Before the film's release, American distributors attempted to cash in on the publicity garnered from the rating by rushing out dubbed versions of two otheradult animated films from Japan, both featuring an X rating in their advertising material:Senya ichiya monogatari andKureopatora, re-titledA Thousand and One Nights andCleopatra: Queen of Sex.[14] However, neither film was submitted to the MPAA.[14] (Unlike the NC-17 rating, the MPAA never obtained a trademark on the X rating, thusany film not submitted to the MPAA for a rating can declare itself "Rated X.") The film,Down and Dirty Duck, was promoted with an X rating, but was likewise not submitted to the MPAA.[60] The French-Belgian animated film,Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle, initially was released with an X rating in a subtitled version, but a dubbed version released in 1979 received an R rating.[61]
Fritz the Cat opened on April 12, 1972, in Hollywood and Washington, D.C.[23] Despite its limited release, it went on to become a worldwide hit.[34] Against its $700,000 budget,[62] it grossed $25 million in the United States and over $90 million worldwide,[63][64] and was at that point the most successful independent animated feature of all time.[18] The film earned $4.7 million in theater rentals in North America.[65]
InMichael Barrier's 1972 article on its production, Bakshi gives accounts of two screenings of the film. Of the reactions to the film by audiences at a preview screening in Los Angeles, Bakshi stated, "They forget it's animation. They treat it like a film. ... This is the real thing, to get people to take animation seriously." Bakshi was also present at a showing of the film at theMuseum of Modern Art and remembers, "Some guy asked me why I was against the revolution. The point is, animation was making people get up off their asses and get mad."[14]
The film also sparked negative reactions because of its content. "A lot of people got freaked out", says Bakshi. "The people in charge of the power structure, the people in charge of magazines and the people going to work in the morning who loved Disney andNorman Rockwell, thought I was a pornographer, and they made things very difficult for me. The younger people, the people who could take new ideas, were the people I was addressing. I wasn't addressing the whole world. To those people who loved it, it was a huge hit, and everyone else wanted to kill me."[66]
Critical reaction was mixed, but generally positive.Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times wrote that the film is "constantly funny ... [There's] something to offend just about everyone."[24]New York magazine film criticJudith Crist reviewed the film as "a gloriously funny, brilliantly pointed, and superbly executed entertainment ... [whose] target is ... the muddle-headed radical chicks and slicks of the sixties", and that it "should change the face of the animated cartoon forever".[67] Paul Sargent Clark inThe Hollywood Reporter called the film "powerful and audacious",[24] andNewsweek called it "a harmless, mindless, pro-youth saga calculated to shake up only the box office".[24]The Wall Street Journal andCue both gave the film mixed reviews.[24] Thomas Albright ofRolling Stone wrote an enthusiastic preview in the December 9, 1971 issue based on seeing thirty minutes of the film, declaring that it was "sure to mark the most important breakthrough in animation sinceYellow Submarine".[68] But in a review published after its release, Albright recanted his earlier statement and wrote that the visuals were not enough to save the finished product from being a "qualified disaster", due to a "leaden plot" and a "juvenile" script that relied too heavily on tired gags and tasteless ethnic humor.[69]
Lee Beaupre wrote forThe New York Times, "In dismissing the political turbulence and personal quest of the sixties while simultaneously exploiting the sexual freedom sired by that decade,Fritz the Cat truly bites the hand that fed it."[70] Film critic,Andrew Osmond, wrote that the epilogue hurt the film's integrity for "giving Fritz cartoon powers of survival that the film had rejected until then".[71] Patricia Erens found scenes with Jewish stereotypes "vicious and offensive", and stated, "Only the jaundiced eye of director Ralph Bakshi, which denigrates all of the characters, the hero included, makes one reflect on the nature of the attack."[72]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 64%, based on 22 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fritz the Cat's gleeful embrace of bad taste can make for a queasy viewing experience, but Ralph Bakshi's idiosyncratic animation brings the satire and style of Robert Crumb's creation to vivid life."[73]
Crumb first saw the film in February 1972, during a visit to Los Angeles with fellow underground cartoonistsSpain Rodriguez,S. Clay Wilson,Robert Williams, andRick Griffin. According to Bakshi, Crumb was dissatisfied with the film.[34] Among his criticisms, he said that he felt that Skip Hinnant was wrong for the voice of Fritz, and that Bakshi should have voiced the character instead.[34] Crumb later said in an interview that he felt that the film was "really a reflection of Ralph Bakshi's confusion, you know. There's something real repressed about it. In a way, it's more twisted than my stuff. It's really twisted in some kind of weird, unfunny way. ... I didn't like that sex attitude in it very much. It's like real repressed horniness; he's kind of letting it out compulsively."[33] Crumb also criticized the film's condemnation of the radicalleft,[23] denouncing Fritz's dialogue in the final sequences of the film, which includes a quote fromthe Beatles song "The End", as "red-neck and fascistic"[74]
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Reportedly, Crumb filed a lawsuit to have his name removed from the film's credits.[77] San Francisco copyright attorney Albert L. Morse said that no suit was filed, but an agreement was reached to remove Crumb's name from the credits.[78] However, Crumb's name has remained in the final film since its original theatrical release.[24] Due to his distaste for the film, Crumb had "Fritz the Cat—Superstar" published inPeople's Comics later in 1972, in which a jealous girlfriend kills Fritz with an icepick;[13] he has refused to use the character again,[7] and wrote the filmmakers a letter saying not to use his characters in their films.[23] Crumb later cited the film as "one of those experiences I sort of block out. The last time I saw it was when I was making an appearance at a German art school in the mid-1980s, and I was forced to watch it with the students. It was an excruciating ordeal, a humiliating embarrassment. I recallVictor Moscoso was the only one who warned me 'if you don't stop this film from being made, you are going to regret it for the rest of your life'—and he was right."[79]
In a 2008 interview, Bakshi referred to Crumb as a "hustler" and stated, "He goes in so many directions that he's hard to pin down. I spoke to him on the phone. We both had the same deal, five percent. They finally sent Crumb the money and not me. Crumb always gets what he wants, including that château of his in France. ... I have no respect for Crumb. Is he a good artist? Yes, if you want to do the same thing over and over. He should have been my best friend for what I did withFritz the Cat. I drew a good picture, and we both made out fine."[27] Bakshi also stated that Crumb threatened to disassociate himself from any cartoonist who worked with Bakshi, which would have hurt their chances at getting work published.[80]
In addition to other animated films aimed at adult audiences, the film's success led to the production of a sequel,The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat.[81] Although producer Krantz and voice actor Hinnant returned for the follow-up, Bakshi did not.[81] Instead,Nine Lives was directed by animatorRobert Taylor, who co-wrote the film with Fred Halliday andEric Monte.[82][83]
Nine Lives was distributed byAmerican International Pictures, and was considered inferior to its predecessor.[84] Bakshi states that he felt constricted using anthropomorphic characters inFritz, and focused solely on non-anthropomorphic characters inHeavy Traffic andHey Good Lookin', though he later used anthropomorphic characters inCoonskin.[29]
The film is widely noted in its innovation for featuring content that had not been portrayed in animation before, such as sexuality and violence, and was also, as John Grant writes in his bookMasters of Animation, "the breakthrough movie that opened brand new vistas to the commercial animator in the United States",[84] presenting an "almost disturbingly accurate" portrayal "of a particular stratum of Western society during a particular era, ... as such it has dated very well."[84] The film's subject matter and its satirical approach offered an alternative to the films previously presented by major animation studios.[84] Michael Barrier describedFritz the Cat andHeavy Traffic as "not merely provocative, but highly ambitious".[85] Barrier described the films as an effort "to push beyond what was done in the old cartoons, even while building on their strengths".[85] It is also considered to have paved the way for future animated works for adults, includingThe Simpsons[86] andSouth Park.[86][87]
As a result of these innovations,Fritz was selected byTime Out magazine as the 42nd greatest animated film,[88] ranked at number 51 on theOnline Film Critics Society's list of the top 100 greatest animated films of all time,[89] and was placed at number 56 onChannel 4's list of the100 Greatest Cartoons.[90] Footage from the film was edited into the music video forGuru's 2007 song "State of Clarity".[91]
Fritz the Cat, along withThe Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, was released onVHS in 1988, byWarner Home Video throughOrion Pictures.[92] In 2001,MGM distributed the film with the sequel onDVD.[93] The film again, along with its sequel, was released onBlu-ray by Scorpion Releasing andKino Lorber on October 26, 2021, featuring a newaudio commentary by comic artistStephen R. Bissette and author G. Michael Dobbs.[94][95][96]
And Fritz was a $700,000 picture that made $90 million worldwide, and is still playing.
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