StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

ElMaruecan82 Cult-cartoonist Robert Crumb was a pioneer of the counterculture movement, with Fritz the Cat as the mascot (among many) of his psychedelic period. And Ralph Bakchi was an animator who thought that adults could do better than drawing cute creatures behind cubicles.The combination of both talents lead to the first X-rated animated feature, also the most successful independent animated feature to date. Bakchi contested the rating saying that pornography was supposed to involve humans; actually, I think the rating was right when you consider the same was given to "Midnight Cowboy".The problem is that the film isn't pornographic in the way we all picture pornography (at least now that Internet exists), the American Rating System just didn't have an intermediary category that could allow non-graphic films to target a wider audience. How do you make the difference? A porn film is only meant to arouse you, there's no other point, it has no story and works on the lowest emotional level.The same can't be said about "Fritz the Cat" whose sexual scenes are handled with a lot of humor and almost innocent fun by today's standards, sex is always funny, never arousing (they're animals for God's sake!) and the real defining aspect of the story is its raw, commentary on American society in the late 60's. And talk of a promising start! Three construction workers (average Joes) discuss during their break, seated on a girder. They complain about the collapse of American ideals: no family, no moral, no religion, it's not much what they say, but the way they say it that feels real and authentic. Just before shining the spotlight on the outcasts, the makers give the silent majority a shot.And does Ralph Bakchi stand for, exactly? Well, you almost get an answer when one of the worker pees and the yellow liquid form the opening credits before landing on a hippie's hair. In a way, it's kind of reassuring. We know the American Dream failed but the best movies of the New Hollywood period showed that the alternatives were no better.And these movies generally followed the same pattern: a misfit character trying to fit within a urban society full of contradictions and disillusions, where the American Dream shown its limitations after the racial riots, the Vietnam War and/or Richard Nixon, like "Easy Rider", "Midnight Cowboy", "The Last Detail", "Scarecrow" or "Taxi Driver".And with the opening discussion, the tone is set and we expect a film that will raise relevant social questions just like the others. And boy, did I set my expectations high, I must admit it, I'm a sucker for New Hollywood movies and the concept of "Fritz the Cat" had everything to please me, but while the film delivers a sharp critic of society, all made of conflicted interracial relationships or authority issues (the police officers are portrayed as pigs), as far as storytelling goes, this is another story.And this is a pity because the first part was so full of premises. Indeed, Fritz, a misfit student attracts three pretty suburban 'white' girls to a sordid apartment, just by pretending to be in a sort of existential quest, and this leads to a memorable orgy in a bathtub. This was a brilliant way to denounce the intellectual bullshit (mostly a bourgeois thing) where sex was the end of the fight for freedom, not the means. This is the line that separates between rebellion and decadence.It's also a denunciation in the same vein than the "South Park" episode when Stone and Parker settle their differences with hippies, portraying them as lazy parasites who betrayed their ideals and only thought of smoking pot and getting high while collecting acid trips, even Crumb admitted that he never got into that hippie movement.A similar scene occurs halfway through the film when Fritz, after having left the University, in quest of a 'real meaning', visits a black neighborhood. I don't know if it's a nod to "Dumbo" but blacks are portrayed as crows, is it shocking? No more, no less than having a Jewish cop being a pig… every group is equally assaulted in the film.Fritz starts a riot in Harlem, but then it goes out of control and the area is bombed with napalm and while he's leaving, he shouts a hypocritical "we shall overcome". Here again, violence is supposed to be the mean, but it becomes the end. Sex and violence are the two poles around which Fritz journey gravitates, the problem is that the film doesn't find its way and gets too episodic to let us digest the well-meant points it makes.A shame because the drawing (rather than the animation) was top notch, it encapsulates the spirit of the late 60's and never had the Big Apple felt so realistically rotten. There were many great characters, especially Duke, the crow, who could have made a great pair with Fritz, instead of the nagging feminist girlfriend who pops up in the third act, out of nowhere. Was Bakchi carried away by this project or in a rush to finish it? I don't know, but the last twenty minutes were too dark, even by the film's standards.It's even more frustrating because the first half is really enjoyable, but then I found myself waiting for something to happen and well, quoting one of the students, I wasn't "there" anymore.Of course, I could just love the film on the simple basis of its revolutionary aspect, that it broke new grounds in animation, was a gritty slice of American life in its most tormented era, but then I'd feel like the three students who were complimenting the black crow for nothing else but the fact that he was black.I didn't dislike the film, but I guess I'd be more fascinated by a film about its making, something worth a tag-line à la "Lolita".

ClycanSlider When it comes to animated films, there are plenty of iconic names in the industry: Walt Disney, Dreamworks, Hayao Miyazaki, Don Bluth, and Warner Bros. to name a few. But, no animation director stands out more then Ralph Bakshi. From the seedy world of Coonskin to the far off future of Wizards. From the war torn world of Fire & Ice to the legendary world of The Lord Of The Rings, Ralph Bakshi has a varied library of films under his belt. But, no film stands out more then his most famous, and controversial, animated classic 'FRITZ THE CAT'. Released in 1972, it was the first animated film to received the infamous X rating at the time of release and was based on the comic strip of the same name. It was released to a somewhat mixed reception but went on to become a cult favorite and received a sequel by the name of 'THE NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT'. But we are here to talk about the first film, and with this being my first time viewing it, I have to ask: Does it hold up to this day or should it be tossed away like cat turds from a kitty litter?The film's plot is, well, kinda non-existent. It's basically Fritz The Cat and his life....which is pretty much it. OK, so there are SOME plot lines involving Fritz getting involved with some crows and later a "Revolutionary Group", but mostly it just follows Fritz as he interacts with everyday people. "But, hang on!" you say "If there is no plot, then why is it rated 'X' and not 'R'?" Well...the film makes up for no plot with....how should I say this...over the top sex scenes and some very violent moments. Lets talk about the violence first. Most of the violence is cartoony, but there are three instances where the violence achieves a dark status. The first of which is when the one crow character is shot and killed and you can see the insides ALONG with some, well-done mind you, bleeding onto the hood of the car. The second is a full-scale riot scene that attributes nothing to the movie. BUT then...there is THAT SCENE near the end. I rather not go into full detail, but it involves a hippo character getting whipped with a chain gratuitously. That scene in particular ALMOST killed the movie for me. Now with the sex scenes...yeah they are there alright! Over the top and kinda messed up at times. There is a lot of sex throughout the film, with one scene in particular I had to look away from and play Bejeweled on my phone (It was after a Weed Smoking Scene...that's all I'll say).With the characters, it's kinda a mix bag. Fritz, being the main character, is a bit tricky to label. At times, he's over the top, other times he's quiet and surprisingly deep with his monologues, and at other times he's a sex addict. Then you got the three girls he meets in the beginning of the film and their only trait is that...well they like black people. That's it. Now, we got the crows, who are the black people of the film (Don't worry, it's not racist in anyway, from what I can tell. They do remind me of the crows from the Disney film Dumbo). They are just there for one scene and they really don't attribute much to the story. The rest of the characters ranging from just there to completely pointless....OH WAIT! There are also to two pig cops (Get it? Cause LOL Cops are pigs...bit of a cliché right there). These guys are probably the funniest characters and I do like how the one with the goofy voice is the straight cop and the veteran while the cop with the normal voice is the head-strong rookie. Nice change from the usual fare we usually see.Now, the animation, this is where the film shines. Sure, it's a bit over the top, but this is animation at its finest. Ralph Bakshi knows how to animate characters believably. All the characters move like they are real people (when it's not calling for a over-the-top moment) and the backgrounds are a beaut to look at. Granted, most of the background is rotoscoped (a favorite technique of Ralph Bakshi), but it's still amazing to look at. The only place where the animation fall flat is actually the character designs, specially the males, OK, so this is kinda a nit-pick, but it's still worth bringing up: While I get it that they are anthropomorphic and you wouldn't see their private parts, but that does raise one question: Why do some male characters go around pant-less, while others have pants? I understand with the females (although if you REALLY look at a female animal, you'll notice that you don't see ANY private bits on them cause they are covered with fur/hair), but it's still something odd I noticed.All and all, Fritz The Cat is a great film and one I would highly recommend to anyone to watch. Just go in knowing that you will see sex and nudity throughout the film , so if you have issues with that, then I would avoid this film. Truthfully, if you remove the sex and nudity and keep everything else in the film, it's still would be a great film with a somewhat decent message.

rbn_lrk-1 I just seen Mr. Enter review Fraidy Cat. Here is another cat cartoon, and it's a movie about Fritz the Cat. Fritz are looking back on the lives in the 1960's. The movie contains lots of violence, drugs and naughtiness. Also a lot of strange humor. So, don't go for any Oscar nomination here. Just enjoy the weirdness. These who were old enough to watch X rated movies back then might get the jokes better. The animation and music is really early 1970s back when I was a kid. If you love old school animation, the different styles of art cinema or obscure 1960s and 1970s movies I can recommend this. 10/10

TheBlueHairedLawyer Unfortunately for this movie, people today view it and assume it's some kind of twisted and disturbing pornography film. Yes, it has animals with nude-human-like bodies. Yes, it has racial stereotypes. Yes, it's got Nazi-fetishists and Anarchists and drugs and booze... well, disturbing as these things all might be, it is a homage to one of the most revolutionary yet hypocritical eras, the 1960's. When I first heard of it, I was afraid it would have environmentalism in it (I'm openly pro-pollution and an Eco-Sinner). Of course, when I watched the first few minutes of it, I just fell in love with this funny, doped-up, hypocrite hippie cat in this satire film, as he tries to make a difference in the world but ends up often causing more harm than good. THIS IS NOT A FILM FOR CHILDREN. that being said, it's certainly not a porn movie either, if it were I wouldn't be caught dead watching it, porn is perverted and disgusting. Watch Fritz the Cat with an open mind, you'll be surprised. The racial stereotypes are there not to create a racist movie, but to show various stereotypes common at the time that were wrong and the movie was trying to point them out as being wrong. There's some nostalgic 1960's soundtrack that adds to the comedic moments, and great voice acting. Don't pass this movie up, it's an interesting outlook on the "Free Love" movement, war, racism, politics, sex, drugs and education.