American Pop

One of Ralph Bakshi's last animated opuses "American Pop" came out in early 1981 with middling fanfare. I do have to give credit to Ralph Bakshi for making a very serious effort, rotoscoping the animation without leaving it too fuzzy (as in "Wizards," my personal favorite) or for the better word, half-done so you can the characters only half-animated and half-live (as in "The Lord of the Rings," I'd say the worst of any of his works).

This movie should play best as a midnight movie flick. Bakshi's best-known movies - "Fritz the Cat," "Heavy Traffic," and "Wizards" - for instance -would all play as midnight cult favorites at the Uniondale Mini Cinema back in the late '70's and early '80's. Naturally, I would have been much too young to go to that cinema and possibly out of place with a rough crowd had I'd been an adult in that era. If the Mini Cinema still existed today, then I'd say that "American Pop" would be up there too.

As for the movie, there isn't a single bit of humor, but the story is straightforward and allegorical of 80 years of music. We start with turn-of-the century Russian Jewish immigrant Zalmie who makes it America with his vaudeville acts. But Zalmie fails because his voice box is injured from a shooting while serving in the First World War and then gets mixed up in the mob. Then Zalmie passes the musical torch to his illegitimate son, Benny, who had lost his mother, Zalmie's girlfriend Bella to a mob bombing in their household. Benny makes it as a pianist,gets married, but is suddenly shot by a Nazi shoulder behind the back while playing the piano in his bunk during World War II. This depicts the music of the first half of the 20th century.

The era now radically shifts from early days of jazz to the latter-days of psychedelic rock in the 20th century. Benny has an irresponsible son named Tony. Tony, unloved at home, gets on a bus, runs away to California, yet stops halfway to Kansas to wash dishes and fall briefly for his blonde coworker, calling her hair "the color of corn", and makes it big as an acid 1960's rocker. He falls for a boozy redhead named Frankie, gets high on drugs with her and her friends, and bores an illegitimate blonde son with her named Little Pete. Then Frankie, obviously modeled on Janis Joplin (watch her swing beer as she performs), dies of the drugs and alcohol. Pete is confused about his familial background and doesn't know that Tony is his father. Tony abandons Pete on the street and Pete, the lone musical survivor, makes it on his own where everyone else failed. This fourth generation child has the best out of everyone as a David Bowid lookalike of a rock superstar. His "Blue Suede Shoes" wins the admiration of worldwide fans.

This movie is best understood with a historical and musical background so one could identify with the four generations of music. It is the most profound and realistic of Bakshi's work, and some felt that he toiled too much. Bakshi's works always carry social mores and he always includes Jewish references because he is indeed Jewish, although the surname sounds Indian. In addition to the four musicians, he also juxtaposes them with real life songs, singers and rock groups of each era, such as Cole Porter, Eva Tanguay, The Mamas and Papas, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Benatar and the Sex Pistols. Sounds crammed in, but it's hard work.

"American Pop" is an animated movie that rings truer to life than any other animated movie. It is indeed rated R due to occasional vulgar language, implied nudity, and frequent drug use. In addition to Bakshi's rotoscoping (his best done here), look for historical live action footage that blends well with the animation.

The narrative of this Bakshi animated film follows the showbiz aspirations of a Jewish émigré family through four generations (from turn-of-the-century to the present, i.e. early 1980s), taking in the various turbulent world events and reflecting the often radical changes in culture which occurred during all this time.

An ambitious if heavy-handed undertaking (Bakshi's trademark realism, displayed through rotoscoped animation, occasionally interspersed with stock footage) which is patchy overall but frequently impressive - and undeniably evocative. The necessarily eclectic soundtrack, too, is a major asset even if the last half does lean too heavily on the the hippie/rock scene; it's also amusing how the script presents the band which the protagonist eventually forms part of as the talent behind many of the best-known rock songs from the era by the likes of Big Brother And The Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Sex Pistols and even my own favorite, The Velvet Underground!!

I haven't seen this movie since it came out nearly two decades ago and yet I remember it like it was yesterday. Perhaps being a member of the clan that the movie depicts gives it special meaning for me. The strand connecting the chants of the ghetto synagogue, through early jazz, sixties ballads and finally hard rock rang true to this unsophisticated viewer. Perhaps the characters where often cliches and the symbolism hackneyed- but so what. This is the shorthand of our culture and these iconic elements were used with wit, charm and taste. Animation in this film is truly an artistic medium. The memory of the final scene, where generations of suffering are vindicated in the roar of acclaim for the rock singer descendent, still brings a chill to my spine.

If nothing else, Ralph Bakshi is an innovator. He has been ever since he did the first X-rated cartoon, FRITZ THE CAT.

He's also been uneven in his work. He either does great things, like FRITZ, or he produces forgettable, total bombs like COOL WORLD.

Just the same tho, I've very much enjoyed his stuff over the years. My personal favorites are HEY GOOD LOOKIN' and AMERICAN POP.

AMERICAN POP is a daring concept; a feature length, multigenerational saga that tells the story of an immigrant family's American adventure.

When it works (and that's MOST of the time), it works WELL. Bakshi did his historical homework on this one, as well as the musical homework required in telling the story of a family of entertainers.

His characters achieve the goal that EVERY cartoonist tries for; on some level, we find ourselves identifying with those characters, and CARING about them... ALL of them, from the turn of the century song plugger on the streets of New York City, to the Heavy Metal rocker who finally achieves the American Dream.

In some places tho, Bakshi's attempts at innovation have a rather bizzare effect, and sometimes just plain DON'T WORK with his audiences, even for those who LOVE his work.

I'm thinking specifically of the somewhat startling attempt to use cartoon characters in a sexual situation. Somehow, the sight of a cartoon character opening his pants to expose jockey shorts prior to making love with ANOTHER cartoon character is jarring and unsettling in the extreme. It's not a matter of prudishness... it's just that the idea of realistically drawn cartoon characters having sex is a bit of a leap of imagination that many can't easily negotiate.

Another place that it doesn't quite work is during the sequence during the Vietnam years.

We've ALL seen the horrible news film clip of the police chief of Saigon personally executing a prisoner, shooting him in the head with his snub nosed revolver. Bakshi produced a very short cartoon version of that clip for the film. It's intention in the montage is clear and powerful, but somehow the idea of cartooning this horrendous act is even more deeply disturbing to the viewer than the ORIGINAL film was. It might have been MORE acceptable if Bakshi had used a Rotoscoped version of it that was LESS cartoonlike, as he did with other file footage used in the movie.

Just the same... overall, Bakshi's bold experimental film WORKS, and works well.

AMERICAN POP, despite it's faults, is a breakthru for the art of animation. It's a successfully mounted drama, done in animation. Disney came close sometimes, but Bakshi boldly went where Disney didn't dare to.

For anyone who loves animation, and anyone who loves music... AMERICAN POP gets MY vote.

I love the animation style used in this movie. The interlacing of real footage and photos from earlier times brings a level of realism not seen in many animated films. The characters move realistically as well; minute body language is portrayed well. Voice overs are great. Of course it's not "Disney quality", but it's got a grittiness to it that truly makes it original.

Now I can see how one could criticize this movie. Basically, it all depends on how you watch it. If you watch it as a drama, you'll be disappointed. The plot is very centered around the one tragic late hippieish character, and is pretty simple and predictable. But there's a certain amount of charm within the overall story, kind of a sad, but beautiful shine.

If you watch it more as a musical, the movie works fine. The songs chosen are fantastic, and they totally underline the feel of the scenes in which they are used. In one of the first scenes, taking place in Czar-era Russia, there is no dialogue, only subtitles (giving it a great historical feel). The soundtrack is a sad and stirring Russian song sung acappella. You really get a sense of what the characters were going through.

This style continues throughout the movie. One of the most emotional scenes, for me, takes place in a cornfield, with the character torn apart with what he's done with his life. Janis Joplin's version of "Summertime" (an interesting choice, perhaps a hint of a throwback to earlier eras, as it is a Gershwin tune) as haunting as ever plays as the character cries. Messed up. But well done.

Jimi Hendrix has a cameo. A pseudo-Joplin/Slick character has a major role. A Sex Pistols parody jams it out. Late 70s corporate goons are running the studio. Great fun.

And that's how you have to enjoy the movie; and that's probably why music geeks will love it more than anyone else.