Fritz the Cat (1972)

Director: Ralph Bakshi
Starring: Skip Hinnant - Fritz the Cat

A film based on the underground Comix created by Robert Crumb, Fritz
the Cat is famous for being the first “X” rated feature length animated film. It has a handsome hand-made style of animation that FEELS like the early 70’s, as opposed to cleaner cartoons like the Looney Tunes (That have a timeless feel). The thing that distances it from its adult subject matter is that the whole thing is peppered with cartoon sight gags (Eyes widen, Characters bounce off walls) no matter how adult the material gets. And it gets REALLY adult. Almost to the point that to the point of annoyance as the film’s episodic structure jumps from scene to scene without any rhyme or reason of what’s come before. Fritz the Cat walks around New York, has an orgy, gets chased by cops (Pigs! Get it?), runs across some black “Crows” and then joins a nazi cult, gets blown up, then has another orgy There’s no flow, but there is the novelty of seeing all the anamorphic characters get naked on screen. It just gets old fast. And while the whole thing is watchable as curiosity, the film itself doesn’t stand up as anything more than a relic of its time that is famous for reasons that don’t equate to value. Check it out for the nifty animation and try not to get too disturbed when a Nazi worshipping blue bunny beats his hippo girlfriend with a chain till she’s covered in blood. Remember, it's just a cartoon.

DVD: It's a available everywhere for about 15$ under the Midnight Movie label. The disc is bare-bones and the transfer is a little scratchy, but I have a funny feeling it's the best we're going to get for a while.