American Pop

Bakshi invented the adult animation genre with his groundbreaking X-rated feature Fritz the Cat. He later added fantasy to the genre with Wizards and the first attempted adaptation of Lord of the Rings. With Kern’s mammoth screenplay, Bakshi created an animated drama for grown-ups with America as the subject and main character. The result is American Pop, the greatest adult animated movie ever made. Kern’s genius weaving of pop music movements with the distribution of illegal recreational substances allows Bakshi to sketch in all the major U.S. historical touchstones of the century along the way.

So how come so many people have not seen this patriotic classic? Well, this was one of two R-rated adult animation rotoscope features that hit theaters in 1981. Many more people saw the other one, Heavy Metal, and then both spent the next 15 years in late-night cable TV jail before finally securing soundtracks rights for home video releases. While Heavy Metal embraced its R rating with a vengeance, American Pop seemed like it was reaching for a PG, as it had no nudity or overt sex scenes. It was even promoted to children in 3-2-1 Contact magazine, where I first read about it when I was eight. However, the permeation of hard drugs in the second half got it an unintentional R, limiting its exposure.

“…the greatest adult animated movie ever made.”

This is one of those flawless wonders where every single frame is perfect. At this point in his career, Bakshi was the master of rotoscoping, having added his own techniques to elevate the format. Here he makes the human form a paintbrush to a magnificent effect. The director stacks iconic Americana imagery into an animated totem pole with no ceiling. The arrangements and composition of the images are breathtaking to the point of your lungs collapsing. All of this is accented perfectly by the amazing art designs of the legendary Louise Zingarelli. Her grotesque caricatures mesmerizingly dot the landscape and cannot be resisted. The vistas achieved here add to the emotional impact of the storylines.

Something inside my stomach cries every time I see Tony’s degeneration into a hopeless addict. So few times has the cave-in of hard drugs been so well illustrated in cinema and never before in a cartoon. Also, Pete is an icon all his own as the most badass rocker to even be drawn. Whenever I have played live with punk or doom bands, I have used him as my inspiration on how to look onstage. He can obliterate a room by slowly lowering his sunglasses and is the star I still march to. With American Pop, Bakshi hit higher than he aimed and created a cinematic wonder. If you are trying to find America in this current star-strangled fog, look no further.