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American Pop (1981)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Ronni Kern (written by)
Release Date:
13 February 1981 (USA)
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Tagline:
All those years, all those dreams, all those sons... one of them is going to be a star. more
Plot:
The story of four generations of a Russian Jewish family of musicians parallels the history of American popular music in the 20th century. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
Photo Gallery: A Brief Cultural History of Gays on TV
(From E! Online. 27 November 2009, 11:30 AM, PST)
'Rocky & Bullwinkle': Happy 50th birthday to the sweet duo! (And Boris and Natasha, too!)
(From EW.com - PopWatch. 19 November 2009, 12:53 PM, PST)
(From E! Online. 27 November 2009, 11:30 AM, PST)
'Rocky & Bullwinkle': Happy 50th birthday to the sweet duo! (And Boris and Natasha, too!)
(From EW.com - PopWatch. 19 November 2009, 12:53 PM, PST)
User Comments:
It's DEFINITELY different...
more (49 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Ron Thompson | ... | Tony / Pete (voice) |
 | Mews Small | ... | Frankie (voice) (as Marya Small) |
 | Jerry Holland | ... | Louie (voice) |
 | Lisa Jane Persky | ... | Bella (voice) |
| Jeffrey Lippa | ... | Zalmie (voice) |
| Roz Kelly | ... | Eva Tanguay (voice) |
| Frank DeKova | ... | Crisco (voice) (as Frank De Kova) |
| Richard Singer | ... | Benny (voice) |
| Elsa Raven | ... | Hannele (voice) |
| Ben Frommer | ... | Palumbo (voice) |
| Amy Levitt | ... | Nancy (voice) |
| Leonard Stone | ... | Leo Stern (voice) |
| Eric Taslitz | ... | Little Pete (voice) |
| Gene Borkan | ... | Izzy (voice) |
| Richard Moll | ... | Beat Poet (voice) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
96 min
Country:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) |
Singapore:PG |
USA:R (No. 25799) |
Australia:M |
Argentina:13 |
Canada:13+ (Quebec) |
Iceland:L |
UK:15 (video rating) |
UK:AA
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Except for a few bits of live-action stock footage and the still drawings in the opening credits, the movie is entirely rotoscoped.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
References Casablanca (1942)
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Soundtrack:
Say Si Si
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (49 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for American Pop (1981)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| little pete and tony | cutie_pooh85 |
| Favorite Song! | Angry_Arguer |
| Dire Straits | madp |
| American Pop Special edition DVD petition | tetsuo |
| How did Frankie die? | andy5421 |
| Nudity? | fagriculture |
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Related Links
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| News articles | IMDb Animation section | IMDb USA section |
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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.