Fritz the Cat (1972)

A hypocritical swinging college student cat raises hell in a satiric vision of various elements on the 1960s.

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writers:

Ralph Bakshi (screenplay), Robert Crumb (characters)

Stars:

Skip Hinnant, Rosetta LeNoire, John McCurry

Cast

Cast overview:
Skip Hinnant	...	Fritz the Cat (voice)
Rosetta LeNoire	...	Bertha / Additional Female Crows (voice)
John McCurry	...	Blue / John / Additional Voices (voice)
Judy Engles	...	Winston Schwartz / Lizard Leader (voice)
Phil Seuling	...	Pig Cop #2 (voice)

Storyline

A persiflage on the protest movements of the 60s. Its hero is the bold and sex-obsessed tom-cat Fritz the Cat, as created by the legendary underground artist Robert Crumb. Quitting university Fritz the Cat wanders through the hash, Black Panther and Hell's Angels scenes to find to himself.

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Plot Keywords:

1960s | sexual imagery | sexual humor | social satire | satire | 

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Taglines:

The CAT that got the CREAM!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Fritz the Cat" creator R. Crumb sued to have his name removed from the credits.

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Goofs

When the two pig cops are reintroduced, Ralph is shown to be wearing brown shoes. This is jarring in and of itself, since Pig Cop #1 is not wearing any shoes. The shoes disappear in the next scene when Ralph gets hit by the car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Hey, yeah - the 1960s? Happy times, heavy times.

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Alternate Versions

Earlier prints of the film have the photographs during the end credits in black and white, while the 2001 MGM DVD release has the photographs in sepia tone.

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Connections

Referenced in Los Cinéfilos: Realmente amor (2013)

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Soundtracks

Bo Diddley
(1955)
Written by Bo Diddley (as Ellas McDaniel)
Performed by Bo Diddley & Billy Boy Arnold

User Reviews

Underrated

I came of age in New York City during the 1960s and shared many of the same trials and tribulations of Fritz the Cat. It's hard to find your kicks when everyone around you is spaced out and hung up on aggression. All us long-hairs got a bad rap, like Fritz, because we were confused about what it is we wanted. For those of us who lived, we began to age to the point of getting knowledge and understanding. Of course by the time we understood that it was too late to do anything about it. The scene was too weird and we were too confused. Fritz the Cat is like a lot of the guys I hung around with; full of ideas and short on ambition. This film is a perfect view of what some people saw in the 1960s. 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

14 April 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fritz the Cat

Box Office

Budget:

$850,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fritz Productions, Aurica Finance Company, Steve Krantz Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White (end credits)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1