Baby Snakes (1979)

Rock artist Frank Zappa hosts a concert in New York City. This movie contains tons of on-stage footage, off-stage footage, and animation.

Director:

Frank Zappa

Writer:

Frank Zappa

Stars:

Frank Zappa, Adrian Belew, Tommy Mars

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Zappa	...	Himself
Adrian Belew	...	Himself - Guitar
Tommy Mars	...	Himself - Keyboards
Terry Bozzio	...	Himself - Drums
Kerry McNabb	...	Himself - Soundman
Ron Delsener	...	Himself - Concert Promoter
Bruce Bickford	...	Himself - Animator
Robert Leacock	...	Himself - Bickford's Cameraman (as Rob Leacock)
Ed Mann	...	Himself - Percussion
Warren Cuccurullo	...	Himself - Backstage Fan (as Warren Cucurullo)
Chrissie Martin	...	Herself - Cuccurullo's Girlfriend (as Chris Martin)
Klaus Hundsbichler	...	Himself - Bickford's Film Editor
Roy Estrada	...	Himself - The Mexican Pope
John Smothers	...	Himself - Zappa's Bodyguard
David B. Ditkowwich	...	Himself - Brooklyn For Zappa (as David Ditkowich)

Storyline

Rock artist Frank Zappa hosts a concert in New York City. This movie contains tons of on-stage footage, off-stage footage, and animation.

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Plot Keywords:

concert film | new york | stop motion animation | surrealism | satire | 

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Taglines:

A movie about people who do stuff that is not normal.

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Genres:

Documentary | Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 December 1979 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

166 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film had particular trouble finding a distributor. Frank Zappa tried to interest Untied Artists, the company that released 200 Motels (1971). Fearing that they were about to be embroiled in the Heaven's Gate (1980) fiasco, they turned him down. Other studios followed in United Artists' footsteps, fearing that Zappa's trademark cinematic style had lost considerable appeal in post-'70s pop culture. Several European distributors told Zappa that there might be interest if it were cut from its original 168-minute running time. The film was cut to 90 minutes and still there were no takers. Even after Bruce Bickford's sequences won first prize at a French animated film competition, there was no interest. Eventually Zappa took it upon himself to distribute the film independently via his own Intercontinental Absurdities production company. The film ran 24 hours a day at the Victoria Theater in New York City and made a handsome profit.

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Quotes

Frank Zappa: God made three mistakes. First was the man. Second was the wo-man. Third was the poodle. He meant to make a German Shepherd but he fucked up.

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Crazy Credits

The credited cast includes ""Frenchy the Poodle" (a stuffed toy); "Ms Pinky's Larger Sister" (a blow-up doll); "New York's Finest Crazy Persons"; "and probably lots more people whose names we couldn't find out, but whose assistance in making this film is greatly appreciated".

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Connections

Referenced in Eaten Alive! (1980)

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Soundtracks

City Of Tiny Lites
Written, Produced and Performed by Frank Zappa

User Reviews

Zappa is not dead, he just smells funny.

Wow!

I just saw this movie for the first time today. I had already seen SOME parts of it, but never THE WHOLE MOVIE. It's great to see Frank Zappa work with his band and enjoying himself. He does a few very interesting guitar solo's, which I think are GREAT to experience. Some parts of this movie are backstage events. Some parts are clay-animation, which is done really nice!

The movie ends with a GRAND FINALE, that takes about an hour of uninterrupted live footage, which does get quite intense at some points.

Glad this movie was made!