American Pop is one of the better films created by Ralph Bakshi, and arguably one of the finest animated films of all time. Seen today, after over a decade of Disney fairytales, Warner Brothers superheroes, and Japanese science fiction, it is even fresher than when produced in 1980. It points the way to an animated film genre that never blossomed, and which I hope will one day be resurrected.
Bakshi tells the story of four generations of American men, all of whom are involved in the popular music industry. The first two characters find their show business success shortcircuited by World Wars I and II. Much of the film is dedicated to the third character, who wanders the landscape of the 1960s and 1970s while degenerating from beatnik poet to strungout junkie. The final character is a scowling punk who finally achieves the family's musical destiny by becoming a rock star. American Pop is filled with vignettes so vivid they could pass for stories passed down from your grandparents, and contains four magnificantly sculpted lead characters.
Since we are dealing with Bakshi, the seamy side of life is well represented. Graphic violence is shown on the battlefield, in gangland, and in turn-of-the-century Russia. Drug abuse is accurately displayed in several scenes. The connections Bakshi draws between showbiz and organized crime is often frightening; gansters haunt the first half of the movie, and drug dealers the second. Prostitutes, freaked-out hippies, and strippers are fairly common (sadly, virtually all the women in the film falls into this catergory). Bakshi refuses to romanticise rock music; by placing Hendrix and Dylan in the same continuum as Duke Ellington and the music hall, the director is attacking the baby boomer myth that rock n' roll was somehow more "important" than other pop music. All of Bakshi's leads care about pop music with equal passion. The pop music of their era is not only a soundtrack to their lives, it is a mirror into their fears and dreams.
American Pop features no science-fiction or fantasy elements and there are some who might argue that it might have just as well been a live-action picture. I disagree. A live-action version of American Pop would not only be extremely expensive due to the costs associated with period movies (it costs just as much to draw 1920s fashion as 1960s fashion; the same is not true for renting or creating costumes) but would require marquee value actors to guarantee an audience. The beauty of an animated film is that (despite the recent Disney tradition) the director is free to create characters with whatever look he desired, free of the stereotyping of the Hollywood star system. All that is required is good voice acting, and the voices in American Pop are very good indeed. Amazingly, given the breadth of the movie and the way that its characters reflect their eras, Bakshi rarely uses the "let's toss in some Hollywood celebrities and famous politicians" trick that Robert Zemekis overuses in Forrest Gump. Rather, Bakshi uses the more sophisticated technique of basing his characters around various prototypes; a lead singer of the 1960s recalls Janis Joplin and Grace Slick, a gangland wipeout is similar to the Valentine's Day massacre, etc.
The film's chief flaw, as in other Bakshi films, is the use of rotoscoping. Some scenes appear to be entirely traced from live-action footage, which is jarring compared to other scenes which are looser flowing. The inclusion of live-action newsreel footage is an intrusion in the first half of the picture. The story is so gripping that I am willing to overlook these problems.
American Pop makes one realise that an adult-oriented animated film need not contain science fiction, as do virtually all the anime imports to the USA. American Pop also reminds us that, with all due respect to The Simpsons and South Park, most American-produced adult animation is trapped in a comedy ghetto. Animated drama *is* possible! American Pop proved that. It remains for another director to take the bold risk of creating an adult-oriented animated film that is neither comedy nor sci-fi nor an ersatz Broadway musical.
 |
Other NonAnime Reviews Prince of Egypt Review* Quest for Camelot Review Sleeping Beauty Review * Space Jam Review Tex Avery Screwball Classics Review* |
Get your ownFree Home Page