American Pop

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The rise and growth of American popular music through the 20th century is reflected in the lives of four generations of one family in this animated drama directed by Ralph Bakshi. Zalmie (voice of Jeffrey Lippa), a Russian Jew, emigrates to America, and tries to struggle along as a comic and musician in vaudeville, until an injury suffered in World War I ends his singing career. Zalmie's son Benny (voice of Richard Singer) inherits his father's love for music, and when he grows to adulthood, he joins a jazz combo as a pianist; his career is cut short, however, when he's killed while fighting in World War II. Benny's son Tony (voice of Ron Thompson) is also bitten by the music bug and is determined to make his mark as a songwriter; he becomes involved in the Beat poetry and music community in San Francisco, and later falls in with a pioneering psychedelic band. Along the way, Tony fathers an illegitimate son named Pete (voice of Eric Taslitz), and ends up becoming Pete's guardian in New York City without realizing he's the boy's father. After Tony's death, Pete supports himself by dealing drugs, while struggling to make his dream of becoming a rock star a reality. Ralph Bakshi achieved American Pop's unique look through a process called "rotoscoping" -- shooting the scenes with live actors, and then tracing their movements onto animation cells. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard), 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Surround
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Pan and Scan
• Subtitle: French, English, Spanish
• Features:
  • • Interactive menus
    • Languages: English, Spanish
    • Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
    • Theatrical trailer
    • Scene selections
    • Widescreen and full-screen formats

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Ralph Bakshi

• Producer:

  Ralph Bakshi, Martin Ransohoff

• Screenwriter:

  Ralph Bakshi, Ronni Kern

• Cinematographer:

  R&B Efx

• Composer (Music Score):

  Lee Holdridge

• Editor:

  David Ramirez

• Executive Producer:

  Richard St. Johns

REVIEW:

• American Pop is an ambitious and groundbreaking work of storytelling that also just happens to be animated. For years, love-him-or-hate-him director Ralph Bakshi pushed the envelope of animation as far as he could, which more often than not, resulted in some rather racy material (Streetfight, Fritz the Cat). Then came American Pop, which in 1981 ushered in not only a new style of animation for the masses (rotoscoping -- something Bakshi had played around with years before), but a soundtrack that covers almost 80 years of popular music, from Scott Joplin to Hendrix. It's a lofty goal, and even more so because of how utterly serious the sprawling story line is. This isn't loud and flashy like Heavy Metal, nor was the music as hip as Rock & Rule two years later. American Pop is a heavy drama that deliberately takes its time while trying to do justice to each character and their time period's music. That said, it tends to drag in some parts, focusing in on this or that person for too long -- but when the rock & roll revolution starts to take over, it knows when to turn it up and let the crazy visuals flow. The end, for instance, shouldn't work. Bakshi's been putting his audience through the emotional ringer for almost 90 minutes, but by the time Bob Seger starts blastin', you're there, fist in air, ready to preach the gospel. It's a great close to a daring animated film whose ambitions have to be respected, whether you enjoy it or not. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi