“American Pop” (star) (star) (star)
At a time when the most innovative animation is being developed for television, animated fare for the big screen remains mostly limited to Disney and studios trying to out-Disney Disney. This makes viewing Ralph Bakshi’s 1981 animated epic “American Pop,” now available on video and DVD, such a bracing experience. They just don’t make ’em like this anymore.
“American Pop” is an immigrant saga that spans four generations and charts the music that is the soundtrack to their mostly downbeat lives. While not as crude as Bakshi’s more notorious “Fritz the Cat” or “Heavy Traffic,” both of which earned an unprecedented X rating, it vivdly illustrates Bakshi’s grittier and more cynical sensibilities.
From a Russian pogrom to the birth of punk rock, this is no sentimental journey. It is worlds apart from the Steven Spielberg-produced “An American Tail,” in which a family of mice scurried after the American Dream.
“American Pop” has long been one of Columbia’s most requested titles. “It ranks right under `Heavy Metal’ in terms of demand,” said Columbia TriStar Executive Vice President Paul Culberg.
As with that cult favorite, also released in 1981, the soundtrack to “American Pop,” which features Dave Brubeck, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and Lou Reed, is as much a draw as the animation. It was the same old song and dance trying to secure the music rights that long delayed the film’s video release.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” enthused Bakshi in a phone interview. According to the animator, he advised Columbia in 1981 to secure ancillary music rights, but because home video was then in its infancy, the studio declined. Years later, it paid the price; seven figures, Culberg said.
Though ambitious and heartfelt (Bakshi’s parents were Russian immigrants), “American Pop” suffers from unsympathetic characters and ethnic stereotypes. But the animation — complemented by black-and-white documentary footage–can be exhilarating. Bakshi makes effective use of rotoscoping, a technique in which live-action footage is traced to convey more natural movement and a realistic tone.
“My whole career has been about pushing the envelope,” Bakshi said. “Disney has sold the myth that animation has to be perfect to be worth watching. I tell my animators that what is important is the heart of the scene.”
Bakshi shut down his animation studio in 1984 (His last film, released in 1992, was the ill-received “Cool World” starring Brad Pitt and an animated Kim Basinger). He has devoted himself to painting. In September, he will mount his first exhibition at New York’s Nardin Gallery. “Animation gave me the freedom to be an artist,” he said.
