User reviews

I love the animation style used in this movie. The interlacing of real footage and photos from earlier times brings a level of realism not seen in many animated films. The characters move realistically as well; minute body language is portrayed well. Voice overs are great. Of course it's not "Disney quality", but it's got a grittiness to it that truly makes it original.

Now I can see how one could criticize this movie. Basically, it all depends on how you watch it. If you watch it as a drama, you'll be disappointed. The plot is very centered around the one tragic late hippieish character, and is pretty simple and predictable. But there's a certain amount of charm within the overall story, kind of a sad, but beautiful shine.

If you watch it more as a musical, the movie works fine. The songs chosen are fantastic, and they totally underline the feel of the scenes in which they are used. In one of the first scenes, taking place in Czar-era Russia, there is no dialogue, only subtitles (giving it a great historical feel). The soundtrack is a sad and stirring Russian song sung acappella. You really get a sense of what the characters were going through.

This style continues throughout the movie. One of the most emotional scenes, for me, takes place in a cornfield, with the character torn apart with what he's done with his life. Janis Joplin's version of "Summertime" (an interesting choice, perhaps a hint of a throwback to earlier eras, as it is a Gershwin tune) as haunting as ever plays as the character cries. Messed up. But well done.

Jimi Hendrix has a cameo. A pseudo-Joplin/Slick character has a major role. A Sex Pistols parody jams it out. Late 70s corporate goons are running the studio. Great fun.

And that's how you have to enjoy the movie; and that's probably why music geeks will love it more than anyone else.

If nothing else, Ralph Bakshi is an innovator. He has been ever since he did the first X-rated cartoon, FRITZ THE CAT.

He's also been uneven in his work. He either does great things, like FRITZ, or he produces forgettable, total bombs like COOL WORLD.

Just the same tho, I've very much enjoyed his stuff over the years. My personal favorites are HEY GOOD LOOKIN' and AMERICAN POP.

AMERICAN POP is a daring concept; a feature length, multigenerational saga that tells the story of an immigrant family's American adventure.

When it works (and that's MOST of the time), it works WELL. Bakshi did his historical homework on this one, as well as the musical homework required in telling the story of a family of entertainers.

His characters achieve the goal that EVERY cartoonist tries for; on some level, we find ourselves identifying with those characters, and CARING about them... ALL of them, from the turn of the century song plugger on the streets of New York City, to the Heavy Metal rocker who finally achieves the American Dream.

In some places tho, Bakshi's attempts at innovation have a rather bizzare effect, and sometimes just plain DON'T WORK with his audiences, even for those who LOVE his work.

I'm thinking specifically of the somewhat startling attempt to use cartoon characters in a sexual situation. Somehow, the sight of a cartoon character opening his pants to expose jockey shorts prior to making love with ANOTHER cartoon character is jarring and unsettling in the extreme. It's not a matter of prudishness... it's just that the idea of realistically drawn cartoon characters having sex is a bit of a leap of imagination that many can't easily negotiate.

Another place that it doesn't quite work is during the sequence during the Vietnam years.

We've ALL seen the horrible news film clip of the police chief of Saigon personally executing a prisoner, shooting him in the head with his snub nosed revolver. Bakshi produced a very short cartoon version of that clip for the film. It's intention in the montage is clear and powerful, but somehow the idea of cartooning this horrendous act is even more deeply disturbing to the viewer than the ORIGINAL film was. It might have been MORE acceptable if Bakshi had used a Rotoscoped version of it that was LESS cartoonlike, as he did with other file footage used in the movie.

Just the same... overall, Bakshi's bold experimental film WORKS, and works well.

AMERICAN POP, despite it's faults, is a breakthru for the art of animation. It's a successfully mounted drama, done in animation. Disney came close sometimes, but Bakshi boldly went where Disney didn't dare to.

For anyone who loves animation, and anyone who loves music... AMERICAN POP gets MY vote.

What a genuinely interesting and touching film. The rotoscoped animation may not be everyone's cup of tea but it works just fine here. I honestly think it's use was a big plus as it gives this human story a human, life like quality.

If this was done today it would be slopping over with re-do tunes by current pop nobodies to jam onto a "music from and inspired by" CD not to mention it would be poorly cast with Hollywood no talents.

The casting here doesn't leave you straining to identify celebs, it just has good actors portraying good characters. You focus on the story of the family, which after all is the point.

Underrated and very much worth your time.

Beginning in 1890s Russia, the film follows four generations of a family of Russian-Jewish musicians from the burlesque days of the turn of the century to big band, swing, jazz, and rock that defines the subsequent decades. The family goes through both personal hardships both historical and smaller scale and are linked through the ages by music.

A much more personal film for director Ralph Bakshi following the tumultuous production of The Lord of the Rings. The film is a musical odyssey through history, music, and family and is one of the best attempts to incorporate contemporary music with animation bar none. From Cole Porter to Jimi Hendrix, the movie hits all the high points of American music and serves as an engaging time capsule where we experience not only the music, but the societies and social fabric that gave birth to such timeless tunes. Each segment of American Pop could almost serve as a movie in and of itself with richly nuanced characters who despite their short screen time leave lasting impressions that resonate and leave us celebrating their triumphs and reeling from their tragedies. If I were to levy criticisms at the film, there'd be two that stick out.

The segments dealing with Tony Belinsky (the third generation of the Belinsky family) where we see him go from the dying culture of the 50s, to 60s counter culture, and 70s cynicism have strong elements, but it's the longest segment of the movie and the scenes where we see him descend into drug usage I found overly repetitive. Tony also felt rather disconnected from the theme of legacy for much of the running time of his segment, and it doesn't link back until the very tail end of his segment. As a result of how long the Tony segment runs, Pete (the fourth generation) is the shortest (most likely since his scenes take place reasonably close to present day of the movie's release) and he doesn't get to make as much of an impression as the other segments. The fact that Pete's segment ends so close to the present creates a problem narrative wise wherein the film doesn't really so much "end" as it does come to a stop(albeit a very visually and auditorily impressive one). The film lacks much in the way of closure to its narrative and I suppose you could argue that's intentional as Pete still has history left to live and where he goes from there can probably be left to interpretation to the viewer, but I personally felt it made it feel disconnected from the multi-generational narrative established.

American Pop is a near masterful mixture of animation, music and drama that came out at the right place and time with the right people shepherding it. Bakshi's trademark cynicism and vulgarity is dialed back from his films like Heavy Traffic and Fritz the Cat (albeit still dealing with very adult subject matter) and makes a film that's more celebratory of society rather than his usual drive to tear it down. There's a real sense of love and understanding for not just the characters, but also the music and history that defines them both good and bad. It stumbles in its third act and doesn't give much of a sense of closure to its story, but it's a true epic that creates a perfect marriage of audio and visuals that few other films have had the privilege of providing.

American Pop, quite obviously, is far from perfect. The reviewers here and elsewhere have taken a lot of time arguing that point, what inaccuracies there were in the time-line, the shallowness of some of the characters, which musical movements have been misrepresented and which have been completely neglected. But the fact of the matter is, Bakshi did an amazing job on this project, in the aspects of both the animation and the film's historical scope. What he actually did here, is tell the history of American popular music from the beginning of the century (Vaudeville) to the late 1970's (Punk) in 97 minutes, through the story of four generations in one family. Naturally, it doesn't cover every musical style existing in this period, and there are bound to be those who are insulted, but essentially American Pop covers all the important ground and he shows true sensitivity and understanding of the subject.

Bakshi, who started his career as a strictly commercial animator throughout the 1960's, spent his rather brief highly creative period - from the mid-70's to the early 80's - continually trying to prove that the Disney way - though he obviously held it in great esteem - was far from being the only way of making animation, and like Wizards, Fritz The Cat and Lord of the Rings among others (the latter two, by the way, are mediocre movies that do little justice to their source material but are fascinating artistically) in American Pop he did things never seen in animation before. These works came years before the work of independent animators like Jan Svankmajer became known in the US, and a long time before the existence and huge success of independent, artistic, commercial animators like Nick Park and Bill Plympton, and Bakshi's films, while they were firmly grounded in his commercial roots, they were also amazingly original and years ahead of their time. The differences in atmosphere and feel in the different periods of time shown in the film - from the 1920's through the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's - are fascinating and very creative and the characters, though drawn rather simplistically, have enormous personality and emotional strength, an you are drawn into the film and moved like only few animated films can move.

Like his other works, American Pop never had a hope of achieving commercial success, but today it functions both as a fantastic film and a fascinating historic artifact. It's essential, of course, for fans of Ralph Bakshi's, but is also well recommended to anyone interested in animation, be it commercial or artistic, and in animation history, as well as anyone interested in the history of pop music in the broadest sense. American Pop may be simplistic at times, but it's never dumbed down, and great care and thought was put into every word, every movement, every facial expression and mostly every musical note. A wonderful and under-appreciated classic that's worth every minute.

This is honestly my favorite animated film. Hard to believe it came out in 1981. The animation is visually stunning and ahead of its time! The music is amazing, overall, it's a 10/10 in my book, I was invested throughout!

So, if you like animation and music, definitely worth a watch! Hopefully a Blu-Ray release comes soon!

This a kind of a story that could only be done through an animated style. If it were live action it'd look like a mess as it drifts through the history of these characters, one generation after another. It's bold and vibrant colors creates a vivid effect. Director Ralph Bakshi doesn't shy away from the harsher aspects and death is frequently a motivating factor for the story and the characters, from World War II Germany to the Triangle building fire. I cannot hear the Janis Joplin version of Summertime and not think of one particular moment. I wish there were more films like this. This is animation for adults and didn't need to rely on gratuitous sex or nudity to hold the viewer's attention. We are thrown into the life of these characters for a brief period of time, but it's enough to create a compelling narrative, each frustrated by their inability to realize their own dream in the music industry. The drram is passed on to the next generation. This is another film that needs to find a home at the Criterion Collection and given a blu-ray release and get Bakshi involved while he's still alive.

This story could not have been told in a live-action format. The animation (or rotoscope style) enhances every aspect of the story and characters that live-action would just fail to achieve. There are many films I wish I could have seen in a proper cinema, American Pop is among them. It has the epic quality of The Godfather part 2, but set amongst a family whose male lineage is thwarted by one circumstance or another from realising their dream of success in the music industry. We are given just enough time with each character where we know them and are engaged in their respective stories before moving on to the next generation. Real and fictional characters blend at various points in American history. Some of the characters are more likable than others but they are always interesting. There is one sequence that, no matter how many times I have watched it still makes me tear up, is inspired by Janis Joplin and is set to her rendition of Summertime. This is "adult animation" at it's best. Ralph Bakshi took a form that was designed and targeted towards children and turned it into something more. Just writing about it makes me want to see the film again. There are too few of these films.