Tales of the Rat Fink

'm a shameful Detroiter. I grew up on the outskirts of the Motor City sheltered from the automotive world by my mechanic stepfather. He was determined to keep me out of the garage and following in his greasy footsteps. Through luck (and hard work), I managed to find employment at a string of jobs that had little-to-nothing to do with the auto industry (a feat in Motown). And, even after several years of attending the Woodward Cruise, I couldn't tell a kit car from a custom. I'm an automotive idiot.

I confess to these sins in order to give my complete "outsider perspective" when it came to seeing this Canadian documentary on artistic motorhead Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. I might have more knowledge of Rene Descartes than the Rat Fink.

I can say without hesitation after seeing Ron Mann's film that I now possess a good understanding not only of Roth and his accomplishments but also his impact on popular culture. Little did I know that my beloved "wacky packages" stemmed from such auspicious beginnings. Roth managed to warp the minds of millions via his custom cars, t-shirts, artwork, and glue used to piece together his series of model cars.

Narrated by John Goodman as Roth (who passed during production) and sporting some nifty animation/photo manipulation, there are some weak moments in the film (the anthropomorphic talking cars) but overall TALES OF THE RAT FINK does a terrific job of avoiding staid talking head interviews while providing a comprehensive, organized portrait of a wonderfully multifaceted media pioneer.

What A Drag! This movie is 75 minutes of after effects animations set to surf music, nothing more. If you're really interested in learning something about Ed Roth read the book HOT RODS by "BIG DADDY" Ed Roth. The book contains all of the images used in the movie, and then some, as well as a plethora of information on his designs and techniques. This film would have made for a nice short subject. The animations are really cool, but there's just too much filler and not enough meat. In total there's probably four minutes of actual "footage" and most of this is stock footage. The rest of the film is made up of still images and animation. Read the book avoid the movie!

Well, some of the silliness of the animations was a bit over the top but I figure they didn't have enough real footage to fill out an entire movie.

It was imaginative, and to its credit, it was a primer on the tremendous impact of this forgotten artist.

Forgotten? Well, I forgot about him. Wow, my brother was really into hot rods and he had all the magazines and the CARtoon books and such and I read all of the latter and marveled at Big Daddy's creativity, even in my early teens. Everything came rushing back when I saw this movie.

Let's face it, the guy was far out, he was into his thing, and he really did provide an inspiration for the art/media/design/culture that was to come in just a few years.

Wow.

As a member of Rat Finks of America, I have a very high standard for all that is Fink, and Ron Mann's "Tales of a Rat Fink" did not disappoint. This jacked-up semi-animated documentary of the hotrod culture's greatest patriarch, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth is a film that entertains and teaches us how and why we are obsessed with customizing cars. Roth was an enigmatic soul, a freethinker and rule breaker, and Mann has captured his essence with original film making and stylized story telling. Though he was an iconoclast, Roth wanted his work to appeal to all audiences--kids and adults, and this film follows in that image. There is so much detail and substance here, yet the film speeds by and changes lanes as necessary without refueling. It was a joy to watch and will serve generations to come. Long live Rat Fink!!

This documentary is greatness. All of those who wonder where the present day hot rod culture is from need to see this film. Those of you who need to pay homage to the rodder Gods need to watch this film. Those of you who need to learn that hot rod culture is not a fashion statement need to watch this film. Thank you for letting all the punks who think that street racing is a right know that your little world isn't crap without people like American auto makers and Ed Roth. Thank you to good people like John Goodman, Jay Leno and most of all, the hard working artists and Ilene Roth who work their tails off every day to keep Big Daddy's work alive. If you think REAL Hot Rodding is dead, just take a ride up to Manti Utah and go to the Rat Fink reunion, or go to the Blackhawk Museum in California. You'll see that ALL car culture is because of people like Ed. LONG LIVE BIG DADDY!!!