Fritz The Cat

Directed by Ralph Bakshi, 'Fritz The Cat' is an animated comedy film released in America in 1972. It is originally based on a comic strip of the same name by Bakshi. Of course the natural progression for an illustrated comic when being adapted into a feature film is to turn it into an animation.

The film contains scenes of an overtly sexual nature, as well as drug use, swearing, racist stereotyping, and violent actions by its characters. It was the first animated film ever to receive an X rating by the MPAA in the United States, yet still went on to become a success in the box-office. The film creates a conflict for the viewer: on one hand we are coded to read animations (especially hand drawn traditional animations) as being for an audience of children, and so we anticipate that they will be inoffensive in nature. Whereas 'Fritz' makes us question our preconceptions of what animations are supposed to be by presenting us with an adult theme and very child-inappropriate content.

The characters are all anthropomorphic animals. Fritz, the protagonist, is a silver tabby cat. Most characters' animal personas are reflective of their personality. Police are represented as pigs, as an in-joke aside to the audience. The film presents POC characters as black crows, something before seen in traditional Disney animations. Although typically viewed as a racist stereotype, 'Fritz' purposefully uses the depiction in a self-conscious way, aiming to explore the issue of representation. In one bar scene in particular, Fritz and a black crow discuss the differences between their two social groups through the context of species.

The characters' exaggerated movement and facial expressions are made possible through the medium of animation - something which would be too difficult to accomplish in a live action equivalent. However the actual detail of their figures is very lacking in comparison to other animations of the time, with minimal facial features or texturing of their bodies. Shadowing on the characters is restricted to line shading, and very sparingly at that.
The backgrounds are a stretch away from those seen previously in 'Akira' and 'The King and the Bird.' They are simplistically hand-drawn. The aim is to look very unpolished and rushed, as if only completed as an afterthought to the main action. The colouring is all blocked painting, often straying outside the squiggled outlines of the scenery. It is clear the purpose of the background artists was to give only an impression of the locations, and for it not to be a primary feature of the film.