| The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat | |
| Director: | Robert Taylor |
| Producer: | Steve Krantz |
| Based On: | Fritz the Cat by Robert Crumb |
| Music: | Tom Scott & The L.A. Express |
| Editing: | Marshall M. Borden |
| Distributor: | American International Pictures |
| Runtime: | 76 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $3 million[2] |
| Budget: | $1.5 million |
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat is a 1974 American adult animated anthology black comedy film directed by Robert Taylor as a sequel to Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat (1972), adapted from the comic strip by Robert Crumb, neither of whom had any involvement in the making of the film. The only two people involved in the first film to work on the sequel were voice actor Skip Hinnant, and producer Steve Krantz. The film's music score was composed by jazz musician Tom Scott, and performed by Scott and his band The L.A. Express.
Like the first film, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat focuses on Fritz (voiced by Hinnant), a fraudulent womanizer and leftist, who is shown in this film to have married an ill-tempered woman named Gabrielle, with whom he shares an apartment room with their infant son. Unlike the first film, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat adopts a non-linear narrative and is presented as an anthology of loosely connected short stories, connected as cannabis-induced fantasies which occur as she berates Fritz. The stories depict him as a Nazi stormtrooper, a rich playboy, an astronaut heading to Mars, and in an alternate reality in which New Jersey has seceded from the United States as an entirely African American state, China and Russia. Except for the wraparound segment, none of the film's storylines are based on Robert Crumb's comics, and he was not credited on this film.
The film was written by Taylor, in collaboration with Fred Halliday and Eric Monte. The voice cast also featured Bob Holt, Peter Leeds, Louisa Moritz, Robert Ridgely, Joan Gerber, Jay Lawrence, Stanley Adams, Pat Harrington Jr., Peter Hobbs, Ralph James, Eric Monte, Glynn Turman, Gloria Jones, Renny Roker, John Hancock, Chris Graham and Felton Perry.
In contrast to the first film receiving an X rating, the sequel got an R rating, being the first American animated film to do so, and cementing the Fritz films as the holders of the first animated films to receive both ratings.
In the 1970s, Fritz the Cat is now married, on unemployment benefits, and has a baby named Ralphie, who often masturbates. As his wife Gabrielle berates him for his irresponsibility, Fritz smokes cannabis and imagines himself in different lives.
In the first life he meets his Puerto Rican friend Juan and they discuss Juan's sister Chita. At Juan's house, Chita complains about the odor of Fritz's cannabis, but is persuaded into smoking it. The drug sends Chita into arousal and the pair have sex. Meanwhile, a pair of crows intending to rob the house change their minds and watch the pair. The sex is interrupted by the arrival of Chita's father, who shoots Fritz dead.
In his second life, Fritz meets a drunken bum claiming to be God. In his third life, Fritz is a soldier in World War II-era Nazi Germany. After being caught having a ménage à trois with a commanding officer's wife and daughter, Fritz escapes and winds up being an orderly to Adolf Hitler. Fritz takes the form of a therapist, and analyzes Hitler, telling him that his world domination plans were just a way of trying to get attention. In the showers, Hitler "accidentally" drops his soap, and urges Fritz to pick it up, in an attempt to rape him, and ends up getting his single testicle blown off. Fritz is killed by an American tanker.
In his fourth life, Fritz attempts to sell a used condom to a liquor store owner, Niki. As the pair chat, Niki learns that his wife caught gonorrhoea from Fritz, angering him. Leaving the store, Fritz tells a passerby that he was an irresistible stud in the 1930s. Fritz's fifth life is a psychedelic montage of old stock film and animation, vaguely illustrating Fritz's downfall in the 1930s (losing everything to excessive partying and drinking).
In his sixth life, Fritz tries to cash a welfare check with pawn shop owner Morris. Fritz offers Morris a deal: If Morris cashes Fritz's welfare check, then Fritz will give Morris a toilet seat. Morris initially refuses, but a sudden onset of diarrhea from the pickles he had been eating pushes him to accept the deal. Instead of cashing Fritz's welfare check, he gives Fritz a space helmet. Fritz envisions himself as a NASA astronaut in his seventh life, and prepares for the first mission to Mars. During an interview with journalists, Fritz invites a raven reporter into the Space Shuttle to have sex. The shuttle takes off earlier than planned, and it explodes in space.
In Fritz's eighth life, he sees the ghost of his dead friend Duke. In the future, President Henry Kissinger grants independence to New Jersey, which is renamed "New Africa". Fritz works as a courier and must deliver a letter to the president of New Africa. In New Africa's "Black House", the vice president assassinates the president and frames Fritz for the deed. A war breaks out between America and New Africa, Kissinger declares an unconditional surrender, and Fritz is executed.
In his final life, Fritz finds himself living in the sewers of New York, where he meets an Indian guru and the devil. However, Gabrielle snaps Fritz out from his drug-induced reality, who finally throws him out of the apartment room to get him to improve their family for her. After a quick look at all of his lives and realizing what he has done, Fritz declares this life to be the worst, then leaves to make up for his irresponsibility as a father and husband.
The only two people involved in the first film to work on the sequel were Skip Hinnant, who reprises his role as the eponymous protagonist, and producer Steve Krantz. Ralph Bakshi had written and directed Fritz the Cat in 1972, but did not want to direct a sequel, and had absolutely no involvement with the film. However, Bakshi sometimes incorrectly has been credited as having worked on the film, such as in Jeff Lenburg's Who's Who in Animated Cartoons, which claims that Bakshi had been a producer on the film.[3] The concept of a sequel to Fritz the Cat was a point of contention between Bakshi and Krantz, as Bakshi wanted to end his film with Fritz's death, and Krantz wanted Fritz to live at the end, to leave room for sequels.[4]
For the sequel, Krantz hired animator Robert Taylor to direct. Taylor had worked on The Mighty Heroes, a superhero spoof Bakshi created in the 1960s. Stylistically, Taylor attempted to recreate only some of the elements and themes of the original film. The setting of the film's period is similar to that of the first film, with the speaker addressing the audience with "jump back, baby." However, unlike the first film, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat was made during the era in which it was set. Because the filmmakers only had three years of history to work with, much of the film diverges into various storytelling directions, including sections focusing on the 1930s, Nazi Germany, and an alternate future. The film's ending credits play over animation of Fritz dancing down the street in tune with Tom Scott's music.
Taylor cowrote the film's screenplay with Fred Halliday and Eric Monte. Steve Krantz would later produce Monte's screenplay Cooley High, which was developed into the television sitcom What's Happening!! The film's title has been seen as ironic, as the character's creator Robert Crumb had previously drawn a story in which the character was killed.[5] Crumb's comics were not generally used as the basis for the screenplay, except for the wraparound segment, and Crumb was not credited on this film, unlike the first film.
The music for this film was performed by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express.
The film was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival[6] and Taylor was nominated for a Golden Palm.
The film later achieved a cult following.[7]
A full soundtrack album was planned for official release, but the album never came out because of the film's failure. However, a 45 RPM single featuring two songs from the film, "Jump Back," and "TCB in E" was released in 1974.[8]
Both Fritz the Cat films are available on DVD through MGM Home Entertainment in the U.S., and Arrow Films in the UK as part of a DVD box set titled The Fritz the Cat Collection.
Time Out described the film as being "woefully inept".[9]
Ralph Bakshi later contrasted Taylor's efforts to how his film might have turned out if prospective distributor Warner Bros. had been allowed to tone down the content of the film,[10] and states that Robert Crumb does not acknowledge The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat because "He would have to say, 'Well, Ralph did do a better picture than Nine Lives.' So to Robert Crumb, there is no Nine Lives. It doesn't exist."[11] Crumb did acknowledge the sequel in the documentary The Confessions of Robert Crumb (1987).[12]