Customer Reviews

American Pop [VHS]

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As an artist and animation buff, I must say this film is a work of art. I'm not a big Bakshi fan either, I simply can't ignore the truth. There are definitely things about his style that annoy me, like his attraction to larger women, so much that they are practically all he uses. His, ugly yet honest style and his grim though realistic view of society. Honestly, what makes this film look so good is the rotoscoping. Now, I'm not saying every animation studio should take it up, but since most non-Disney animated films are so badly animated maybe it would be for the best. Anyway, the dialogue is great, though some of the protagonists could have been a lot more likable. I'm not saying that storywise this film is pleasant to watch, it's a pretty sad story, and even the victorius ending doesn't alter that. But speaking as someone who has seen tons and tons of animated films, this movie is so beautifully done that you can't take your eyes away from it no matter how depressing and sometimes annoying the story might get. Now I noticed one reviewer calling this film a failure because it was supposed to be a history of music and yet it had a few flaws here and there in its facts. This movie was in no way a failure as to what it set out to do. It was about perseverence, and destiny, and it's lesson about the evolution of music in America was beautifully executed. Don't believe those other reviewers. If you love beautiful animation, dialogue, and dramatic scenes, you'll appreciate this film. Don't buy it as a cartoon babysitter for your little kids though...

I watched American Pop for the first time after seeing a promo for it on the Anniversary Edition DVD of Heavy Metal. I loved Heavy Metal so I figured why not try this one out since it seems to be of a similar genre. Boy was I glad I did...

Not only did I have no clue the movie was made in the early 80's wheh I watched it in 1999, but I was absolutely floored by the fluid animation that was produced by Bakshi's technique of Rotoscoping that was also used in Heavy Metal, Wizards, and Lord of the Rings...

The animation and story line were some of the best I have seen...in any movie!! I never watch many dvd's more than once but this one I have gotten through at least 5 times. It is an absolute masterpiece in animation and Bakshi's best work to date.

Rotoscoping animation is largely misunderstood and doesn't get enough credit. If more animation was done this way, adults would probably enjoy more non-Disneyesque type features geared towards older audiences.

Don't miss this flick if you are a fan of excellent animation...

I have seen so many rock magazines out there with its best rock movies list or reviews and for reasons I will never know,American Pop is rarely mentioned. Hello!!! Wake up critics! This is one of the best out there! It is the masterpiece from the artist who brought you The Lord of the rings and Fritz the cat. This is the story of 4 generations of young men trying to make it in the music industry. Taking place in New York during the early 1900's and ending in the late 1970's,each of the first 3 generations don't succeed for one reason or another with the last generation getting his big break giving this classic its happy ending. From the days of Vaudeville to the big band era to the summer of love to the punk era,this movie has it all. But to me,it is not just a rock n roll movie,it is a history book on dvd as well with such historic moments as the mobsters era,both world wars,the beatnik movement,and the drug problems of America,just to name a few. With music from legendary big band,jazz,and rock n roll legends,this dvd is for all age levels,though there might be a scene or two not recommended for the very young music lovers. This dvd may not be around long enough due to slow sales and lack of advertising so I recommend you buy this legendary and underrated animated rock dvd a.s.a.p.! Rock on!!!!!!!!

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 timeline, 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 underappreciated classic that's worth every minute.

This is a great accomplishment in animation and used to be a rare film to find in print. I'm glad to add it to my collection.

Even when viewed next to other Bakshi classics like "Wizards," "Lord Of The Rings," or even "Fritz The Cat," "American Pop" is arguably the master animator's crowning achievement. Pic is the remarkable tale of several generations of musicians beginning with escapees from the Russian Revolution, and culminating in the 80's with a punked-out, James Dean-esque street kid who becomes a drug lord, only to parlay that power position into his own bid for the success that had so narrowly eluded his forefathers. Bakshi imbues each generation with the unique flavor of its era without ever falling into the realm of cliche'. A must see!

I usually like animation, especially when it has an art house spin to it like Bashki's work does. I've never been able to convert hubby to it though, with only a few exceptions. This was the first animation that I ever screened for him that he enjoyed from beginning to end. In fact, he watched it twice. Since it came out (many years ago), the only animation he's liked as well is "Waking Life." Bashki does an incredible job of covering the rock world and its stars, although he never explicitly names anyone. The story flows effortlessly (it seems) and takes us for a kaleidescopic ride along the development of rock and roll set in the USA. The art and music are outstanding. Well worth buying since you will want to watch it more than once. It will appeal to a wide variety of ages too.

In the early 1900's a struggling Jewish family from Russia called the Blinkskies have fled to America in search of hope, the young boy named Zalmie becomes quite talented in comedy and singing as he becomes an overnight success. Years later he becomes a father with a beautiful wife that leads to generations of musicials that follow in his footsteps from the 40's to the early 80's.

A very underrated, powerful and quite mature animated movie from Ralph Bakshi that has became a cult favorite over the years. I love how this movie is a very melodramtic and entertaining look at the history of a family from the vaudville days to the rock and roll era of the 80's in a "Forrest Gump" kind of way. I always believed this is Ralph Bakshi's best movie besides "Heavy Traffic", "Wizards" and "Fire and Ice" or even his "Hey Good Lookin", but this one is perhaps the most mature and adult movie he's made as i'm not talking about sex and gory violence. This one does have language and mild bloody war violence but can be viewed by people 14 and up despite the "R" rating for those reasons, it's also a story with heart and a great soundtrack from the 1900's to late 70's. The animation done with rotoscoping is very good and well made with a quality storyline as it's one of my favorite animated movies ever since i was 16 in 1997.

This DVD contains crisp picture and sound with only one extra which is the trailer, a must see for animation and drama buffs.

Also recommended: "Grave of the Fireflies", "Heavy Metal", "Pink Floyd The Wall", "Rock and Rule", "An American Tail", "Walk The Line", "The Doors", "Forrest Gump", "Saving Private Ryan".

The work of Ralph Baskshi was at its peek when he created "American Pop". This story line of an American family and who music mixed with their turbulant lives made this film enjoyable to watch. No water down fact here. Although a cartoon, American Pops hold no bars in telling it straight of how war, crime, drugs and basically modern society all was involved with the popular music at that time.

This film is very close to being excellent, but in a lot of ways it's still very far away. No one will argue that Bakshi's work is not without its flaws, but I'm willing to concede a bit to Bakshi for essentially carrying the torch for animation through very difficult times. Really, during the late-70's and early-80's, animation in the US was at an extreme low point econcomically (Disney was a hair's breadth from bankruptcy, supposedly, at its worst point). Also, this is many years before films like "Akira" came to this country and proved that animation was viable as a filmmaking medium for adult audiences. Considering that animated feature films were considered an all-but-dead children's novelty, it's a wonder Bakshi was able to make any films at all, particularly that they were very seldom appealing to children's audiences. This is particularly true with "American Pop."

Visually, I'm really quite fond of this film. It looks to be entirely rotoscoped with cel animation, and has style and appeal to the look. That's probably one of the things I like most about it is that Bakshi tried to make the characters look cool, generally, without going too stylized (his characters in "Wizards" come to mind).

The story flows well, mostly, and could have been a lot drier in the parts that aren't in more current times. The scenes during World War Two are kind of well done in terms of well-written episodes of the film. After that, when the story approaches the sixties, the story approaches schmaltzy, such as an over-reverence for "beat" culture without any real critical examination, followed by a slightly better (but still somewhat uncritical) treatment of the sixties hippie culture (following a thinly-veiled version of Jefferson Airplane, it would seem, through tours and songwriting experiences). To me, the film shrugs off the more complicated areas of this period, such as drug use and living "on the streets," when exploring some of these things would have given the characters so much more motivation. By contrast, for example, much of the film "Easy Rider" explores the characters' motivations through realistic explorations of various episodes, without losing the "romance of the sixties."

After the scenes in the sixties, the film kind of dawdles until it ends, and towards the point where it was at best dabbling in punk (with possibly the worst Sex Pistols cover, which almost singlehandedly drains any amount of menace or credibility to punk as a movement in this film). Really, on further reflection, what it looks like Bakshi wanted most to make was a film about the sixties, and if he'd spent all of his time and writing on it I think it would have been so much better.

That, and twice in the film he has characters writing songs that are really popularly known Bob Dylan and Bob Seger songs, and bands in the film perform them as if they were "original." In the second case, they simply use Seger's studio recording of "Night Moves" and animate the band playing. Really, considering how often bands came in to cover popular tunes (such as the aforementioned Sex Pistols song) wouldn't it have been reasonably feasable to have original songs composed FOR the film? It would have made the film so much better in my mind, and it wouldn't really have been THAT difficult (I mean, they rotoscoped the whole thing, so difficult is way behind Bakshi is in this film).

This is easily the best Bakshi film I've seen, at least (honestly, I haven't seen that many), it looks good, sounds good in many parts, and given the obvious problems the film has, a decent and respectable work.