American Pop (1981)

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writer:

Ronni Kern (written by)

Release Date:

13 February 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Music

Tagline:

All those years, all those dreams, all those sons... one of them is going to be a star.

Plot:

The story of four generations of a Russian Jewish family of musicians parallels the history of American popular music in the 20th century.

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Jewish | Russian | Pop | 1980s

Cast

Ron Thompson	...	Tony / Pete (voice)
Mews Small	...	Frankie (voice) (as Marya Small)
Jerry Holland	...	Louie (voice)
Lisa Jane Persky	...	Bella (voice)
Jeffrey Lippa	...	Zalmie (voice)
Roz Kelly	...	Eva Tanguay (voice)
Frank DeKova	...	Crisco (voice) (as Frank De Kova)
Richard Singer	...	Benny (voice)
Elsa Raven	...	Hannele (voice)
Ben Frommer	...	Palumbo (voice)
Amy Levitt	...	Nancy (voice)
Leonard Stone	...	Leo Stern (voice)
Eric Taslitz	...	Little Pete (voice)
Gene Borkan	...	Izzy (voice)
Richard Moll	...	Beat Poet (voice)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | Russian | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Singapore:PG | USA:R (No. 25799) | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Iceland:L | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA

Company:

Bakshi Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Ralph Bakshi]as the voice of the piano player who tells a pregnant Bella that her song "is going to be a big hit. I think you should try it out."

Quotes:

Zalmie: Hey, Louie. I just seen the most beautiful thing I ever seen in the whole world.
Louie: Some pre-Prohibition booze, huh?
Zalmie: No. I seen the stripper gettin' dressed.
Louie: A stripper gettin' dressed ain't beautiful unless she's ugly to begin with.

Movie Connections:

References Anna Christie (1930)

Soundtrack:

Bill

Good, but underviewed and misunderstood.

This film was one that I was reluctant to see at first when it came out on video in the mid 90's. I eventually saw it and it interested me in many ways. The concept of a newly American family transcending through the century by ways of musical pop culture is an innovative idea. The main fault in the film resides on the fact that the filmmaker had somewhat misguided judgements on what exactly pop music and history was in the era that he was depicting. Apart from that I found the dialogue not condescending and the actor's voiceovers quite convincing. The verbal exchange between the character of Tony and the blonde was one of the most authentically written love scenes I have ever encountered in a movie. It was interesting to see the tortured characters succumb to weaknesses and eventually prevail at the end, however unrealistic it may have been represented. Some viewers of this film complain of the chopping rotoscoping used in it, but I found it refreshing seeing through the film to it's eventual endeavor by use of the actor's faces along with their voices. The grittiness of the film was more enjoyable to me. It showcased a lot of underrated talents of actors whose careers never took off such as Jeffrey Lippa and Lisa Jane Persky, among many others. It is often sad how talented represented actors get pushed aside the a world of notoriety. The most identifiable to me was Ron Thompson in the voice of Tony and Pete. I wish that I had seen him in so many other films. His verbal performance was enough to convince me that he was accomplished otherwise as an actor. I think that this film could have been a bit better if it were less presumptuous of the musical mainstream that carried the story through, but eventually it was entertaining. Though this film was not well known and a bit misguided I recommend viewing it at least once.