Voices of Ron Thompson, Lisa Jane Persky, Jeffrey Lippa, and Richard Singer
Directed by Ralph Bakshi
Music and Lyrics by various
Bakshi started out in the 50's making kids' cartoons for Terrytoons characters like Heckle and Jeckle and Mighty Mouse. By the late 60's, he was tired of doing children's programming and seeing animation derided as merely "kids' stuff." He made Fritz the Cat in 1972, the first X-rated, adult-oriented animated film based after the black comedy comic strip. That film lead to Bakshi doing a series of animated features for grown ups throughout the 70's and 80's, of which this is the only musical. How does Bakshi's ultra-hip, in-your-face rotoscoped style mesh with the history of music in America during the late 19th and 20th centuries? Let's begin in a small Russian Jewish village in 1897 as the Rabbi leads the children's prayers and find out...
The Story: Zalmie Belinsky (Lippa) and his mother flee Russia after Cossacks attack their village. They end up in New York, where Zalmie works for a burlesque house. After his mother dies in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes a singer there. His changing voice is already a problem when he's shot in the throat while performing during World War I. That ends his singing career, but not his involvement with burlesque. He meets his wife Annabella (Persky) there while appearing as a clown. He turns to gangster Nicky Palumbo (Ben Frommer) to finance the wedding after she gets pregnant.
They have a son, Benny, who tragically witnesses his mother's death when she opens a box with a bomb intended for his father. Despite his intention to go straight, his jazz piano career ends tragically when he dies in World War II. His son Tony (Thompson) is dissatisfied with living in his mother's house in Long Island. He steals his stepfather's car and runs away. He first lands in Kansas, where he falls for a waitress, but doesn't stay long. He eventually becomes the songwriter for a psychedelic rock band. They're a hit, but they break up after he and lead singer Frankie Hart (Mews Small) become addicted to heroin and she dies from an overdose.
Tony is eventually reduced to pushing drugs with his son from the waitress, Pete (Thompson). He finally abandons the boy back in New York City. Pete grows up selling drugs on the streets, but he wants more...and unlike his father, he has the talent to back up his ambition.
The Animation: All of Bakshi's movies in one way or another made heavy use of rotoscoping, aka tracing and animating real-life models. While this can sometimes be a little too creepy or uncanny valley, in this case, it mostly works. Some of the characters are already pretty creepy, like Tony and some of the gangsters during the 20's-30's segment. I love the use of color too, from the creamy whites and pastels of pre-World War II New York night clubs to the electric neons of a rock concert in 1981.
The Song and Dance: Wow. The only other Bakshi movies I've seen are the live action-animation hybrid Cool World from 1992 and part of his 1978 version of Lord of the Rings. I'm going to look up more of his films, if they're all as solid and involving as this. Special kudos to Thompson as the two most successful of Zelkinskys, Small as dynamic and troubled singer Frankie, and Jerry Holland as Louie, the burlesque theater owner who takes Zalmie in.
Favorite Number: Zalmie's introduction to burlesque is real-life variety stage headliner Eva Tanguay (Roz Kelly) shaking and shimmying to her signature number "I Don't Care" in a skimpy red costume. Zalmie prances as the back half of a horse to George M. Cohan's ultra-patriotic "Over There" during a performance for the troops in World War I. The old Gershwin number "Somebody Loves You" provides a montage of how Zalmie falls for Bella. Bella sings the ballad of longing "Bill" as Nick and Zalmie discuss her career. The swing favorite "Sing, Sing, Sing" gives us a montage of black dancers (including the Nicholas Brothers) juxtaposed against real-life footage of World War II battlefronts. Benny can't resist sitting down at a piano while running after the Nazis and playing "As Time Goes By." His "Lili Marleen" for a German soldier doesn't go over nearly as well.
The most famous musical numbers from this are probably from the late 60's rock sequence and the 80's finale. Frankie's "Summertime" from Big Brother and the Holding Company continues the Gershwin theme and shows off her vulnerability, while the Doors' "People are Strange" plays under the sequence where Tony takes LCD and has one of the most colorful acid trips ever represented on the big screen. Pete finally gets to turn Bob Seeger's "Night Moves" into a neon showstopper, complete with early animation and the only version of this song you'll ever hear with keyboard orchestration.
Trivia: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York was a real-life industrial disaster that lead to the deaths of 146 workers, mainly immigrant women. The tragedy lead to many factory reforms and the improvement of working conditions in sweatshops.
Eagle-eyed old movie fans will spot footage from The Public Enemy, Stormy Weather, and the war movie Hell Is for Heroes edited and rotoscoped into the film.
Ralph Bakshi is the voice of the piano player who encourages the pregnant Annabella to try a new song.
What I Don't Like: The story looks and sounds great, but that doesn't stop it from being pure melodrama. The cliches run hard and heavy here, though the grittiness and Bakshi's tough and realistic style does mask some of the campier theatrics and frequently unlikable characters. This is especially a problem in the second half. Tony is such a jerk from the get-go, you wish he'd get a clue and a life long before he dumps his son. Ironically, despite the focus on them, Tony is the only Zelinsky you get to know well. We do get to see a little of Zalmie, but Benny dies before they do much with him, and all we really see of Pete is him standing up to the band.
And remember, just because it's animated doesn't mean it's for kids. Swearing, drinking, some violence, smoking, and drug usage in the second half make this absolutely not for little ones.
The Big Finale: I genuinely loved this, but I also generally enjoy "through the years" stories. If you're also into stories of music history or Bakshi's ultra-realistic style, or want to see an animated musical for more mature audiences, you'll want to join the Zalinskys and their journey through pop culture history.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming.
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