The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat

1974 American film

The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Robert Taylor
Screenplay by|

* Robert Taylor
* Fred Halliday
* Eric Monte

Based on| Fritz the Cat
by Robert Crumb
Produced by| Steve Krantz
Starring|

* Skip Hinnant
* Reva Rose
* Bob Holt
* Peter Leeds
* Louisa Moritz
* Eric Monte

Edited by| Marshall M. Borden
Music by| Tom Scott & The L.A. Express

Production
companies

* Steve Krantz Productions
* Cine Camera

Distributed by| American International Pictures

Release date

* June 26, 1974 (1974-06-26)

Running time

| 76 minutes[1]
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $1.5 million
Box office| $3 million[2]

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.

## Plot

[edit]

In the 1970s, Fritz has graduated college and is now married, on unemployment benefits, and has a son 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 the camel 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. The violent scene turns off the two crows who decide to come back another time.

In his second life, Fritz meets a drunken bum claiming to be God.

In his third life, Fritz is a soldier in 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 1930's (losing everything to excessive partying and drinking).

In his sixth life, Fritz tries to cash a welfare check with Morris, a jewish toad who owns a pawn shop. 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 crow 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, Henry Kissinger (who is represented a rat) has become the president and 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 Lucifer himself (who is represented as a purple cat with wings horns and a devil-like tail).

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, Fritz declares this life to be the worst and then leaves to make up for his irresponsibility as a father and husband.

## Cast

[edit]

Main

* Skip Hinnant as Fritz the Cat
* Reva Rose as Gabrielle
* Bob Holt as God / NASA Assistant / American Chairman / Additional Voices
* Peter Leeds as Juan / Additional Voices
* Louisa Moritz as Chita
* Eric Monte as Duke the Crow

1970s

* Robert Ridgely as The Devil / Additional Voices
* Fred Smoot
* Dick Whittington
* Luke Walker

Hitler

* Larry Moss
* Joan Gerber as Han's wife
* Jim Johnson
* Jay Lawrence
* Stanley Adams
* Pat Harrington Jr.
* Carole Androsky as Han's daughter
* Peter Hobbs as American General

Astronaut

* Lynn Roman as Reporter
* Ralph James as Golf Oil President

New Africa

* Eric Monte
* Glynn Turman
* Ron Knight
* Gloria Jones
* Renny Roker
* Peter Hobbs
* Buddy Arett
* John Hancock
* Chris Graham
* Felton Perry
* Anthony Mason
* Sarina C. Grant as The Roach

## Production

[edit]

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.

## Release

[edit]

The film was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, the first animated feature to be entered into competition.[6][7] Taylor was nominated for a Golden Palm.

The film later achieved a cult following.[8]

### Media

[edit]

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.[9]

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.

### Reception

[edit]

Time Out described the film as being "woefully inept".[10]

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,[11] 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."[12] Crumb did acknowledge the sequel in the documentary The Confessions of Robert Crumb (1987).[13]

## See also

[edit]

* Cartoon portal
* Animation portal
* United States portal
* Comedy portal

* List of American films of 1974

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (X)". British Board of Film Classification. June 6, 1974. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
2. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 300\. ISBN 9780835717762. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
3. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's Who in Animated Cartoons. Hal Leonard. p. 15. ISBN 1-55783-671-X.
4. ^ Ralph Bakshi (2006). Interview (The Fritz the Cat Collection DVD set, disc 3). Arrow Films.
5. ^ Harvey, Robert C (1996). The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 218.
6. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
7. ^ "'Fritz' 1st Animated Pic To Vie At Cannes". Daily Variety. April 16, 1974. p. 1.
8. ^ Choron, Sandra; Choron, Harry; Moore, Arden (2007). Planet Cat: A Cat-Alog – Sandra Choron, Harry Choron, Arden Moore – Google Boeken. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0618812592. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
9. ^ "Soundtracks: Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat, Tom Scott, 1974". Blaxploitation.com. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
10. ^ Skinn, Dez (2004). Comix: The Underground Revolution. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 85\. ISBN 1-56025-572-2.
11. ^ Haramis, Nick (March 16, 2008). "Ralph Bakshi on the 'Fritz'". BlackBook. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
12. ^ Heater, Brian (July 7, 2008). "Interview: Ralph Bakshi Pt. 3". The Daily Cross Hatch. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
13. ^ Confessions of Robert Crumb - Clip 3 of 3

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat.

* The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat at IMDb
* The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat at the TCM Movie Database

* v
* t
* e

Fritz the Cat by Robert Crumb

Films|

* Fritz the Cat
* The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat

Soundtrack|

* Fritz the Cat

* v
* t
* e

Robert Crumb

Comix|

| Characters|

* Angelfood McSpade
* Fritz the Cat
* Mr. Natural
* The Snoid

|

Series|

* Zap (1968–2014)
* Weirdo (1981–1993)

Books|

* The Complete Crumb Comics (1987–2005)
* Introducing Kafka (1993)
* The Book of Genesis (2009)

Other|

* Yarrowstalks (1967–1975)
* Keep On Truckin' (1968)
* Best Buy Comics (1979)
* "A Short History of America" (1979)
* "Point the Finger" (1989)

Music|

| Bands|

* R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
* Eden and John's East River String Band

|

Album covers|

* Cheap Thrills (1968)
* The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead (1995)
* The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (2006)

Films|

* Fritz the Cat (1972)
* The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974)
* Crumb (1995)
* American Splendor (2003)

Crumb family|

* Aline Kominsky-Crumb (wife)
* Sophie Crumb (daughter)
* Maxon Crumb (brother)

* v
* t
* e

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical animated feature films

MGM Cartoons
MGM Animation/Visual Arts
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation|

* Anchors Aweigh (1945)TE
* Ziegfeld Follies (1946)TE
* Holiday In Mexico (1946)TE
* Dangerous When Wet (1953)TE
* Invitation to the Dance (1956)TE
* The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)TE
* All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996)

Co-productions/
Ownership/
Distribution only|

* Magic Boy (1961)TE
* Yellow Submarine (1968)
* Fritz the Cat (1972)
* Heavy Traffic (1973)
* The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974)
* The Water Babies (1978)
* The Secret of NIMH (1982)
* Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982)
* The Plague Dogs (1982)
* Rock & Rule (1983)
* The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)
* The Care Bears Movie (1985)
* Heathcliff: The Movie (1986)
* The Adventures of the American Rabbit (1986)
* GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)WB
* All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
* Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
* The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
* The Pink Panther (2006)
* Arthur and the Minimoys (2007)LG
* Igor (2008)
* The Pink Panther 2 (2009)
* Sherlock Gnomes (2018)P
* The Addams Family (2019)
* The Addams Family 2 (2021)
* Look Back (2024)

Franchises|

* Fritz the Cat (1972–1974)
* All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989–1996)
* The Pink Panther (since 2006)
* The Addams Family (2019–2021)

Related lists|

* List of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio films
* List of one-shot Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated shorts
* Tom and Jerry filmography
* List of The Pink Panther cartoons

See also|

* Associated Artists Productions
* DePatie–Freleng Enterprises
* Hanna-Barbera
* Warner Bros. Animation
* Turner Entertainment Co.
* Iwerks Studio

* TE Owned by Turner Entertainment Co.
* WB Co-owned with Warner Bros. Pictures
* LG Owned by Lionsgate
* P Co-owned with Paramount Pictures

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template