Friz The Cat is unlike any other film ever made. What makes this movie an animated classic worthy of the National film registry, isn't what makes most movies classic. Friz isn't a movie; it's an experiment. An experiment that pushes the boundaries of what animation can be, An experiment with moments of subtle brilliance that rival Disney and Ghibli, mixed in with moments of your typical sleaze you would find in a Sexploitation film as this.
To appreciate this movie, you first need to understand the history of the film. Friz was the first independent and adult animated movie in the USA, at a time when animation was dead. Back in 1972, Disney was making flops; WB was making nothing notable and The only animation company thriving was Hannah Barbra, who made children's cartoons that give the stigma that cartoons are for children that damages the medium to this day.
Friz was a breath of fresh air for the animation community; No one had ever seen an animated film like it. Seeing an animated film that talks about sex, drugs, and the new age hippie mindset were was unheard of, and revolutionary. Making it one of the smash hits of 72, and to this day is the most successful independent animated movie ever made
Not only was Friz broke ground at the box office, but it also broke ground from an animation standpoint. The picture was made for only a million, an unheard of a small amount for an animated movie. Meaning the film would pioneer techniques, some wich that would never be used again. The movie pioneered the concept of tracing real environments for the characters to be in. This was done to make the film feel more real and urban. Adding to its realistic atmospheric feel in most of the film, there was no script! A lot of the dialogue was improvised(Wich was unheard of back then) or even more unique is recording average people's conversation on the street and put them in the movie. A practice haven't used since!
These revolutionary techniques may make the film unfocused, but it's a style of filmmaking that is commendable.
The problem with Friz is it's an exploitation film and an unfocused one at that. This makes many viewers be turned off or find it bad. Which is a shame there are moments of brilliance in the film. I think Friz is trying to be a satire on the Youth culture of the late 60s early 70s. For instances, Thier's a scene were three white animals
(two dog and a cat) are talking to a crow just to prove how un-racist they are saying things like"I'm taking an African studies class at my school,I had no idea how civilized you are." and" Did you know that the property values go up when a black family moves in?".
This is a blatant satire of the liberal mindset of the time; It shows the absurdity and racism of the new generation. Friz himself is a statire of a 20 years old he's liberal, sex and drug opposed,and only cares about himself. Throughout the film, Friz's flaws get him in trouble, in a sense where he tries to start an anti-capitalist protest. His naive young mind doesn't think of the consequences that may lead to it.
Friz's is biggest strength is its animation. Being made for only a million(which even for 1972 was unheard of), it looks amazing. You couldn't tell it was made for only for a million. And it being made for only a million it had a lot of experimentation.One of my favorite moments in the film is in this film, which is the Bo Diddly transition. A crow in is snapping his fingers to the tune "Bo Diddley" in the shadows of a black background, There is something in the distance zooming in, later it's to be a Getho, this transition symbolizes what gethos are. Lost pieces of land in the dark. Another is when Duke the crow is shot by the cops. Duke in the film is a hardcore pool player when he is shot to represent the moments till his death, it's 8-balls slowly bouncing into a hole,to the tune of a heartbeat.
Friz the Cat may seem like trash,but like John waters, or Russ Meyer there is more than meets the eye.
Submitted July 09, 2019 at 05:05AM by Somepersondw https://ift.tt/2JmxwhL