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Ted C. Bemiller

Fritz the Cat
The film poster shows a blonde, pale-orange female cat wearing boots and a blue-striped shirt with a suggestive look sitting next to a grey male cat wearing a red-striped shirt on a green couch, with drugs and matches scattered on the floor. The background is a dark blue with the film's tagline spelled in big white letters on the top and the film's title on the bottom.
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed by Ralph Bakshi
Produced by Steve Krantz
Screenplay by Ralph Bakshi
Based on Fritz the Cat
by Robert Crumb
Starring
Music by
Cinematography
  • Ted Bemiller
  • Gene Borghi
Edited by Renn Reynolds
Production
company
Distributed by Cinemation Industries
Release date
  • April 12, 1972 (1972-04-12)
Running time
 80 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $850,000
Box office $90 million

Fritz the Cat is a 1972 American adult animated comedy film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. It was Bakshi's feature film debut and is loosely based on the Fritz the Cat comic strips by Robert Crumb. It was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States.

The film stars Fritz (voiced by Skip Hinnant), an anthropomorphic cat in mid-1960s New York City who explores the ideals of hedonism and sociopolitical consciousness. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left- and right-wing politics.

The film had a troubled production history and controversial release. Crumb had disagreements with the filmmakers over the film's political content.Fritz the Cat was controversial for its rating and content, which many viewers at the time found to be offensive. It was produced on a budget of $850,000 and grossed over $90 million worldwide. Its success led to a slew of other X-rated animated films and a sequel, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974), made without Crumb's or Bakshi's involvement.

In a New York City park, hippies have gathered with guitars to sing protest songs. Fritz and his buddies show up in an attempt to meet girls. When a trio of attractive females walk by, Fritz and his friends exhaust themselves trying to get their attention, but find that the girls are more interested in the crow standing a few feet away. The girls attempt to flirt with the crow, making unintentionally condescending remarks about blacks, while Fritz looks on in annoyance. Suddenly, the crow rebukes the girls with a snide remark and walks away. Fritz invites the girls to "seek the truth", bringing them up to his friend's apartment, where a wild party is taking place. Since the other rooms are crowded, Fritz drags the girls into the bathroom and the four of them have group sex in the bathtub. Meanwhile, the police (portrayed as pigs) arrive to raid the party. As the two officers walk up the stairs, one of the party-goers finds Fritz and the girls in the bath tub. Several others jump in, pushing Fritz to the side where he takes solace in marijuana. The two officers break into the apartment, but find that it is empty because everyone has moved into the bathroom. Fritz takes refuge in the toilet when one of the pigs enters the bathroom and begins to beat up the partygoers. As the pig becomes exhausted, a very stoned Fritz jumps out, grabs the pig's gun, and shoots the toilet, causing the water main to break and flooding everybody out of the apartment. The pigs chase Fritz down the street into a synagogue. Fritz manages to escape when the congregation gets up to celebrate the United States' decision to send more weapons into Israel.


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