âMusic is about the full range of the human condition – good, great, bad, sad. Thatâs the thing about a classic song – it can keep you going, even if youâre bleeding from the heart.â âRalph Bakshi
You know who Ralph Bakshi is, right? An animator who worked for Terrytoons as a teenager in the â50s, did the Spider-man cartoon in the â60s, then became sort of the godfather of adult animation in the U.S. by directing the X-rated FRITZ THE CAT. After a few years of that he switched up to be the animated fantasy guy with WIZARDS (1977), THE LORD OF THE RINGS (1978) and FIRE AND ICE (1983). The only movie Iâve reviewed by him is his last animated feature (heâs retired from animation now), 1992âs COOL WORLD, which I did as part of my âSummer Flingsâ series (âa survey of summer movies that just didnât catch onâ).
Now that I think about it I really should write about more of his movies some day, especially those urban ones from the â70s. But for now I had this whim that I want to look at the brief, strange trend of rock ân roll inspired animated features in the â80s. And that started in February, 1981 with the release of Bakshiâs unique, odd epic AMERICAN POP.
Howâs this for a highfalutin premise: itâs about four generations of an immigrant family and how the history of American popular music weaves through their lives. It starts in Imperial Russia in the 1890s, with intertitles like a silent film, and ends with a stadium rock concert in the â80s, animated in a flashy style more inspired by music videos of the time. After young Zalmie Belinskiâs rabbi father is killed by the Cossacks, he moves to New York City, where he hangs out backstage at a burlesque show, becomes the back half of a horse costume, then a clown, but wants to sing. The movie follows Zalmie and his descendants through World War I and II and Vietnam, through Vaudevillians, mobsters, beatniks, hippies, punks and, uh⌠Bob Seger. (read the rest of this shit…)
And BETTER OFF DEAD is an even odder one. It has a pretty normal premise (high school kid gets depressed when his girlfriend dumps him for the captain of the ski team, thinks he can get her back by defeating said captain in a ski race), but itâs filtered through the distinct humor of first time writer/director Savage Steve Holland. Though I donât personally hold it in nearly the same reverence, I think it has a little bit in common with 
According to 
DESERT HEAT aka COYOTE MOON or INFERNO
