Tonight at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, a Midnight Screening (one in an ongoing series) of “Fritz the Cat,” a 1972 film which has the distinction of being “the first x-rated animated feature.” The film features “Fritz” romping through NYC; the image above of Washington Square is from the movie. A description of the film from the Film Society site:
Adult animation pioneer Ralph Bakshi’s inspired adaptation of R. Crumb’s Help! magazine comic strip became the first X-rated animated feature as well as one of the most successful independent animated films of all time. Bakshi (Wizards, Lord of the Rings) follows the libidinous, pot-smoking feline on an amoral odyssey across New York City, as he indulges his primal urges, dodges the police and incites the occasional riot, aided and abetted by a heroin-addict rabbit and other assorted accomplices. Crumb was reportedly appalled by the end result, but 40 years later Fritz the Cat endures as a cheerfully profane, equal-opportunity send-up of the right and the left, fascist pigs and self-righteous revolutionaries, and just about everything in-between.
“A gloriously funny, brilliantly pointed and superbly executed entertainment, right on target—and its target is, at long-awaited last, the muddle-headed radical chicks and slicks of the sixties… Fritz the Cat is a ball for the open mind.” —Judith Crist, New York
Venue: Francesca Beale Theater (W. 65th between Broadway and Amsterdam).
Admission: $13 General Public, $9 Students & Seniors, $8 Members
Illustration: Ira Turek