American Pop (or An American Pop) is a 1981 American animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film tells the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music. The majority of the film's animation was completed through rotoscoping, a process in which live actors are filmed and the subsequent footage is used for animators to draw over. However, the film also uses a variety of other mixed media including water colors, computer graphics, live action shots, and archival footage.
Plot
The film begins in Russia during the late 1890s while under the rule of the Tsars. A rabbi's wife urges her husband, Jaacov, to flee from the Cossacks who are engaging in a pogrom. However, Jaacov refuses because he hasn't finished leading the communal prayer. Jaacov's wife and Zalmie escape to America, but Jaacov is killed by the Cossacks. Shortly after their arrival in New York City, Zalmie becomes fascinated with the music coming from a local burlesque house. He gets recruited by Louie, an infrequent performer, to hand out chorus slips to the audiences of various nearby clubs throughout the night. As Zalmie grows into adolescence, he spends more time with Louie backstage at burlesque shows. When Zalmie's mother dies in a sweatshop blaze, he begins working with Louie fulltime at a small theatre. Though Zalmie aspires to be a singer, he is beginning to enter puberty and his changing voice becomes a significant obstacle. His immature voice remains unchanged even as he nears adulthood. When World War I strikes, Zalmie travels the globe performing for the troops, but not as a singer – he plays the bottom half of a pantomime horse with Louie. At age seventeen, during a performance, the onlooking American soldiers are briefly attacked by a small group of biplane fighters and in the ensuing battle, Zalmie sustains a wound to his throat, effectively ending his dream as a singer.
When Zalmie returns to New York, he briefly continues performing as a clown, although his comedic talents are largely unimpressive. He falls in love with a stripper named Bella and vows to make her a famous singer. In order to get her started in showbusiness, however, Zalmie becomes involved with the mob during prohibition. After Zalmie gets Bella pregnant with their first child, Benny, he uses money from mob boss Nicky Palumbo to pay for their wedding. As Bella begins achieving modest success, Zalmie becomes more deeply involved in the mafia. At one of Bella's performances at a high class ballroom, two gangsters arrive and a violent shootout occurs in front of a young Benny. One night during a game of poker at the Belinksy residence, Bella receives a package at the door that is meant for Zalmie. Thinking it's a box of pretzels, a bomb from within the package ignites, killing Bella. Benny, who is already an introverted child, focuses all of his efforts into becoming a talented jazz pianist. Zalmie, noticing Benny's talent, encourages him to record a record for RCA Victor and pursue fame, but Benny seems content performing in nightclubs. Benny does, however, get married to Nicky Palumbo's daughter at Zalmie's request. After she becomes pregnant, Benny enlists to fight in World War II seeking redemption for his family, despite pleas from his father.
On the battlefield, Benny poorly plays "As Time Goes By" on a harmonica in a trench much to the irritation of his war buddies. In Germany, Benny finds a piano in an abandoned house, and sets down his gun to play it. As he plays "As Time Goes By" on the piano, an injured German soldier sneaks up on him from behind. Benny hears the German accidentally kick a chair to the side, turns around and sees him. As the German struggles to hold his Bar, Benny plays a short segment from "Lili Marleen". The German sways happily until Benny stops abruptly. The German says "danke" and kills Benny. The focus of the film is shifted to a suburban town on Long Island, where Benny's wife and son are now living. Nicky Palumbo has forced Benny's wife to remarry, though she chooses to marry outside of "the business" (she instead marries a refrigerator salesman). Zalmie, who has since been committed to the Jacksonville State Prison for eight years, appears on television in a trial concerning the mob. Nicky Palumbo, two gangsters, Louie and Benny's young son, Tony, watch the trial on television. Nicky Palumbo is shocked when Zalmie testifies against him.
As a teenager during the Beat generation, Tony steals his stepfather's car and drives across the country for four weeks, picking up a variety of hitchhikers along the way. He ends up in Kansas, abandoning the car by the side of the road. He wanders to a diner, staring at a blonde, blue-eyed waitress. Immediately taken with her, Tony spends the day washing dishes at the diner until the girl gets off from work. The two spend the night together in a corn field and Tony leaves the next day for California, where he takes another job dishwashing, but soon grows tired of the job and quits. He tells his employer he's interested in pursuing a career in music, but his boss reminds him that he can't sing and he can barely play the guitar. Undeterred, he roams the streets at night playing "California Dreamin'" on the harmonica until a six-piece rock group invites him to write songs for them. The band becomes successful but slowly starts to decompose because of drug addictions. At a concert during the 1960s, the band plays "Somebody to Love". Before the song ends, Tony is given punch spiked with LSD, falls off the stage while experiencing hallucinations, and is hospitalized. The band visits him, Frankie excited that Cash Box and Billboard have broken news that their new album is number one on the charts.
Out of the hospital, Tony is seen living alone in a state of disrepair, using a cane to walk. Through a desperate phone call for heroin, it is revealed that the band has left Tony behind and is continuing to achieve success without him, their new album having just gone gold. Tony reads that Frankie and the band's drummer, Johnny Webb, have married. Tony visits the band at their recording studio, trying to finish up "Up, Up and Away". Frankie's behavior is becoming more erratic as she drinks heavily in the studio. Tony learns that Frankie and Johnny's marriage only lasted two weeks and Frankie has missed Tony's songwriting. The two have an affair and are seen using heroin together. As Jimi Hendrix performs at an arena in Kansas, Frankie overdoses. Tony, high on drugs, realizes where he is and spots a blonde, blue-eyed boy who identifies himself as Little Pete.
Tony and Pete move to New York City, living in a room at the Hotel Chelsea, barely making rent. The two are soon forced to live out on the street as Tony resorts to peddling drugs. Tony gives Benny's harmonica to Pete, then takes Pete's guitar to pawn it, telling Pete to wait on the bench. Years later, an adult Pete arrives at a recording studio where he refuses to sell the band members any more cocaine unless they are willing to listen to his music. His talent stuns both the band and the management and they agree to record and hire him on the spot.
Cast
- Ron Thompson as Tony Belinksy and Pete Belinksy
- Jerry Holland as Louie
- Richard Singer as Benny Belinksy
- Lisa Jane Persky as Bella
- Jeffrey Lippa as Zalmie Belinksy
- Marya Small as Frankie Hart
- Hilary Beane as Showgirl
- Robert Beecher as Hobo #2
- Gene Borkan as Izzy
- Beatrice Colen as Prostitute
- Frank Dekova as Crisco
- Ben Frommer as Nicky Palumbo
- Roz Kelly as Eva Tanguay
- Amy Levitt as Nancy
- Richard Moll as Poet
- Elsa Raven as Hannele
- Vincent Schiavelli as Theatre Owner
- Leonard Stone as Leo
- Eric Taslitz as Little Pete
- Lynda Wiesmeier as The Blonde
Production
Following the production struggles of The Lord of the Rings, Ralph Bakshi decided that it was time to work on something more personal.[1] He pitched American Pop to Columbia Pictures president Dan Melnick. Bakshi wanted to produce a film with an extensive soundtrack of songs which would be given an entirely new context in juxtaposition to the visuals in a film.[2] While the film does not reflect Bakshi's own experiences, its themes were strongly influenced by individuals he had encountered in Brownsville.[2] The film's crew included character layout and design artist Louise Zingarelli, Vita, Barry E. Jackson, and Marcia Adams, each of whom brought their own personal touch to the film.[2] Bakshi once again used rotoscoping, in an attempt to capture the range of emotions and movement required for the film's story. According to Bakshi, "Rotoscoping is terrible for subtleties, so it was tough to get facial performances to match the stage ones."[2]
Music
The score for American Pop was composed by Lee Holdridge. As the result of his reputation as an innovator of adult animation, Bakshi was able to acquire the rights to an extensive soundtrack, including songs by Janis Joplin, The Doors, George Gershwin, The Mamas & the Papas, Herbie Hancock, Lou Reed and Louis Prima, for under US$1 million in permissions fees.[2] Due to music clearance issues, the film was not released on home video until 1998.[3]
Reception and legacy
The film was a success upon its release on February 12, 1981.[2] Jerry Beck called it "one of Bakshi's best films".[3] In 2008, director Hype Williams and Kanye West paid tribute to the film in the music video for the single "Heartless", which featured use of rotoscoped animation and references to scenes and backgrounds from the film.[4]
References
External links
