Les neuf vies de Fritz le Chat

If you know me at all, you'll know that I was not a fan of Ralph Bakshi's FRITZ THE CAT. So imagine my horror when I found out there was a sequel! Well, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to see THE NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT. By some stroke of good luck or divine intervention, it happens to be better than the original.

The film, made without Bakshi's involvement, (who was knee deep in the controversy stemming from COONSKIN) begins by finding our hero in a slum, living on welfare with a wife and child. The wife is pretty abusive (although she does have a point-you'll understand when you see the film. Fritz smokes pot to escape and imagines himself in nine other lives (hence the title)

It's actually a pretty good film. The film is less raunchy and vulgar than the first, but I know some people out there will still be offended. The film is a scathing look at society in the 70's and doesn't have the dated feel the first did. Drugs and street language are present, but it's used much more successfully here

There is one sequence that is some kind of masterpiece. A white military leader and a black militant are perched on two opposing mountains and they take turns attacking one another. Live action footage and stills run in the background. In just five minutes, they've managed to convey exactly what the racial unrest of the 70s was.

There are some flaws. The film doesn't have a very satisfying ending and the score is a little too upbeat for a film laden with such stinging social commentary. But I applaud THE NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT for taking chances; it could have been more of the same, but instead strives to be better. It's not a perfect film, but it's a good one.

*** out of four stars

Disjointed by design but not great. The series of sketches are are simple, crude, and cynical; not inherently a bad thing but it doesn't really spark interest for the whole length. You kind of understand the film after the first 15 minutes and then it just keeps going not adding much. There are extended sections of nothing really happening. There is a proper 70's counter culture but it doesn't have much substance. Bit to big for it's breeches, constantly playing with big characters and concepts the same way a kid plays with his food. Some nice moments in any case. Generally lacks a voice and is annoying.

Worth playing in the background and being surprised by but not great to focus on as it is numbing.

To start this off, I love the original, I think it is brilliant social satire, plus I'm a huge Ralph Bakshi fan. So, even though I knew Bakshi wasn't involved with this sequel I'd figured I'd give it a chance. Well it was pretty bad, instead of making a social comment most of Fritz's Nine Lives just degenerate into dumb slapstick, and gross out gags. The film is dumb, lifeless, and not very funny. Oh and just a note if you're going to use live action footage as your background, make it less interesting than the animated foreground(something this film does horribly). Ultimately the whole movie seems pointless and dumb. However the animation is good and the soundtrack is decent, even though the soundtrack of the original is really good. To those "Wizards" fans Bob Holt the voice of Avatar is a number of voices in this film, he's even credited as "Many Voices", look for him with his Avatar voice as a cigar smoking astronaut.

It is always a good idea to watch something all the way through before writing about it.

This film has some excellent sideways kicks at society and anybody who does not have the education to understand or concentration span should switch off after ten minutes.

BTW. The word "boob" means mistake what women have are breasts. To apply that word boob to a woman`s body is sexist and what one would probably expect from a redneck.

This film does not have the cutting edge of the original and although some very good moments does tend to lose its way. However, these two films were landmarks and the satire has not been equaled via cartoon until South Park arrived.

Just a couple of thoughts after watching nine lives of fritz the cat.

First of all i think it's nothing more than a cash-in on the first movie. Second the animators are not the same, the director is not the same, actually quite a lot isn't the same as the first one, which is a bad thing, since this second fritz movie doesn't have a proper story line, or a good script, actually it doesn't have anything of the things that made the first movie so wonderful. The feeling is gone.

Still it's Fritz the Cat and all is not lost, but all through the film i get the feeling that the director just took all the ingredients of the first fritz movie and mashed them together to a lifeless pile, sticking them in here and there, maybe because that's what he thought the fans wanted (and that would make more money). Then he managed to portray Fritz as somewhat of a loser, which he may be, in some people's eyes', but i don't think that's the feeling you get from the first one. This one is more rough. It's almost abusive to the original. So my suggestion is; if you haven't seen any of the fritz movies, watch the first one only, this one isn't quite worth while. Afterwards you could try the second, but don't get your hopes up.