I have seen several engaging films by Ralph Bakshi: Wizards, The Lord of the Rings and Hey, Good Lookin'! American Pop is definitely not one of them. The story is supposed to follow a Jewish family starting from their immigration in the 1900's to about 1980. This is obviously a sort of semi-autobiography for the director and his own familial roots. Why make make a film about one's own immigration experience through American pop-music? How can this possibly work? In 90 minutes we get a string of musical numbers starting from early Jazz to Rock that really don't tie us into the whole immigration experience. At least not from my perspective. And that scene about the Drug Dealer coaxing the record company to listen to his singing of Bob Segar's "Night Moves" doesn't make any sense. None of the popular songs being used have any relation to the movie, characters or plot. They are just thrown in to create an appealing Soundtrack. And this leads me to believe that Bakshi is trying to ingratiate himself into Pop-music, as if he was the mind behind all these classic songs. But he's not! This is why I think this movie is just a flat out ripoff. And aside from the uneven plot, the rotoscoping looks nauseating after a few minutes. The animation is colorful , but not very good.
Ralph Bakshi has used the medium of animation to strong effect in previous films, but here it looks haphazard and doesn't bring any benefit to this type of drama.
Ralph Bakshi has used the medium of animation to strong effect in previous films, but here it looks haphazard and doesn't bring any benefit to this type of drama.