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American Pop

  • 1981
  • R
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
5.8K
YOUR RATING
Jerry Holland, Marcello Krakoff, Amy Levitt, Jeffrey Lippa, Helen Morgan, Lisa Jane Persky, Elsa Raven, Rick Singer, Mews Small, and Ron Thompson in American Pop (1981)
Trailer for American Pop
Play trailer2:19
2 Videos
99+ Photos
Adult AnimationEpicHand-Drawn AnimationHistorical EpicJukebox MusicalPop MusicalRock MusicalAnimationDramaHistory

The story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century.The story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century.The story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century.

  • Director
    • Ralph Bakshi
  • Writer
    • Ronni Kern
  • Stars
    • Mews Small
    • Ron Thompson
    • Jerry Holland
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    5.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ralph Bakshi
    • Writer
      • Ronni Kern
    • Stars
      • Mews Small
      • Ron Thompson
      • Jerry Holland
    • 92User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
    • 57Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    American Pop
    Trailer 2:19
    American Pop
    American Pop
    Trailer 0:31
    American Pop
    American Pop
    Trailer 0:31
    American Pop

    Photos165

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    Top cast53

    Edit
    Mews Small
    Mews Small
    • Frankie
    • (voice)
    • (as Marya Small)
    Ron Thompson
    Ron Thompson
    • Tony
    • (voice)
    • …
    Jerry Holland
    • Louie
    • (voice)
    Lisa Jane Persky
    Lisa Jane Persky
    • Bella
    • (voice)
    Jeffrey Lippa
    • Zalmie
    • (voice)
    Roz Kelly
    • Eva Tanguay
    • (voice)
    Frank DeKova
    Frank DeKova
    • Crisco
    • (voice)
    • (as Frank De Kova)
    Rick Singer
    • Benny
    • (voice)
    • (as Richard Singer)
    Elsa Raven
    Elsa Raven
    • Hannele
    • (voice)
    Ben Frommer
    • Palumbo
    • (voice)
    Amy Levitt
    Amy Levitt
    • Nancy
    • (voice)
    Leonard Stone
    Leonard Stone
    • Leo Stern
    • (voice)
    Eric Taslitz
    • Little Pete
    • (voice)
    Gene Borkan
    • Izzy
    • (voice)
    Richard Moll
    Richard Moll
    • Beat Poet
    • (voice)
    Beatrice Colen
    Beatrice Colen
    • Prostitute
    • (voice)
    Vincent Schiavelli
    Vincent Schiavelli
    • Theatre Owner
    • (voice)
    Hilary Beane
    • Showgirl #1
    • (voice)
    • Director
      • Ralph Bakshi
    • Writer
      • Ronni Kern
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews92

    7.25.8K
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    Featured reviews

    10Mellow_Biafra

    I'm amazed that this isn't in the top 50 for animation

    I thought this film was one of the finest animation films I have ever seen. The film continually keeps building and building until it peaks at the end when the last guy becomes a star. It almost has the feel of a documentry on life in a America by the way it continually keeps pounding the nail on the head in terms of the storyline and the action scenes cut to music were absolutely brilliant. Considering this film was ahead of anything even close to this (even ahead of MTV for gods sake) it's far and away one of the finest animation films ever made. I think anyone grading this film before a eight just isn't looking at this film as a film and instead putting it against a Disney film or something that's pretty but has no point. For my money I'd easily stack this film against any other animation ever made. Also I saw some people nay saying this film because of the soundtrack, but it's all a natural progression man and in this film it shows the progression of life and music and in 1981 that's what was popular and I thought it was a great choice since it's still listen-to-able today.

    Extremely great film, if you haven't yet... Go see it now!
    Alix_Sunder

    Rock Epic

    A story that transcends through the generations of a family. Starting in the "roaring" '20's the movie begins with the life of an immigrant boy and carries the viewer through a tapestry of jazz, swing, blues, classic rock, and early 80's rock. A completely different look than previous or later Bakshi works, but with the same quality. A must see if you want to forget you're watching an animated movie.
    mercer74

    At-times-corny-hodgepodge, yet quirky, offbeat, and strangely touching

    I won't go so far as to call this movie a masterpiece, but I do have a special weakness for Ralph Bakshi for some reason, and I enjoyed this film despite the awkward non-uniform animation (involving heavy use of rotoscoping), the corniness of some moments, and the bizarre contexts into which some popular songs are placed (e.g. a Bob Dylan song being composed by some fictional character on a bus, and - as another reviewer commented - a Bob Seger song somehow being considered punk).

    Nevertheless, there are several things I enjoyed about "American Pop". Rather than a single individual, the "protagonist" is a "familial line"; one could even say the protagonist of this movie is a "creative spark" that passes from father to son. It was interesting how we were shown that the same creative spark which expresses itself through popular music is intimately intertwined with the sexual urge - and hence the urge to "keep the spark alive" by passing it to the next generation.

    It's also very interesting to see a movie about popular music as a whole throughout the twentieth century, as opposed to being confined to one particular decade. In fact, on one level, "American Pop" is simply an entertaining history of twentieth century popular music, a history which is embellished by the presence of four characters which represent different points in that century insofar as they "could have written" the songs of their particular time.

    Finally, one of my favourite aspects of "American Pop" is alluded to by the second word of the title: "Pop". "Pop" is, of course, short for "popular", and in this film we see that these characters' choice to express themselves via the medium of popular music (rather than, say, classical music or classical painting) is very closely wound up with the fact that these are all quite down-to-earth, everyday types of people who sometimes experience the grittier side of life.

    On a scale of 1 to 10, I would have to give "American Pop" either a 7 or an 8.
    8Gavno

    It's DEFINITELY different...

    If nothing else, Ralph Bakshi is an innovator. He has been ever since he did the first X-rated cartoon, FRITZ THE CAT.

    He's also been uneven in his work. He either does great things, like FRITZ, or he produces forgettable, total bombs like COOL WORLD.

    Just the same tho, I've very much enjoyed his stuff over the years. My personal favorites are HEY GOOD LOOKIN' and AMERICAN POP.

    AMERICAN POP is a daring concept; a feature length, multigenerational saga that tells the story of an immigrant family's American adventure.

    When it works (and that's MOST of the time), it works WELL. Bakshi did his historical homework on this one, as well as the musical homework required in telling the story of a family of entertainers.

    His characters achieve the goal that EVERY cartoonist tries for; on some level, we find ourselves identifying with those characters, and CARING about them... ALL of them, from the turn of the century song plugger on the streets of New York City, to the Heavy Metal rocker who finally achieves the American Dream.

    In some places tho, Bakshi's attempts at innovation have a rather bizzare effect, and sometimes just plain DON'T WORK with his audiences, even for those who LOVE his work.

    I'm thinking specifically of the somewhat startling attempt to use cartoon characters in a sexual situation. Somehow, the sight of a cartoon character opening his pants to expose jockey shorts prior to making love with ANOTHER cartoon character is jarring and unsettling in the extreme. It's not a matter of prudishness... it's just that the idea of realistically drawn cartoon characters having sex is a bit of a leap of imagination that many can't easily negotiate.

    Another place that it doesn't quite work is during the sequence during the Vietnam years.

    We've ALL seen the horrible news film clip of the police chief of Saigon personally executing a prisoner, shooting him in the head with his snub nosed revolver. Bakshi produced a very short cartoon version of that clip for the film. It's intention in the montage is clear and powerful, but somehow the idea of cartooning this horrendous act is even more deeply disturbing to the viewer than the ORIGINAL film was. It might have been MORE acceptable if Bakshi had used a Rotoscoped version of it that was LESS cartoonlike, as he did with other file footage used in the movie.

    Just the same... overall, Bakshi's bold experimental film WORKS, and works well.

    AMERICAN POP, despite it's faults, is a breakthru for the art of animation. It's a successfully mounted drama, done in animation. Disney came close sometimes, but Bakshi boldly went where Disney didn't dare to.

    For anyone who loves animation, and anyone who loves music... AMERICAN POP gets MY vote.
    10alrodbel

    Memorable Vivid Allegory

    I haven't seen this movie since it came out nearly two decades ago and yet I remember it like it was yesterday. Perhaps being a member of the clan that the movie depicts gives it special meaning for me. The strand connecting the chants of the ghetto synagogue, through early jazz, sixties ballads and finally hard rock rang true to this unsophisticated viewer. Perhaps the characters where often cliches and the symbolism hackneyed- but so what. This is the shorthand of our culture and these iconic elements were used with wit, charm and taste. Animation in this film is truly an artistic medium. The memory of the final scene, where generations of suffering are vindicated in the roar of acclaim for the rock singer descendent, still brings a chill to my spine.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The two dancers in the "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" montage are The Nicholas Brothers, Harold Nicholas and Fayard Nicholas. The animators directly rotoscoped their dance from Stormy Weather (1943).
    • Goofs
      Zalmie and his mother flee the czar in Russia but when they are in the US they speak what some people mistakenly assume is German. They're actually speaking Yiddish, which is similar to German and was the language spoken by Jews in Russia at the time.
    • Quotes

      Zalmie: Hey, Louie. I just seen the most beautiful thing I ever seen in the whole world.

      Louie: Some pre-Prohibition booze, huh?

      Zalmie: No. I seen the stripper gettin' dressed.

      Louie: A stripper gettin' dressed ain't beautiful unless she's ugly to begin with.

    • Crazy credits
      Disclaimer before soundtrack listings: The following songs were depicted as being written by fictional characters. The producer would like to thank the true composers.
    • Alternate versions
      In some versions of the film, dialog has been redone in at last two scenes, presumably to make points more clear. For example, in Little Pete's first scene, he is asked what his Dad would say about him hanging backstage with a rock band. In one version, Pete says "Nothing. He's dead." In the other version, he instead says "I never met my Dad. He's some kind of mystery" (which serves as a better setup for information learned later) Also, Tony returns to the band's apartment after his release from the hospital, only to find they have moved out. In both versions, under 'People Are Strange,' we hear him on the phone with a friend, but the phone conversations begin completely differently. In one we never learn what happened to the band, only that they seemed to have moved out and left Tony behind, while in the other we learn that the band has gone on to big things, with a gold album. Both versions' phone calls end the same way, though, with Tony desperately asking his friend for money or drugs.
    • Connections
      Edited from Applause (1929)
    • Soundtracks
      American Pop Overture
      Arranged by Lee Holdridge

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    FAQ15

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 13, 1981 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Hebrew
      • Russian
      • Yiddish
    • Also known as
      • Поп Америка
    • Production companies
      • Bakshi Productions
      • Aspen Productions (I)
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,500,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Stereo

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    Jerry Holland, Marcello Krakoff, Amy Levitt, Jeffrey Lippa, Helen Morgan, Lisa Jane Persky, Elsa Raven, Rick Singer, Mews Small, and Ron Thompson in American Pop (1981)
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