The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat
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The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat is a 1974 American adult animated anthology black comedy film directed by Robert Taylor as a sequel to Fritz the Cat, adapted from the comic strip by Robert Crumb. The only two people involved in the first film to work on the sequel were voice actor Skip Hinnant, and producer Steve Krantz. The film's music score was composed by jazz musician Tom Scott, and performed by Scott and his band The L.A. Express.
Like the first film, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat focuses on Fritz (voiced by Hinnant), a fraudulent womanizer and leftist, who is shown in this film to have married an unpleasant woman, with whom he shares an apartment with their infant son. Unlike the first film, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat adopts a non-linear narrative and is presented as an anthology of loosely connected short stories, connected as cannabis-induced fantasies which occur as Fritz's spouse berates him. The stories depict Fritz as a Nazi stormtrooper, a rich Playboy, an astronaut heading to Mars, and in an alternate reality in which New Jersey has seceded from the United States as an entirely African American state. Except for the wraparound segment, none of the film's storylines are based on Robert Crumb's comics, and he was not credited on this film.
The film was written by Taylor, in collaboration with Fred Halliday and Eric Monte. The voice cast also featured Bob Holt, Peter Leeds, Louisa Moritz, Robert Ridgely, Joan Gerber, Jay Lawrence, Stanley Adams, Pat Harrington Jr., Peter Hobbs, Ralph James, Eric Monte, Glynn Turman, Gloria Jones, Renny Roker, Peter Hobbs, John Hancock, Chris Graham and Felton Perry.
Plot
It is the 1970s; Fritz the Cat is now married, on welfare, and has a baby named Ralphie, who casually masturbates. As his wife berates him for being an irresponsible father and husband, Fritz sits on the couch, staring off into space, smoking a marijuana joint. Tired of listening to his wife nag at him, he fades off into his own little world, imagining what life would be like for him if things were different.
The first character he meets on his stoned journey is Juan, a Puerto Rican. The two talk about Juan's sister Chita. The scene fades to Juan's house where Fritz is seen sitting on the couch smoking a joint next to Chita, while Juan is at the store. Chita complains to Fritz when he blows smoke in her eyes. His reaction is to tell her to loosen up and "embrace her fellow man", then he suddenly shoves a joint into her mouth, taking her off into her own hallucinogenic fantasy. The pot makes her horny. Meanwhile, outside, a pair of crows are about to rob the place, but decide to stay outside and watch what happens inside instead. A car pulls up and out comes Chita's father, who sees Fritz and Chita having sex, and blows Fritz apart with a shotgun. This violent display turns off the two crows, who decide to come back at another time.
In his second life, Fritz meets a drunken bum claiming to be God.
In his third life, Fritz imagines that he is a soldier in World War II-era Nazi Germany. After being caught having a ménage à trois with two German girls by a commanding officer (the two girls being the officer's wife and daughter), Fritz escapes, and winds up being an orderly to Adolf Hitler. Fritz takes the form of a therapist, and analyzes Hitler, telling him that his world domination plans were just a way of trying to get attention. In the showers, Hitler "accidentally" drops his soap, and urges Fritz to pick it up, in an attempt to rape him, and ends up getting his single testicle (a reference to the song "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball") blown off. In this segment, Fritz meets his death by way of the United States Army.
The film cuts back to 1970s-era New York in Fritz's fourth life as Fritz attempts to sell a used condom to a liquor store owner, Niki, who bets he knows who Fritz used it on. The two break out laughing as they take turns describing the woman. Fritz at one point blurts out that the woman has got the clap. When Niki asks who her name is, Fritz responds by telling him "Gina". Niki says that that's his wife's name and that she doesn't have the clap. Fritz tells him "she does now," causing Niki to curse and shout at Fritz. As he walks out of the store, Fritz bumps into a pig named Lenny. Fritz tells him that he was an irresistible stud in the 1930s.
Fritz's fifth life is a psychedelic montage of old stock film and animation, vaguely illustrating Fritz's downfall in the 1930s (losing everything to excessive partying and drinking).
In his sixth life, Fritz shows up at a pawn shop run by a Jewish crow named Morris, and tries to get a welfare check cashed. Fritz tries to make a deal with Morris: If Morris will cash Fritz's welfare check, then Fritz will give Morris a toilet seat. Morris doesn't like the deal, but suddenly getting diarrhea from the pickles he has been eating, he reluctantly accepts the deal, but instead of cashing Fritz's welfare check, he gives Fritz a space helmet.
We then see Fritz in his seventh life, as NASA hires Fritz to go into space on the first mission to Mars. While waiting for the shuttle to take off, Fritz decides to have sex with one of the reporters, a black girl. However, the space shuttle takes off a little early, and once in space, it explodes.
In Fritz's eighth life, the film portrays Fritz talking to the ghost of his black crow friend Duke, who was shot to death in the previous film. The film then flash-forwards to a future where New Jersey is a separate country from the rest of the United States, and has been renamed "New Africa", home to all black crows. Fritz is just starting his job as a courier, and he is asked by President Henry Kissinger to deliver a letter to the president of New Africa. In New Africa, Fritz finds a high crime rate, corruption, and violence. Once Fritz is led to "The Black House", he hears the president of New Africa and his vice-president talking about how low his popularity is, and how an assassination attempt would boost his popularity. The president refuses to get shot, but is shot anyway, because the vice president needs his president's popularity to increase so he will not lose the upcoming election. The vice-president blames the assassination on Fritz, because he is the only "white" cat in New Africa. Because of this, America and "New Africa" are at war, and Kissinger eventually admits an unconditional surrender. In the end, Fritz is shot for the crime he did not commit.
In his final life, Fritz finds himself living in the sewers of New York, where he meets an Indian guru and the devil. However, Fritz is given a rude awakening from his drug-induced reality by his wife, who finally throws him out of the apartment. After a quick look at all of his lives, Fritz sighs and says "This is about the worst life I've ever had."
Why It Lose Its Ninth Lives
- It lacks any of the charm, personality, or essential feeling that made the earlier film so appealing.
- It doesn't seem to know what it exactly wants to be, whether it's a social commentary to life during the time it was being made or a huge satirical to anything that's almost offensive to literally everyone.
- With the exception for thee wraparound segment, none of the film's storylines are based on Robert Crumb's comics, making it mostly come off as a name-in-only title.
- Unlike the first film, which is mainly a social commentary on how life was like during late 60s, early 70s. Instead it feels more like a huge degenerate with nothing but dumb slapstick, and gross out gags.
- The film does a horrible job trying to blend in the animation with live-action segments and for the most part feels like it was slapped in as an afterthought, it doesn't help that it makes it comes off as if Fritz is having nothing but a huge drug trip.
- It doesn't even a proper storyline, while the first film technically was just three storylines each, this one has about 9 short storylines and don't even connect to one or another.
- There's a scene in which Ralphie, Fritz and his wife's baby son, masturbates. Yes, a baby masturbates in this movie.
- Unnecessary scenes such as Fritz constantly dancing in live-action footage backgrounds, which drags on for far too long.
- Some of the music tracks sound absolutely annoying.
- Absolutely unnecessary vulgar like scenes such as scene in which Hitler attempts to rape Fritz as he "accidentally" drops the soap so Fritz can pick it up, only for one of his testicles to be blown off.
- Horrendous writing and awful jokes.
- There is a scene where Fritz farts.
Redeeming Qualities
- The animation isn't all too bad, and is arguably better than the first film's animation.
- The original voice actor of Fritz, Skip Hinnant, returns for the role does a good job voice acting him. The other voice actors do a somewhat decent job to him.
- Some very decent and catchy tracks, even if a few of them can be considerably annoying.
Videos
External Links
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat at the Internet Movie Database
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat on Rotten Tomatoes