DVD DETAILS:
Vision
The 16:9 enhanced widescreen visual transfer on this DVD is superb, despite some print speckles and minor signs of wear, preserving the extraordinary animation design. Color is especially vivid and backgrounds (often in darker colors and distorted in a fish-eye manner) have a sly photographic quality making for a fine sense of New York locations. The sexual content of the film is not only amusing but a pioneering treatment of sexual satire and the notion of animated eroticism. The traditions of comic-book anthropomorphism are used for sly jibes at racial and ethnic stereotypes (with crows representing black Americans). There are numerous superimpositions and some abrupt shifts in tone along this expressionistic journey. Isolated sequences are often stunning, particularly the death of the crow, one of the most striking and affecting death scenes ever in American film. Psychedelic influences of the era are felt throughout, both in visual design and in the rapid shifts in tone and emotion which make for a trip-like quality. Only Bakshi has successfully translated the complexities and colors of the psychedelic era to animated film which such complex affect. It is consistently inventive and energetic, full of sly touches in its sense of Fritz’s own perceptions of an ever changing world. Few films have attempted to so brazenly capture the “experience” of the era without nostalgically romanticizing it.
Sound
The sound transfer is efficient in Dolby Digital mono though much of the original score (and songs) lack richness, losing out on the home-theatre possibility of immersing audiences in a distinctive musical design. As Bakshi is known for the perfect fusion of animation and music (hence his later work in American Pop), the absence of a full stereo remix is something of a disappointment, assuming it were possible to begin with. Still, the original score remains funky and effective and the inclusion of source songs (especially Billie Holliday in one scene) is used for remarkable emotional effect, again contributing to the rapid shifts in tone, which have often been mistaken as signs of an uneven approach. The voices are well centered, distinctive and remarkably well chosen, adding much to the film’s status as social document, aided by Bakshi’s refusal to be intimidated by stereotype or caricature (something also often misinterpreted). Differences in race, class and education abound in what is a multi-faceted approach to the vocalization of character. Here again, Bakshi excels as the dialogue at times often has the quality of overheard speech, truly rare for animation. The sound mix is often tremendously varied (especially in the use of single instruments and distorted sounds) and consistently inventive. The evocation of a dying heartbeat is especially powerful in the afore-mentioned death scene. read more
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