I never saw that “cleaned-up” version of the Fritz the Cat poster before. But boy am I familiar with the real one, and here’s the difference: It’s not just that Fritz’s hand is on her breast. It’s that his hand is *down her shirt* and on her breast. And if you know the way Crumb draws breasts, you know that this girl’s underwear drawer was empty. Great post! Thanks for covering this piece of movie history.
Ebert was obviously right that animation could do so much more than it had been called on to do till then. But even though Fritz was marketed as an X-rated movie, it wasn’t really fair to compare it to the live-action porn that I’m guessing was available at that time. It had some salacious episodes (the bathtub orgy being the best—and, it’s true, it’s quite erotic) but other than that it’s just a cartoon with some nudity and foul language. Some good animation, and nice backgrounds, too.
I never saw that “cleaned-up” version of the Fritz the Cat poster before. But boy am I familiar with the real one, and here’s the difference: It’s not just that Fritz’s hand is on her breast. It’s that his hand is *down her shirt* and on her breast. And if you know the way Crumb draws breasts, you know that this girl’s underwear drawer was empty. Great post! Thanks for covering this piece of movie history.
Oh right! I should have included that--added it just now. I knew you'd dig that! What did you think of Ebert's take?
Ebert was obviously right that animation could do so much more than it had been called on to do till then. But even though Fritz was marketed as an X-rated movie, it wasn’t really fair to compare it to the live-action porn that I’m guessing was available at that time. It had some salacious episodes (the bathtub orgy being the best—and, it’s true, it’s quite erotic) but other than that it’s just a cartoon with some nudity and foul language. Some good animation, and nice backgrounds, too.