The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat – 1974
I’ve come a long way, Baby!
Director
Robert Taylor

Writers
Robert Crumb comic books
Fred Halliday
Eric Monte
Robert Taylor

Producer
Steve Krantz producer

Cast
Skip Hinnant – Fritz (voice)
Reva Rose – Fritz’ Old Lady (voice)
Bob Holt – Many voices (voice)
Robert Ridgely – (voice)
Fred Smoot – (voice)
‘Sweet’ Dick Whittington – (voice)
Luke Walker – (voice)
Peter Leeds – Juan/Various Characters (voice)
Louisa Moritz – Chita (Juan’s Sister) (voice)
Larry Moss – (voice)
Joan Gerber – (voice)
Jim Johnson – (voice)
Jay Lawrence – (voice)
Stanley Adams – (voice)
Pat Harrington Jr. – (voice)
Carole Androsky – (voice) (as Carol Androsky)
Lynn Roman – Voice
Ralph James – (voice)
Eric Monte – (voice)
Glynn Turman – (voice)
Ron Knight – (voice)
Gloria Jones – (voice)
Renny Rooker – (voice)
Peter Hobbs – (voice)
Buddy Arett – (voice)
John Hancock – (voice)
Chris Graham – (voice)
Felton Perry – (voice)
Anthony Mason – (voice)
Sarina C. Grant – The Roach (voice)

Review by Jack Gatanella

Animated Mindwarp- 101,
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat is a movie, or something like it, that I got to see on night late on a Showtime channel, and when I started watching, it had the material that made me want to change the channel, and maybe not. There are many weird and surreal scenes, most involving sex and marijuana, some with racism (Hitler cat), some with unique and bizarre characters, and it connected as that while Fritz the cat tries to cash a welfare check he goes over the different deaths in his life, getting blown up, getting blown up in space, getting shot in the batoot, etc. At times it’s too patched together, and makes no sense in the scene where funky 70’s music plays while images from the days of black and white flash by and then images pass by like an amateur Kubrick ala 2001, but it oddly works for a mature audience (kids will be freaked out if they should for some chance watch this) on the levels on comedy and of being a all out stoner/druggie flick (most of you out there who watch this will eithe rgo wow or uggh). Very satirical, very strange. B+

The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974)

Review by Wayne Malin

Animation is good..
but that’s it. An R-rated animated film has Fritz (a cat) being told off endlessly by his wife about his drug habit, being on welfare, being bad in bed etc etc. As she screams at him, he sits there totally stoned out of his mind and drifts off into different lives. The emphasis here is on sex, vulgarity, tons of swearing, explicit violence, buckets of blood and plenty on racial issues (in one segment, New Jersey is sold to black people!). In other segments: Friz meets an alcoholic, flatuant Jesus Christ; is an assistant to Hitler and psychoanalyzes him; is an astronaut; in a pointless 30s segments and trying to cash his welfare check.

How this got an R rating is beyond me–there’s enough explicit material here for a strong NC-17. The film never stops moving, the animation is very good but there’s no real story. The sequences are very strange (to say the least) and take pot shots at everything from religion to race to sex and drugs–but why? There’s no point or point of view. Also there are pointless psychedlic light shows with bad 70s music. They bored me silly–I fast forwarded through them. Also the constant swearing, violence and sex wore me down and got dull after a while. And the racial issues are handled quite offensively (for black and white) and are VERY 70s.

Not really worth your time. Skip it. “Fritz the Cat” was better.