American Pop (or An American Pop) is a 1981 American animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film tells the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music. The majority of the film's animation was completed through rotoscoping, a process in which live actors are filmed and the subsequent footage is used for animators to draw over. However, the film also uses a variety of other mixed media including water colors, computer graphics, live action shots, and archival footage.

Cast

    * Ron Thompson as Tony Belinksy and Pete Belinksy
    * Jerry Holland as Louie
    * Richard Singer as Benny Belinksy
    * Lisa Jane Persky as Bella
    * Jeffrey Lippa as Zalmie Belinksy
    * Marya Small as Frankie Hart
    * Hilary Beane as Showgirl
    * Robert Beecher as Hobo #2
    * Gene Borkan as Izzy
    * Beatrice Colen as Prostitute
    * Frank Dekova as Crisco
    * Ben Frommer as Nicky Palumbo
    * Roz Kelly as Eva Tanguay
    * Amy Levitt as Nancy
    * Richard Moll as Poet
    * Elsa Raven as Hannele
    * Vincent Schiavelli as Theatre Owner
    * Leonard Stone as Leo
    * Eric Taslitz as Little Pete
    * Lynda Wiesmeier as The Blonde

Soundtrack

* "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" written by Bob Dylan
* "American Pop Overture" arranged by Lee Holdridge
* "Anything Goes" written by Cole Porter
* "As Time Goes By" written by Herman Hupfeld
* "Bill" written by Jerome Kern/Wodehouse/Oscar Hammerstein II, performed by Helen Morgan
* "Blue Suede Shoes" written by Carl Perkins
* "Body & Soul" written by Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Frank Eyton / Robert Sour
* "California Dreamin'" written by The Mamas & the Papas
* "Cantaloupe Island" composed by Herbie Hancock
* "Charleston" written by Cecil Mack/Jimmy Johnson
* "Crazy on You" written by Ann Wilson / Nancy Wilson / Roger Fisher of Heart
* "Devil With The Blue Dress On" written by Shorty Long
* "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" written by Bob Dylan
* "Free Bird" written by Collins / Vanzandt, performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd
* "Give My Regards to Broadway" written by George M. Cohan
* "Hell Is for Children" performed by Pat Benatar
* "I Don't Care" Sullivan / Lennox
* "I Got Rhythm" George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
* "I'm Waiting for the Man" written by Lou Reed
* "Look for The Silver Lining", written by Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II
* "Maple Leaf Rag" composed by Scott Joplin
* "Moanin'" written by Bobby Timmons, performed by Art Blakey
* "Mona Lisa" written by Livingston / Evans
* "Nancy (With The Laughing Face)" written by Jimmy Van Heusen / Phil Silvers
* "Night Moves" written by Bob Seger
* "Onward, Christian Soldiers" by Sabine Baring-Gould and Arthur Sullivan
* "Over There" written by George M. Cohan
* "Palm Leaf Rag" composed by Scott Joplin
* "People Are Strange" written by The Doors
* "Pretty Vacant" written by Rotten / Matlock / Cook / Jones
* "Purple Haze" written and Performed by Jimi Hendrix
* "Say Si Si"
* "Sing, Sing, Sing" written by Louis Prima
* "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
* "Smiles" music by Lee Roberts, lyrics by J. Will Callahan
* "Somebody Loves Me" music by George Gershwin
* "Somebody to Love" written by Darby Slick and Grace Slick
* "Summertime" written by George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin, performed by Big Brother & the Holding Company
* "Sweet Georgia Brown" written by Bernie / Casey / Pinkard
* "Take Five" performed by Dave Brubeck Quartet
* "This Train" written and performed by Peter, Paul & Mary
* "Turn Me Loose" performed by Fabian
* "Up, Up and Away" written by Jimmy Webb
* "When The Saints Go Marching In"
* "You Send Me" written by Sam Cooke

"American Pop" is the animated story of a very talented and troubled family starting with 19th century Russia and moving through several generations of musicians. The film covers American music from the pre-jazz age through soul, '50s rock, drug-laden psychadelia, and punk, finally ending with the onset of new wave in the early 1980s.

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

R1 America - (Columbia)

Subtitles:  English, Spanish, French
Aspect Ratio:  1.85:1
Picture Format:  ANAMORPHIC
TV System:  NTSC
Soundtrack(s):  English & Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0
Case type:  Keep Case (Amaray)

No shrinkage of ANY kind.
Comes with ALL artwork. (Hi-Res .png files)
This DVD is a flipper; anamorphic widescreen godliness on one side, 
standard definition 4:3 cropped pan & scan blasphemy on the other.
(guess which version you're NOT getting...)
No HD-DVD or Blu-Ray version has been released.
AFAIK, this is the best version available...