I haven't seen this movie since it came out nearly two decades ago and yet I remember it like it was yesterday. Perhaps being a member of the clan that the movie depicts gives it special meaning for me. The strand connecting the chants of the ghetto synagogue, through early jazz, sixties ballads and finally hard rock rang true to this unsophisticated viewer. Perhaps the characters where often cliches and the symbolism hackneyed- but so what. This is the shorthand of our culture and these iconic elements were used with wit, charm and taste. Animation in this film is truly an artistic medium. The memory of the final scene, where generations of suffering are vindicated in the roar of acclaim for the rock singer descendent, still brings a chill to my spine.

It's generations of a musical family lineage. It starts with a Jewish family escaping the oppression of Czarist Russia. Each successive generation struggles to find love and music of the day. It ends with the last generation becoming an American Pop star. Director Ralph Bakshi brings his rotoscoping animation style to the real world with some snippets of real world footage. There is something magical when he does this with fantasy stories. It sets these worlds somewhere in between. When it's done for the real world, it loses its realism. Also the vast time jumps put another distance into the story. Nevertheless, it's a fascinating exercise and it has some great music.

I am not a fan of Ralph Bakshi, but he has done some films that I do like, with American Pop being my favourite. The film could've been shorter perhaps, but the characters are interesting and the voice work solid with on Thompson standing out. The story is charming with an emotional impact(especially the scene in the cornfield) and not too heavy-handed, and the subtitles are not too confused and never condescending. The main interest points though are the rotoscoped animation, some may find it is not to their tastes but I found it unique and overall well done with a lot of Bakshi's trademarks seen with the wild nature of the hallucination scene, and the soundtrack, which is fantastic and often very atmospheric, adding so much to the mood. In conclusion, a great film and Bakshi's best in my opinion. 9/10 Bethany Cox