LogFAQs > #961865961

When I was putting my list together I ranked Fritz in the top 10 without a second thought, but at the same time I can't really say I'm shocked to see it place this low. I think it deserves more credit than a 35th place behind two Illumination films just considering its historical importance to animation, but I totally get why anyone would find it unpleasant to watch. Maybe it helps that I've always lamented how American animated movies tend to feel "stuck" being overly kid-friendly, so I appreciate the movie as an earlier example of something that was trying to push against those boundaries. I knew it had to be Inviso's #40 because it's the only movie on this list offensive enough to get that kind of reaction lol.

I don't think R. Crumb's decision to kill off the character really speaks to the adaptation being bad, that guy's head is even further up his own ass than Bakshi's has ever made it. The movie is better in almost every way imo. Most of Fritz' dialog is verbatim from the comics, it's only his little speech right at the end that enraged Crumb, apparently. Fritz is even more despicable in the comics. He's the primary instigator of the abuse of Harriet in the original version. I thought the movie's take on that scene was actually meaningful, because it was the only time in the film that something was so appalling that Fritz, a completely hypocritical and self-serving person, actually took a stand, however weak it was.

The character design is definitely ugly, but between that and the sort of "naturalistic" voice acting, which I actually liked, I thought it had a deliberate aesthetic going for it. The actual animation on the other hand is great, and there are some really visually creative parts, my favorite being Fritz' rant about his exams, where he imagines himself being buried alive in papers. The pool scene where he meets Duke is another great example, it really comes a lot more alive and is much funnier than in the comics, where they were just sitting on bar stools and chatting. The gross sex scenes might actually have bothered me less because I'm gay, I think that entire section of my brain just turned off at those parts. I did like how they animated Fritz' dick bouncing around in that one scene lol