He was fun to draw." As Crumb's personal life changed, Fritz would too. Fritz was bold, poised, had a way with the ladies-all attributes which Robert coveted, but felt he lacked." Ĭrumb denied any personal attachment to the character, stating, "I just got into drawing him. do great deeds, have wild adventures, and undergo a variety of sex experiences, which he himself felt he couldn't. According to Pahls, "To a great extent, Fritz was his wish-fulfillment . Thomas Albright describes Fritz as "a kind of updated Felix with overtones of Charlie Chaplin, Candide, and Don Quixote." Fritz's had a "glib, smooth and self-assured" personality, characteristics Crumb felt lacking in. Fritz is self-centered and hedonistic, lacking both morals and ethics. Marty Pahls, Crumb's childhood friend, describes Fritz as "a poseur", whose posturing was taken seriously by everyone around him. Several characters from the anthropomorphic universe of Fritz the Cat appeared in another Crumb comic strip, The Silly Pigeons, drawn in 1965 and intended for Help! In 1970, Crumb redrew an early Fuzzy the Bunny story written by Charles Crumb in 1952 it was published in Zap Comix #5. Fritz also appears briefly in Crumb's graphic novel Big Yum Yum Book: The Story of Oggie and the Beanstalk, drawn in 1964, but not published until 1975. Some of these strips would later be published in Help! and Cavalier magazines and in the underground comix. In 1964, when he was not working at American Greetings, Crumb drew many Fritz the Cat strips for his own amusement. With people I try more for realism, which is probably why I'm generally better with animals. I can put more nonsense, more satire and fantasy into the animals.they're also easier to do than people . I can express something that is different from what I put into my work about humans . Robert Crumb stated of his anthropomorphic work: Fritz the Cat serves as a product of early furry fandom. The characters talked to each other and nothing much happened. Crumb was later influenced by Walt Kelly's daily anthropomorphic funny animal comic strip Pogo Crumb did not copy Kelly's comics directly, but states that he imitated his drawing style closely Crumb admired Kelly's storytelling style, which "seemed plotless and casually done. Crumb states that much of the comic books he enjoyed as a child were funny animal comics, particularly those of Carl Barks. The look of Fritz the Cat comics was characterized by the use of the Rapidiograph technical pen and a simple drawing style Robert Crumb used to facilitate his story telling. įritz the Cat is set in a "modern 'supercity' of millions of animals." Stories begin simply and become increasingly chaotic and complex as the narative responds to uncontrollable forces. Sometimes Fritz was accompanied by Fuzzy the Bunny, who served as an alter ego for Charles, his creator. Fritz appeared in the early 1960s Animal Town strips drawn by Charles and Robert Crumb. By this point, the cat had become anthropomorphic and been renamed Fritz, a name derived from a minor unrelated character who appeared briefly in "Cat Life". The character's next appearance was in a 1960 story titled "Robin Hood". A second animated film, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, was produced in 1974 without the involvement of either Bakshi or Crumb.Ī panel from "Fritz Bugs Out" by Robert Crumb.įritz the Cat was created in 1959 by Robert Crumb in a homemade comic book story called "Cat Life", based on his experiences of Fred, the family cat. He published a story in which Fritz was murdered by an ex-girlfriend. It was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States and the most successful independent animated feature ever.Ĭrumb ended the strip in 1972 due to disagreements with the filmmakers. The directorial debut of animator Ralph Bakshi, it became a worldwide success. The strip received further attention when it was adapted into a 1972 animated film with the same name. Fritz the Cat comic compilations elevated the strip into one of the most iconic features of the underground scene. It subsequently gained prominence in publications associated with the underground comix scene between 19. The strip appeared in Help! and Cavalier magazines. Crumb began drawing this character in homemade comic books when he was a child. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, the strip focuses on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently goes on wild adventures that involve a variety of sexual escapades. Fritz the Cat is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |