Music Watch: American Pop (1981)

Watched:  08/05/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Ralph Bakshi

Jesus.  Wish I'd seen this 30 years ago.  

Oddly, this movie was on TCM because it was a selection by actress Pamela Adlon, who was guest-hosting this film and Fame.  I don't know much about Adlon, but I think we could hang based on her description of her movie watching. 

A sweeping, multi-generational story starting with a turn-of-the-century Russian shtetl to the 1970's stages of American rock arenas, American Pop (1981) is a singular work of art.  I'm kind of pissed at whomever told me in the 1990's that I didn't need to see it.

Anyone with a love of 20th century American history, particularly pop culture (see the tag line for this blog) should give American Pop a spin.  It's a movie told in montage - but with mixed media, illustrated montage, combining cell animation derived from rotoscoped character work, stylized paintings, stock film footage, and more.  

I saw the film crudely described as a "juke box musical", which doesn't do what it does any justice.  Instead, the movie pulls you through a kaleidoscope of about 80 years, including both musical and entertainment stylings - the "pop"ular music of each era.  It's the *voice* of those eras and what was going on, combing familiar songs with real life events, from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to the 1950's organized crime hearings on Capitol Hill, to echoes of the deaths of famed music stars on the 1960's.  

The movie uses an incredible catalog of real music, which is how you get the "juke box musical" tag.  But it's not just "and then Elvis sang THIS song!", it's commentary and reflecting on the times as they unfold, and what the various generations are experiencing.  I've seen the Carol King musical, Beautiful, and it is the definition of a jukebox musical.   And it's great!  But American Pop is, I'd argue, more organic and manages to choose songs that really push the story along.

Prior to the showing, host Adlon and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz discussed the editing of the film, of the collision of images - and they're right.  You don't see this sort of thing too often anymore.  Editing has become a very A-B-C approach so we don't lose the normies in the crowd.  But there's some brilliant work here.  

The film crosses through four generations of the same family - the young Russian Jewish kid who falls backward into show business - vaudeville.  His son, who has natural talent as a piano player but goes off to WWII.  That man's son, who flees the New York suburbs to follow the path of the Beats and winds up writing songs for a Janis Joplin-like outfit.  And, finally - that man's son, who finally gets a shot at stadium-rock stardom.  

It's surprising how much both plot and character fit in the run of the movie.  And the sheer artistry that fuels the thing - using the cartoonist and painter's palette to say a 1000 words.

Ralph Bakshi rarely made work with kids in mind, and we were certainly in a period of Bakshi leading the way in this arena, while also getting films like Heavy Metal, intended for a young-adult audience, or even The Wall and its animated sequences.  Some of that folded into the early 90's animation boom in shorts, but by the time Bakshi's Cool World arrived - which is a chaotic and sometimes enjoyable mess - the Eisner-era of Disney had pushed the idea of animation for adults to the curb.

Anyway - maybe I'm ranking American Pop a bit too high.  I don't know.  But after being told it wasn't very good, I think I was in utter shock at what the movie does from all aspects - sound, animation, story...  it's something else.