da science: more than just animation!

in 1981 i sat down in a movie theater and watched an animated flick that i have been obsessed with for 30yrs American pop! it's a story about a family of Russian Jewish immigrants musicians that spans decades. it was produced & directed by Ralph Bakski of fritz the cat fame.it was like nothing i ever seen before! the animation was on some other ish! the story was deep! the soundtrack featured jazz,rock&roll,r&b classics! it starts in 1890 and ends in 1980. it had mob and maffia intanglements all the stuff i like in a good flick!

they used a technique called rotoscoping that's where they film actors doing scenes and then draw over the footage giving the animation a realistic and fluid look. i didn't see it again until it made its cable run around 1982 and unfortunately i didn't have a vcr at the time lol! so you can imagine my frustration of not having this masterpiece in my possession! they didn't release it on dvd until mid 90s. note: some of the characters and events in the film are based on real life icons Janis Joplin,,Grace Slick,Jimi Hendrix (who acually appears in the film )make this and all around classic!