Heavy Traffic
Writer: Ralph Bakshi
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Release: November 17, 1973
Tagline(s): Heavy Entertainment!
More Spice from the makers of Fritz the Cat!
It’s animated, but it’s not a cartoon. It’s funny, but it’s not a comedy. It’s real. It’s unreal. It’s heavy.
The amorous life and misadventures of a virginal young pinball player…his Chicks…his Chums and a host of assorted weirdos in all colors.
Producer(s): Samuel Z. Arkoff, Steve Krantz
Co-Producer(s): Mark L. Rosen
Stars/Actors: Joseph Kaufmann, Beverly Hope Atkinson, Frank DeKova, Terri Haven, Mary Dean Lauria, Jacqueline Mills, Lillian Adams, Jamie Farr
Production Company: Cine Camera, Steve Krantz Productions
Genre(s): Animation, Comedy, Drama
ID: tt0070165
Rating: R
Runtime: 77 minutes
Synopsis: An underground cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.
Declassified by Agent Palmer: Rotospective: Ralph Bakshi’s Heavy Traffic is High on Detail, Consistency and Realism
Quotes and Lines
“What makes you happy? What makes you happy? Where do you go? Where do you go? Where do you hide? Where do you hide? Who do you see? Who do you see? Who do you trust? Who do you trust? Who do you screw? Who do you screw? What kills the pain? What kills the pain? Game up, game win. Bug around, set it straight. Transaction. Play it hard, hurts so bad. Gotta win. Everyone loses. Everthing loses. Gotta win big. Sick and tired of losing. Where does it all go? Where does it all go? Where does it lead us? Where does it lead us? Tilt City, Pinball Alley. Blinkin’ lights shot to Hell, fuck it all!” – Michael
Carole: Listen, Michael. Uh, first thing in the morning, we will take them big-ass drawings of yours up to one of them big cartoon syndicates. You can sell ’em, we’ll get some bread, get our clothes out of Angie’s house and split for San Francisco. And Shorty can’t roll that far.
Michael: I’m gonna tell you, Carole, I don’t wanna sell my cartoons to one of them places. They, uh – they ain’t gonna buy that crap anyway. I’m an underground cartoonist. That’s – that’s where I belong.
“Mick Jagger I’m not!” – Michael
“I died the day I married a goy!” – Ida
“Listen, mother, we just got to get it together. A couple of jobs ain’t nothin. This world ain’t gonna drop its drawers easy for you, just like you think I’m gonna do for you. And I’ve been playing easy games, bringing you along slow. But seein’ as how you don’t know a friend when you sees one, let’s see the kind of balls you got for a real man’s game. Okay, creep?” – Carole