A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Heavy Traffic
“More Spice from the makers of Fritz the Cat!”
Overview
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Director
Ralph Bakshi
Budget
950.0K
Revenue
1.5M
Status
Released
Production
Steve Krantz Productions, Cine Camera, American International Pictures
Cast
Joseph Kaufmann
Michael Corleone
Beverly Hope Atkinson
Carole
Frank De Kova
Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
Terry Haven
Ida Corleone (voice)
Mary Dean Lauria
Molly (voice)
Jacqueline Mills
Rosalyn Schecter (voice)
Lillian Adams
Rosa (voice)
Jamie Farr
Arcade Owner
Robert Easton
Charles Gordone
Crazy Moe (voice)
Michael Brandon
(voice)
Morton Lewis
(voice)
Bill Striglos
(voice)
Jay Lawrence
(voice)
Lee Weaver
(voice)
Phyllis Thompson
(voice)
Kim Hamilton
(voice)
Carol Graham
(voice)
Candy Candido
The Mafia Messenger (voice)
Helene Winston
(voice)
William Keene
(voice)
Peter Hobbs
Jerry (voice)
John Bleifer
(voice)
Ralph Bakshi
Various Characters (voice) (uncredited)
Jimmy Bates
Snowflake (voice)
Walt Gorney
Bum (uncredited)
Video Gallery
Heavy Traffic (1973 Theatrical Trailer)
