April 14, 1972 –
The first animated film to receive an X rating, Fritz the Cat, directed by Ralph Bakshi in his directorial debut, was released in the US on this date. In spite of its rating, the film went on to gross over $90 million worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing independent animated films of all time.
According to Ralph Bakshi, two of the animators didn’t work on the film for long. The first just wanted to draw dirty pictures, had no animation experience, and were fired for it. The second had animation experience, but couldn’t bring themselves to tell their family what they did for a living, and quit.
The Haus of Dcaligari 