Because of his involvement with Fritz the Cat (1972), several film books erroneously list Ralph Bakshi as the director of "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat", and many have come to believe that he actually directed the film. Bakshi expressed a dislike of "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat", stating that had Warner Bros. been allowed to make the changes they demanded in order to distribute Fritz the Cat (1972), the film would have turned out similar to "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat". "It would have been this cat that, once in a while, said something hip, and then falls in love with some girl and chases her all over town."
This was the first animated feature in Cannes history to compete as part of the official competition.
The director scrapped over 1,000 feet of footage to infuse the film with more topical material of the time, like Watergate, Vietnam, and the energy crisis.
Steve Krantz wanted Ralph Bakshi to do the sequel to Fritz the Cat (1972), and Bakshi didn't want to do it. He wanted to move on and do Heavy Traffic (1973). So, Krantz hired Robert Taylor to write and direct the sequel.
The first animated feature with an 'R' rating.