Tales Of The Rat Fink is now on DVD.
The animated feature documentary on Classic Car creator Ed âBig Daddy Rothâ and
his signature character Rat Fink includes the voice talents of John Goodman,
Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and classic car buff Jay Leno..
Rat Fink and Ed âBig Daddy Rothâ are back in a blazing new feature animated
documentary. The souped-up story of custom cars, monster t-shirts, th
e anti-Mickey Mouse and the guy that started it all, TALES OF THE RAT FINK debuts
on DVD October 31st from Shout! Factory.
Produced and directed by Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential), this wildly
inventive âanimentaryâ is populated by the rebellious Rat Fink and Rothâs signature
cartoon monsters voiced by an all-star line-up including John Goodman (The Big Lebowski)
as âBig Daddy,â Ann-Margret (The Whoâs Tommy), Jay Leno (âThe Tonight Showâ), Brian Wilson
(The Beach Boys), Matt Groening (âThe Simpsonsâ),
Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test), and The Smothers Brothers
(âThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hourâ), with original music by The Sadies.
A favorite on the festival circuit, TALES OF THE RAT FINK debuted at South
by Southwest in 2006, screened at the Comic-Con International: Independent
Film Festival and was chosen as an official selection of the 2006 Toronto
International Film Festival. TALES OF THE RAT FINK arrives on DVD loaded with extras,
including a painting jam with Roth and legendary artist Von Dutch, original interviews, art galleries and more. The DVD will be available for the suggested list price of $19.98.
Ed âBig Daddyâ Rothâs art career began as an auto-obsessed teen in post-war
Southern California. He got his start pin-striping cars and soon graduated
to using junkyard parts and a new, inexpensive material called fiberglass to
build automobiles in his garage. To finance his creations, Roth sold t-shirts
airbrushed with cartoon monsters and souped-up cars to teenagers at drag strips
and county fairs. His most popular character was a repulsive rodent named Rat
Fink and it was âFinkieâ that ultimately brought Roth fame and fortune, adopted
by alienated youth as a counterpoint to the squeaky clean 1950s America
embodied by Disneyâs Mickey Mouse. Soon, Rothâs garage studio evolved
into a blue collar equivalent of Andy Warholâs Factory, with dozens of
employees assisting in the production of âKustom Kars,â t-shirts, records
and a bevy of bizarre cartoon characters trumpeting a new culture of Hot Rod rebellion.
