 Heavy Traffic is a 1973 American adult animated comedy @-@ drama film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi . The film , which begins , ends , and occasionally combines with live @-@ action , explores the often surreal fantasies of a young New York cartoonist named Michael Corleone , using pinball imagery as a metaphor for inner @-@ city life . Heavy Traffic was Bakshi and producer Steve Krantz 's follow @-@ up to the successful and coolly controversial film Fritz the Cat , the first animated feature to receive an X rating . Though producer Krantz made varied attempts to produce an R @-@ rated film , Heavy Traffic was given an X rating by the MPAA . The film received positive reviews and is widely considered to be Bakshi 's biggest critical success . 
