in the spring of 1970, warner bros. agreed to fund and distribute the film. the harlem sequences were the first to be completed. krantz intended to release these scenes as a 15-minute short if the film's funding was pulled; bakshi was nevertheless determined to complete the film as a feature. late in november, bakshi and krantz screened a presentation reel for the studio with this sequence, pencil tests, and shots of bakshi's storyboards. bakshi stated, "you should have seen their faces in the screening room when i first screened a bit of "fritz". i'll remember their faces until i die. one of them left the room. holy hell, you should have seen his face. 'shut "up", frank! this is not the movie you're allowed to make!' and i said, bullshit, i just made it."