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Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. The film combines the use of traditional animation and live action with elements of film noir, and stars Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer, Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner and Joanna Cassidy. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is set in 1947 Hollywood, where cartoon characters (referred to as "Toons") commonly interact with the studio system of Classical Hollywood cinema. The film tells the story of private investigator Eddie Valiant caught in a mystery that involves Roger Rabbit, an A-list Toon who is framed for murder.
Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights to Who Censored Roger Rabbit? in 1981.
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Quotations
(As Eddie entertains the weasels) Hey, Eddie! Keep it up! You're killing 'em. You're slaying 'em. You're knocking 'em dead.
Betty Boop: Work's been kinda slow since cartoons went to color. But I've still got it, Eddie. Boop boop be doop, boop.
Birds: Hi, Eddie... hi, Eddie... hi, Eddie... bye, Eddie!
C'mon, Roger. Let's go home. I'll bake ya a carrot cake Roger chuckles....
Eddie, I could never hurt anybody..OW! My whole purpose in life is to...make...peoplllllllllle lllllllaugh!!
Eddie: Not really. That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon.
Encyclopedia
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. The film combines the use of traditional animation and live action with elements of film noir, and stars Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer, Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner and Joanna Cassidy. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is set in 1947 Hollywood, where cartoon characters (referred to as "Toons") commonly interact with the studio system of Classical Hollywood cinema. The film tells the story of private investigator Eddie Valiant caught in a mystery that involves Roger Rabbit, an A-list Toon who is framed for murder.
Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights to Who Censored Roger Rabbit? in 1981. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment to help finance the film. Zemeckis was hired to direct the live action scenes with Richard Williams overseeing animation sequences. For inspiration, Price and Seaman studied the work of Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, especially Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators.
During filming, the production budget began to rapidly expand and the shooting schedule lapsed longer than expected. However, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released with financial success and critical acclaim. The film brought a re-emerging interest from the golden age of American animation and became the forefront for the modern era. Roger Rabbit left behind an impact that included a media franchise and the unproduced prequel Who Discovered Roger Rabbit.
Plot
In 1947, Los Angeles, California, Toons commonly interact with the Hollywood studio system and live in a section of the city known as Toontown. Roger Rabbit is the star of "Maroon Cartoon" animated short subjects, but he has trouble following the director's commands, delaying the production. Rumours are going about that Roger's wife Jessica has a sugar daddy and studio head R.K. Maroon hires private investigator Eddie Valiant to look into the matter. Eddie, whose brother Teddy was killed by a Toon five years before, reluctantly takes the job. He discovers that the buxom Jessica is "cheating" on Roger by literally playing pattycake with Marvin Acme, owner of the Acme Corporation and Toontown. Eddie reveals photographic evidence to Roger, who sinks into depression. Marvin Acme is found murdered the next day, and Roger becomes the prime suspect.
At the crime scene, Eddie is met by Judge Doom of the Toontown District Superior Court and his Toon Patrol weasel henchmen. Doom is eager to use "The Dip", a mixture of chemicals that can dissolve any Toon character on contact, on Roger once he can be found. Eddie encounters Baby Herman, Roger's co-star, who swears that Roger is innocent and that Acme's will, which would have left Toontown to the Toons, has gone missing; if the will is not found by midnight, Toontown could be sold at a public auction. Roger himself turns up at Eddie's office and pleads his innocence.
Eddie begins to investigate the case deeper with his on-off girlfriend Dolores and a Toon taxicab named Benny while trying to keep Roger hidden from the Toon Patrol. Eddie discovers that Jessica was forced by Maroon to get close to Acme or else he would have ruined Roger's career. Maroon himself admits that he was forced into blackmail by another person, but before he can reveal who it was to Eddie, he is shot.
Eddie sees Jessica fleeing from the studio and, overcoming his anxiety, pursues her into Toontown. He recovers the gun that killed Maroon which, Jessica claims, was actually used by Judge Doom. As they attempt to bring Doom to the authorities, Eddie, Jessica and Roger are all captured by the Toon Patrol and taken to the Acme warehouse. Doom reveals his plans: as the sole stockholder in Cloverleaf Industries, he plans to buy Toontown, the Acme Company, and Maroon Studios, and then raze them to make way for a freeway for Los Angeles. To wipe out Toontown, Doom has built a vehicle with a large Dip vat that he plans to spray throughout the district, wiping out all the Toons. As Roger and Jessica struggle to avoid being hit by the spray of Dip, Eddie manages to get free and causes the weasels of the Toon Patrol to die of fatal hilarity through various comedic antics, leaving the Dip sprayer running automatically.
Eddie and Doom then fight, using assorted Toon props found within the factory, until Eddie is able to run Doom over with a steamroller. The crushing does not kill Doom; instead, Doom reveals himself to be a Toon, the same one that killed Eddie's brother. Eddie manages to open the drain on the Dip sprayer, showering Doom with the mixture and dissolving him. Eddie frees Roger and Jessica, their relationship having been mended, while the Dip sprayer harmlessly crashes through the warehouse wall into Toontown and immediately smashed by a Toon train. As numerous Toons enter the warehouse to see what the commotion is, Eddie discovers Acme's will. It was an apparent blank piece of paper that Acme had given to Jessica that Roger later wrote a love poem to his wife on, but the will itself was written in disappearing/reappearing ink. With the will in hand, the Toons celebrate the ownership of Toontown and sing "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile" while Roger and Jessica as well as Eddie and Dolores rekindle their relationships.
Cast
- Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant: An alcoholic private investigator who strongly dislikes Toons because five years before Eddie's brother was killed by a Toon dropping a piano on his head. Producer Steven Spielberg's first choice for Eddie Valiant was Harrison Ford, but he was asking for too much money.
- Charles Fleischer provides the voice of Roger Rabbit: An A-list Toon working for "Maroon Cartoons". Roger is eventually framed for murder for the death of Marvin Acme. To facilitate Hoskins' performance, Fleischer dressed in a Roger bunny suit and "stood in" behind camera for most scenes. Animation director Richard Williams explained Roger Rabbit was a combination of "Tex Avery's cashew nut-shaped head, the swatch of red hair...like Droopy's, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's overalls, Porky Pig's bow tie and Mickey Mouse's gloves." Fleischer also provides the voices of Benny the Cab and a member of Doom's Weasel Gang. Lou Hirsch, who supplied the voice for Baby Herman, was the original choice for Benny the Cab, but was replaced by Fleischer.
- Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom: The sadistic judge of Toontown District Superior Court. It is eventually revealed that Doom is indeed a Toon, and responsible for the death of Eddie's brother. Lloyd was cast because he previously worked with director Robert Zemeckis and Amblin Entertainment in Back to the Future. Lloyd decided it was best not to blink his eyes to perfectly portray the character.
- Kathleen Turner provides the voice of Jessica Rabbit: Roger Rabbit's physically attractive wife. Amy Irving supplied the singing voice, while Betsy Brantley served as the stand-in.
- Joanna Cassidy as Dolores: Eddie's on-off girlfriend who helps him and Roger solve the case against Judge Doom. Dolores is also a waitress.
- Alan Tilvern as R.K. Maroon: Short tempered owner of "Maroon Cartoon" studios. Maroon hires Eddie to find out what is bothering Roger in his poor acting performances. He is eventually murdered by Judge Doom.
- Stubby Kaye as Marvin Acme: Prankster-like owner of the Acme Corporation. The scandal of Acme playing pattycake with Jessica leads to his own death.
- Lou Hirsch as Baby Herman: Roger's frequent co-star in Maroon Cartoons. Williams said Baby Herman was a mixture of "Elmer Fudd and Tweety crashed together". April Winchell provides the voice of Mrs. Herman and the "baby noises".
Richard LeParmentier has a small role as Lt. Santino. Joel Silver makes a cameo appearance as the frustrated director at the beginning of the film. Archive sound of Frank Sinatra from "Witchcraft" was used for the Singing Sword. In addition to Charles Fleischer, The Weasel gang voices were provided by David L. Lander, Fred Newman and June Foray. Mel Blanc voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat. Joe Alaskey voiced Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn.Wayne Allwine voices Mickey Mouse.Tony Pope voices The Big Bad Wolf and Goofy.Russi Taylor voices the Birds and Minnie Mouse.Tony Anselmo voices Donald Duck.
Production
Development
Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights to Gary Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? shortly after its publication in 1981. Ron W. Miller, then president of the Walt Disney Company saw it as a perfect opportunity to produce a blockbuster. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were hired to write the script, penning two drafts. Robert Zemeckis offered his services as director in 1982, but Disney acknowledged that his previous films (I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars) were box office bombs, and thus let him go. When Michael Eisner became the new Disney president, he revamped the project in 1985. Amblin Entertainment, which consisted of Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, were approached to produce Who Framed Roger Rabbit alongside Disney. The original budget was projected at $50 million, which Disney felt was too expensive.
Roger Rabbit was finally greenlit when the budget went down to $29.9 million, which at the time, still made it the most expensive animated film ever greenlit. Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg argued that the hybrid of live action and animation would "save" Disney's animation department. Spielberg's contract included a extensive amount of creative control and a large percentage of the box office profits. Disney kept all merchandising rights. Spielberg convinced Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures (Famous Studios and Fleischer Studios) and Universal Pictures (Winkler Pictures and Walter Lantz Productions) to "lend" their characters to appear in the film. However, Spielberg was not able to acquire Popeye, Felix the Cat, Tom and Jerry or the Terrytoons for appearances. Terry Gilliam was offered the chance to direct, but he found the project too technically challenging. ("Pure laziness on my part," he later admitted, "I completely regret that decision.") Robert Zemeckis was hired to direct in 1985, based on the success of Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future. Richard Williams was hired to direct the animation sequences.
Writing
Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were brought aboard to continue writing the script once Spielberg and Zemeckis were hired. For inspiration, the two writers studied the work of Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, especially Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. Chinatown influenced the storyline. Price and Seaman said that "the Red Car plot, suburb expansion and urban political corruption really did happen," Price stated. "In Los Angeles, during the 1940s, car and tire companies teamed up against the Pacific Electric Railway system and brought them out of business. Where the freeway runs in Los Angeles is where the Red Car use to be." In Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, the Toons were comic strip characters rather than movie stars.
During the writing process, Price and Seaman were unsure of whom to include as antagonist. They wrote scripts that had either Jessica Rabbit or Baby Herman as the villain, but they made their final decision with newly-created character Judge Doom. Doom was supposed to have an animated vulture sit on his shoulder, but this was deleted for technical challenges. Doom's five-man "Weasel Gang" (Stupid, Smart Ass, Greasy, Wheezy and Psycho) satires the Seven Dwarfs (Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey) who appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Further references included The "Ink and Paint Club" resembling the Harlem Cotton Club, while Zemeckis compared Judge Doom's invention of "The Dip" to eliminate all the Toons as Hitler's Final Solution Benny the Cab was first concepted to be a Volkswagen Beetle instead of a Taxicab. Before finally agreeing on Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the film's title, working titles included Murder in Toontown, Toons, Dead Toons Don't Pay Bills, The Toontown Trial, Trouble in Toontown and Eddie Goes To Toontown.
Filming
Animation director Richard Williams admitted he was "openly disdainful of the Disney bureaucracy" and refused to work in Los Angeles. To accommodate him and his animators, production was moved to Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England. Disney and Spielberg also told Williams that in return for doing Roger Rabbit, they would help distribute his unproduced film The Thief and the Cobbler. Supervising animators included Andreas Deja, Simon Wells, Phil Nibbelink, Nik Ranieri and Dale Baer. The production budget continued to escalate while the shooting schedule lapsed longer than expected. When the budget was reaching $40 million, Disney president Michael Eisner heavily considered shutting down production, but Jeffrey Katzenberg talked him out of it. Disney moved forward on production, despite the escalating budget because they were enthusiastic to work with Spielberg.
VistaVision cameras installed with motion control technology were used to accommodate the split screen photography of animation and live action. Mime artists, puppeteers, mannequins and robotic arms were commonly used during filming to help the actors interact with "open air and imaginative cartoon characters". Filming began on December 5, 1986 and lasted for 7.5 months at Elstree Studios, with an additional four weeks in Los Angeles and at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for blue screen effects of Toontown. Post-production lasted for one year, and during this time ILM finished the color compositing. Jessica's dress in the night club scene, for instance, had flashing sequins, an effect created by filtering light through a plastic bag scratched with steel wool. Regular Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri composed the film score with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). Zemeckis joked that "the British could not keep up with Silvestri's Jazz tempo". The music themes written for Jessica Rabbit were entirely improvised by the LSO. The work of Carl Stalling heavily influenced Silvestri's work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Release
Michael Eisner, then president of The Walt Disney Company, complained Who Framed Roger Rabbit was too risqué with sexual innuendos. Eisner and Zemeckis disagreed over elements with the film, but since Zemeckis had final cut privilege, he refused to make alterations. Jeffrey Katzenberg felt it was appropriate to release the film under their Touchstone Pictures banner. Who Framed Roger Rabbit opened on June 22, 1988 in America, grossing $11,226,239 in 1,045 theaters during its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $156.45 million in North America and $173.35 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $329.8 million. At the time of release, Roger Rabbit was the twentieth highest-grossing film of all time. The film was also the second highest grossing film of 1988, only behind Rain Man.
Roger Ebert gave a largely positive review, predicting it would carry "the type of word of mouth that money can't buy. This movie is not only great entertainment but a breakthrough in craftsmanship." Janet Maslin of The New York Times commented that "although this isn't the first time that cartoon characters have shared the screen with live actors, it's the first time they've done it on their own terms and make it look real." Desson Thomson of The Washington Post considered Roger Rabbit to be "a definitive collaboration of pure talent. Zemeckis had Walt Disney Pictures' enthusiastic backing, producer Steven Spielberg's pull, Warner Bros.'s blessing, British animator Richard Williams' ink and paint, Mel Blanc's voice, Jeffrey Price's and Peter S. Seaman's witty, frenetic screenplay, George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic, and Bob Hoskins' comical performance as the burliest, shaggiest private eye."
However, Richard Corliss, writing for Time, gave a mixed review. "The opening cartoon works just fine, but too fine. The opening scene upstages the movie that emerges from it," he said. Corliss was mainly annoyed by the homages towards the Golden Age of American animation. Today, 43 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes indicated 98% of reviewers enjoyed the film, earning an average score of 8.2/10. The consensus reads: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit is an innovative and entertaining film that features a groundbreaking mix of live action and animation, with a touching and original story to boot." By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 83, based on 15 reviews.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit won Academy Awards for Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Film Editing. Nominations included Art Direction, Cinematography and Sound. Richard Williams received a Special Achievement Award "for animation direction and creation of the cartoon characters". Roger Rabbit won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as Best Direction for Zemeckis and Special Visual Effects. Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd and Joanna Cassidy were nominated for their performances, while Alan Silvestri and the screenwriters received nominations. The film was nominated for four categories at the 42nd British Academy Film Awards and won an awards for its visual effects. Roger Rabbit was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), while Hoskins was also nominated for his performance. The film also won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Legacy
The success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit rekindled an interest in the golden Age of American animation, and sparked the modern animation scene. In 1991, Walt Disney Imagineering began to develop Mickey's Toontown for Disneyland, based on the Toontown that appeared in the film. The attraction also features a ride called Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Three theatrical short cartoons were also produced. Tummy Trouble played in front of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Roller Coaster Rabbit was shown with Dick Tracy and Trail Mix-Up was included with A Far Off Place. The film also inspired a short-lived comic book and video game spin-offs, including PC game, The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle and a 1989 game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Controversies
With the film's Laserdisc release, Variety first reported in March 1994 that observers uncovered several scenes of subliminal antics from the animators that featured nudity of the Jessica Rabbit character. While undetectable when played at the usual rate of 24 film frames per second, Laserdisc player allowed the viewer to advance frame-by-frame to uncover these visuals. Many retailers said that within minutes of the Laserdisc debut, their entire inventory was sold out. The run was fueled by media reports about controversy, including stories on CNN and various newspapers. A Disney exec responded to Variety that "people need to get a life than to notice stuff like that. We were never aware of it, it was just a stupid gimmick the animators pulled on us and we didn't notice it. At the same time, people also need to develop a sense of humor with these things."
Gary Wolf, author of the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? filed a lawsuit in 2001 against The Walt Disney Company. Wolf claimed he was owed royalties based on the value of "gross receipts" and merchandising sales. In 2002, the trial court in the case ruled that these only referred to actual cash receipts Disney collected and denied Wolf's claim. In its January 2004 ruling, the California Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that expert testimony introduced by Wolf regarding the customary use of "gross receipts" in the entertainment business could support a broader reading of the term. The ruling vacated the trial court's order in favor of Disney and remanded the case for further proceedings. In a March 2005 hearing, Wolf estimated he was owed $7 million. Disney's attorneys not only disputed the claim but said Wolf actually owed Disney $500,000—$1 million because of an accounting error discovered in preparing for the lawsuit.
Prequel
With the critical and financial success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Walt Disney Pictures and Steven Spielberg felt it was obvious to plan a second installment. Nat Mauldin wrote a prequel titled Roger Rabbit: The Toon Platoon, set in 1941. Similar to the previous film, Toon Platoon featured many cameo appearances with characters from the golden Age of American animation. It began with Roger Rabbit's early years, living on a farm in the Midwestern United States. With human Richie Davenport, Roger travels west to seek his mother, in the process meeting Jessica Krupnick (his future wife), a struggling Hollywood actress. Jessica is kidnapped and forced to make pro-Nazi Germany broadcasts, thus Roger and Ritchie must save her by going into Nazi-occupied Europe. After their triumph, Roger and Ritchie are given a Hollywood Boulevard parade, and Roger is finally reunited with his mother, and father: Bugs Bunny. The film would have gone direct-to-video.
Mauldin later retitled the script Who Discovered Roger Rabbit. Spielberg left the project when deciding he could not satirize Nazis after directing Schindler's List. Michael Eisner commissioned a rewrite in 1997 with Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver. Although they kept Roger's search for his mother, Stoner and Oliver changed the story to Roger’s inadvertent rise to stardom on Broadway and Hollywood. Disney was impressed and Alan Menken was hired to write five songs for the film and offered his services as executive producer. One of the songs, "This Only Happens in the Movies", was recorded in 2008 on the debut album of Broadway actress Kerry Butler. Eric Goldberg was set to be the new animation director, and began to redesign Roger's new character appearance.
Spielberg had no interest with the project because he was establishing DreamWorks, although Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy decided to stay on as producers. Test footage for Who Discovered Roger Rabbit was shot sometime in 1998 at the Disney animation unit in Lake Buena Vista, Florida; the results were an unwieldy mix of CGI, traditional animation and live-action that did not please Disney. A second test had the Toons completely converted to CGI; but this was dropped as the film's projected budget escalated well past $100 million. Eisner felt it was best to cancel the film. In March 2003, producer Don Hahn said "don't expect a Roger Rabbit sequel anytime soon. Animation today is completely conquered by computers, and traditional animation just isn't the forefront anymore." In December 2007, Marshall admitted he was still "open" to the idea.
The Roger Rabbit dance
The Roger Rabbit became a popular dance move in the early 1990s. It was named after the floppy movements of the Roger Rabbit cartoon character. In movement, the Roger Rabbit dance is similar to the Running Man, but done by skipping backwards with arms performing a flapping gesture. Both The Running Man and The Roger Rabbit have since been called "outdated."
Further reading
External links
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