Who Framed Roger Rabbit

I saw this movie for the first time at my cousin's house when I was quite young. I count it as my first late night movie because it was well past my bedtime. Over the years, I have become more and more amazed with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". As a child, the cartoon characters entertained me. As a teen, I was very impressed with the interaction between the toons and live action props. I still am but now as an adult, I realize that the level of special effects on this film goes further. The story alone is pretty good and it is made better because of the use of animated characters and the risks the filmmakers took. The performance of the late Oscar nominated actor Bob Hoskins also did wonders for the success of this groundbreaking film.

Executive producer Steven Spielberg, director Robert Zemeckis and others took huge risks in making this film. This forced them to work hard and when you care enough about making a movie, history can happen. One chance they took was the look of the movie in which the 1940's film noir genre was mixed with the animated short cartoons of the same era. One would normally not put those two genres together but when you tone down the film noir just a little and given some of the toons an edge, it all somehow works. Because there were a variety of popular animation styles in the 40's, Zemeckis took the best characteristics of all of them. The end result is Disney's high quality of animation, Warner Brothers-esque characters and Tex Avery comedy. The opening scenes were well created to establish this unique overall style. We first have the jazzy score during the opening titles (much of the jazz music in this film is improvised by the way). Then all of a sudden, we are thrown into a cartoon that displays all of the aforementioned characteristics. This cartoon also helps to differentiate Roger from Bugs Bunny. Just as we get used to that, a human being unexpectedly comes into frame. Zemeckis loves long duration shots with complicated special effects and the first long shot of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" not only reveals the revolutionary lighting on the animated characters but also reveals our protagonist: Eddie Valiant. Another important long shot is on the Maroon Studio lot. It further establishes the kind of interaction we are going to see between the real and the animated world. Another great scene is the Ink and Paint Club because the special effects go even further with the Octopus bartender and the Duel of the Ducks (I will talk about this later). By this point in the story, it has already been established that Eddie hates toons but his interaction with Betty Boop is an indication that his hatred is merely skin deep. Film noir has its share of Femme Fatales and so a character like Jessica Rabbit fits right into this story. She also represents Red from Tex Avery cartoons. Her attractive power is most illustrated by the facial expressions of Hoskins. I get a kick out of the fact that when Marvin Acme and Jessica are playing patty-cake off screen, it turns out to be just that and nothing more. When you look at the photos of Roger together with Jessica however, Jessica's eyes sincerely at least to me read "true love" and that is a small clue from the filmmakers. At his office, Eddie comes across some old pictures of his brother and the sorrow on his face is heartbreaking. The quivering lip feels so genuine. In truth, Eddie doesn't hate toons but instead he misses his brother. Toons remind Eddie of the fun times he had with Teddy and to deal with the sorrow, Eddie has turned to the bottle. I like the long exposition shot of Eddie and Teddy's desks. It reminds me of the first shot of "Back to the Future". Off camera, as we are shown the pictures on the desk, Hoskins takes his jacket off, prop men change some things on the desk next to Hoskins and the lighting is altered at just the right moment so that there is a very smooth transition from night to morning. It is really well done. This shot does wonders for the story because we learn that the brothers' father was in the circus. Teddy and Eddie became cops and as detectives, they specialized in helping toons. All of this creates sympathy for Eddie and the movie suddenly gets interesting with the news that Roger supposedly killed Acme.

Eddie may no longer work for toons but he still loves detective work because at the Acme factory crime scene, Eddie can't help but look for clues. Instead of telling a "whodunit" story, the filmmakers seem to make it obvious that Judge Doom is the mastermind from the get go thanks to music, costume and performance. The mystery is instead about why and who else is involved in this frame job. The script also contains plot twists. Eddie may have a thing against toons but Doom goes too far in his mind by wanting to kill toons. There was some controversy with the moment when Doom dips the toon shoe but for me, it is an important story moment. We must see a toon die so that we will fear for the well being of other characters. Back at the office, Eddie finds Acme's will in the pictures and learns full well that Roger is innocent. With no motivation however, Eddie ignores this revelation. Even though Eddie is later handcuffed to Roger, Eddie still has a choice. It would be easy for him to pretend that he caught Roger in front of the weasels but Roger's mention of dip I believe is the turning point. He takes the case but justifies it to Dolores by saying that he doesn't like being used by a criminal. His initial theory is that Maroon and Jessica are behind everything but then Cloverleaf's interest in Toontown seems to indicate otherwise. After escaping the toon patrol, Eddie and Roger have a moment where Eddie tells the story of how Teddy died. The smart people watching, by way of this monologue, can tell that Eddie is going to see "those burning red eyes" and hear "that high, squeaky voice" once again before this movie is over. The trail for Eddie in solving this frame job seems to have gone cold until he see the connection between Maroon and Cloverleaf on the newsreel. Then when Jessica shows up on the studio lot, Eddie's theory appears to be validated. As Maroon confesses, Jessica's side of the story from earlier in the film about blackmailing Acme seems to be confirmed but then Maroon is silenced from saying anymore. Jessica flees the scene as the apparent murderer into Toontown making Eddie stop in his tracks. He is going to have to face his demons if he wants to solve this case. After acquiring the appropriate weapon, he goes to take a drink but suddenly realizes that he didn't drink alcohol before when going into Toontown. He started drinking to overcome his sorrow but instead, it kept him away from what he and his brother loved so much. He therefore symbolically shoots the bottle with a toon gun and bullet. In Toontown, Jessica reveals that Doom is the real criminal with Doom himself admitting it. In order to get ownership of Toontown for entrepreneurial purposes, Doom had to do three things: dismantle the Red Car, obtain the deed to Toontown from Acme and get rid of Maroon Cartoon Studios so that the toons will have no reason to exist at all. When it becomes apparent that Acme won't sell, Maroon is manipulated into trying to change Acme's mind so that a patsy can be created for the eventual murder of Acme. Roger ends up becoming that patsy because of the blackmailing plan that Maroon cooks up. With Acme out of the picture, Cloverleaf agrees to buy Maroon's studio and so the only loose end to tie up is Acme's will because it leaves the deed of Toontown to the toons. With the will still missing, the deadline approaching and our heroes being held captive at the Acme factory, it appears that Doom has won until Eddie gets an idea to even up the odds. I love the audio cue of Eddie's idea because it is fitting for this kind of movie. Eddie walked the walk by going into Toontown but now he must talk the talk in order to get rid of the weasels. He will have to completely put aside his grudges against toons to save his friends. I like how everyone is confused at first when Eddie begins to dance and sing but even I start to laugh when Eddie electrocutes himself on purpose. Eddie comes out the victor and even gets resolution for his brother's murder. As with all mystery movies though, the last piece of resolution is saved for the very end. In this case, it is the location of Acme's will. Once Eddie sees the disappearing/reappearing ink bottle, he realizes the ironic truth. Roger's love letter that the bad guys have all handled was written on the "blank" piece of paper that Acme gave to Jessica. Eddie does a tasteful thing to reveal the will by having Roger discover it.

As you can tell, I feel that all those involved in making this movie deserve a lot of credit. Steven Spielberg wanted Harrison Ford as Eddie Valiant and I can see that working but I really have trouble imagining Bill Murray, who was another consideration. Just as Mark Hamill's performance in "The Empire Strikes Back" made Yoda a credible character on screen, Bob Hoskins' performance allowed us to accept the toons as they interact with the real world. Other actors may not have treated this role with as much professionalism. This was my first movie of Hoskins' and it is still my favorite. I have already mentioned many of his great moments in this show but I have a couple things yet to mention. For the longest time, I thought his accent in the movie was real. What is even more amazing is that he would use his real British accent when the cameras were off. I don't think I could do that and still maintain the accent of the character. All the actors in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" went through mime training because getting the correct eye lines were a very important part during the filming. Hoskins' performance with a cartoon rabbit that would be added later was very believable. As a kid, I didn't recognize Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom thanks to his costume. When Lloyd was reading the script for the first time, he guessed correctly the true identity of his character. Throughout the whole movie if you are watching, Lloyd never blinks and he pulls off a great villain. I love when the weasels show up for the first time in the movie and they barely miss hitting Doom as they drive by. Lloyd doesn't even flinch. Other great performances come from Joanna Cassidy as Dolores and Richard Ridings as Angelo. Film producer Joel Silver plays Raoul, the cartoon director at the start of the film. The voice actors on this movie are noteworthy for sure. Most of the time, these actors would be on the set and speak their lines off camera during filming. Some of that dialogue would end up being used in the final film. Charles Fleischer not only was the voice Roger but also Benny and other characters. Kathleen Turner's voice was perfect for Jessica in that it was low and passionate. She was in Zemeckis' "Romancing the Stone" by the way. Almost every cartoon voice actor of the time contributed to this film; from the great Mel Blanc to Nancy Cartwright and April Winchell. This was one of the last times that Blanc would voice the famous Warner Brothers characters before his death in 1989. The work of Canadian animation director Richard Williams should not be left out. He designed Roger to reference every famous cartoon character of the 40's. His expressive ears are also notable in terms of animation. The designs of the famous cartoon characters were that of the time period. Take Tweety and Daffy for example because they look different from what I am used to personally. Speaking of that, this movie marked the first time that Disney characters appeared alongside Warner Brothers characters. It is all thanks to Steven Spielberg as the negotiator. Chuck Jones even contributed to this movie. In the bar scene, there is a humorous reference to "Harvey" but that movie didn't come out until 1950. I guess I can overlook that mistake because you also have Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in this show briefly and they were also products of the 1950's. Finally, Alan Silvestri's score is pretty good.

In the early 80's, as the movie was being written, Robert Zemeckis offered himself as director but Disney wasn't impressed by his track record. This all changed after the success of "Romancing the Stone" and "Back to the Future". Previous to this film, live action/animation sequences were short in duration such as on films like "Mary Poppins" or "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". Even "Pete's Dragon" seems simple when you consider the amount of characters and length of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Zemeckis wanted to shoot the movie as he would any live action film, which meant moving the camera. Usually, the live action directors would have restrains placed upon their work to make things easier for the animators. Zemeckis' desire for freedom meant a lot more work would be required of the animators. Zemeckis knew however that the movie would be more popular if they audience saw things they never had before in this genre. I have already mentioned a few examples of the film's extensive use of toons interacting with live action props. I get a kick out of Benny (a toon car) driving a real car. My favorite sequence is Donald and Daffy's piano dual. The speed of that sequence is what is most impressive. It is obvious that these are two automatic pianos but what is amazing is that the animators can match the cartoon characters' hands with the keys at that pace. When you add the complex cinematography, your jaw drops. Another achievement in this show is cartoon characters interacting with real water like in Eddie's sink. A weasel splashes water at Eddie (I can't figure that one out yet) and that is real water coming out of Roger's mouth. Dumbo behind Maroon's blinds may be easy today but in the late 80's, it was hard. Then there is the Toontown sequence where Bob Hoskins is the only thing real. This was made at a time when acting in front of a blue screen was brand new. If you still aren't impressed, the filmmakers didn't just animate and combine, as was the case in past movies in this genre. Industrial Light and Magic took every piece of animation and added lighting/shadow effects. No computers were used in the making of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" but instead optical cameras. During filming, every shot with animated characters would be filmed twice. The first time, life-sized rubber dummies would stand in for the toons so as to help the special effects artists know how to light the characters. Zemeckis would handle these dummies himself many times. The second time would be shots used in the final film with nothing there or mechanical rigs that would handle the live action props. After seeing a test scene, one studio executive thought Roger was a man in a rabbit suit. I have to admit that the scenes where there is low lighting are really cool such as the secret room in the bar. The special effects helped make the characters more 3D in appearance but the filmmakers were careful not to go too far. Otherwise, the beloved characters in the movie would not look like what we are used to. Another first for this movie is that in some shots, the toons are out of focus so that our attention is directed on what we should be looking at. This live-action use of camera focus is effectively applied to the cartoon characters.

This film almost was never completed due to its complexity. Another hurdle was the fact that the movie was filmed and animated in London, the special effects were done near San Francisco and the studio in charge was in Hollywood. Jeffery Katzenberg at one point had to stop Michael Eisner from shutting the movie down as the budget escalated. Katzenberg was convinced that this show was going to save Disney Animation, which was at the time slowly making a comeback. Then, when uncompleted scenes from this movie were first shown to a test audience, the results were awful as the audience walked out. Zemeckis stood his ground when the suggestion of changing the movie was discussed. As the movie neared completion, the test screenings got better and better. The movie became a big hit as the second highest grossing movie of 1988. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is the first (and so far, only) traditionally animated/live action film to win four Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing. Most importantly, Richard Williams won a Special Achievement Oscar for his work. It was also nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Sound. Because of the success of this film, Disney got serious in its production of "The Little Mermaid" so as to ride this wave (sorry for the pun) of interest in feature-animated films. One might credit Steven Spielberg for saving feature animation when you think about it because of his role in this film and because of his collaboration with Don Bluth, which provided major competition with Disney in the 80's.

This is my favorite film made in 1988. I got to see it in a packed theatre for its 30th anniversary and people sure were laughing a lot, including moments that I don't see as funny such as Doom's vision of how to profit from the freeway. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" paved the way for the use of blue screen in movies as well as acting with characters that would be later added in post-production. This movie however is one of the last of its kind, as computer animated characters have become the norm. People today take the work done on this movie for granted. Things are easy today with computers but as I said, this film did not use computers. The animation and special effects are awesome and the story is entertaining. Bob Hoskins created a great character and gave a performance that makes it possible to accept the reality of his co-star. The film has a lot of eye candy but the story is not put on the back burner and that makes me very happy.

4.5 Stars