| | | | Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(1988) |
hat can you not love about an existence where humans and cartoons live side by side and where playing pattycake is synonomous with making love?
Based on the novel "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" by Gary K. Wolf, this film directed by Robert Zemeckis is a four-time Academy Award winner which has become a contemporary classic of our time.
...And why is it a classic?
 All you have to do is consider the facts that no other "good" film has been made since which incorporates Disney, Warner Bros; and many other new cartoons alongside human beings and the fact that this film has an entire land dedicated to it called Toontown in Disneyland.
When push comes to shove, the main character of this film, which is set in Hollywood 1947, is Judge Doom played by Christopher Lloyd. It's because of Doom that Roger Rabbit gets framed for murdering Mr. Acme (the owner of Toontown) in the first place. He's also the reason Detective Eddie Valiant is a drunk. Since the death of his brother, Valiant has become a bit of a lush and has lost his credibility. Doom was the person, or rather the toon, who murdered Valiants brother. He also murdered R.K. Maroon, owner of the Maroons Cartoons Corporation.
All of these murders tie into the mian premise of this film. Mr. Acme has written his will in which he decides who gets to own Toontown after his death. Toontown is wanted by a lot of people, including Judge Doom. Dooms intentions for Toontown, however, don't look so great for the toons. He wants to destroy Toontown by coating the whole land and all of its inhabitants with a potion he's invented called "The Dip" (a mixture of Turpentine, Acetone, and Bincene) He then plans to put up freeways, which of course didn't exist yet in 1947, and become rich making a name for himself.
The end of Toontown would mean the end of many zany but lovable toons. Roger Rabbit is one of the most hip, but flawed, of these toons. Charles Fleischer provides the voice of this gregarious rabbit, who is married to the voluptuous Jessica Rabbit, who's a singer at "The Ink & Paint Club", and is played by the sultry voice of Kathleen Turner. There is even a "50 year old in a 3 year olds body" named Baby Herman, and a talking cab named Benny. These are just a few of the toons whose lives are at risk, including Mickey, Daffy, and Betty Boop, to name a few more.
The main "human" character is this film is Detective Valiant played by Bob Hoskins. Although he sounds like a 1940's wiseguy, in true life he is British but does an excellent job at impersonating an American accent. Valiant gets talked into helping all the toons out, which he is very reluctant to do because of the murder of his brother by a toon. However, the Detective steps up to the plate and becomes something of a hero to Toontown.
This film paved the way for other films like "Cool World" and "MonkeyBone" which were not nearly as successful or enjoyable to watch. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" takes the world of make believe and puts it in an adult world of cussing, sex, and booze (but in a tasteful, rated P.G. way). It was a prototpe of its kind and continues to be a favorite of both children and adults alike.
Think you're too old for cartoons?...Think again..!
Way awesome and totally important DVD news! Since "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was first released on DVD, there's been many a hue and cry for a new release, uncut, uncensored, anamorphic and filled with special features. Next year, in time for the Rabbit's 15th anniversary, a 2-disc Special Edition DVD of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" will be released. Buena Vista Home Entertainment is making it a Vista Series title, an honor given only to top-of-the-line Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures releases, and it will be produced by longtime Spielberg DVD producer Laurent Bouzereau. Most importantly, there will be new animation of Roger, Jessica, Baby Herman and the whole gang on the disc. That is NOT, I repeat, NOT a typo. Buckle up, gang... The Rabbit's coming back to DVD with a vengeance! [Thanks to John Edward Kilduff]
 Don't forget that Who Framed Roger Rabbit is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
|
| | | | 
I cannot forget how huge this film was when it was first released.
All of the guys in my second grade class at the time wanted to be Roger Rabbit for Halloween. We all thought he was "so cool".
It was a breakthrough for films and equated cartoons with human beings, showcasing them in a light we had never seen them in before.
|
| | | |  | 
This film set a record for the running time of its end credits. Almost eight minutes! 
| |
In the bar scene, where Judge Doom is trying to find Roger, one of the men in the bar says, "I've seen a rabbit," and makes a reference to Harvey. Harvey is the name of a ten foot tall invisible rabbit in a film by the same name starring James Stewart. Although the film version of "Harvey" did not come out until 1950 it was based on a stageplay which opened in New York in November 1944. -Thanks to Chris Louderback/Stephen Souter
The pass word used by Eddie Valiant for entrance into the "Ink And Paint Club" where Jessica and the ducks performed was -- "Walt Sent Me" -- a nod to Walt Disney.
Judge Doom picks up a record and reads it's label, "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", then says "Quite a loony selection for a bunch of drunken reprobates". The song is the familiar theme song for the Loony Toons Cartoons.
A prequel with the working title "Toon Platoon" never got out of the developmental stage.
There was a sequel to the novel "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" by Gary K. Wolf called "Who P-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit?" also by Gary K. Wolf.
Fast forward to the bar scene where Jessica Rabbit does her song number. When the screen pans out to show the whole stage, watch the polished catwalk in front of her. As she walks past it, her reflection is nude. During the scene when Jessica and Eddie are getting away in the taxi and crash into the lightpole, Jessica and Eddie are thrown from the car. As Jessica is spinning through the air, her skirt moves just enough to show that she's not wearing underwear. You can see the frames from the movie here.
Eddie enters a Toontown men's room which has the graffiti "For a Good Time, call Allyson Wonderland" in the background.
Although the film's title is a question, no question mark appears in the title, as this is considered bad luck in the industry.
Several voice actors make cameos as the voice of the character(s) they have played before. These are Tony Anselmo (Donald Duck), Wayne Allwine (Mickey Mouse) and Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester and Tweety Bird). But most noticeable is Mae Questel as Betty Boop. Mae did Betty's voice from 1930 until the character was retired in 1949.
The bowling balls Eddie holds in his hand at the Acme factory are in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
The ingredients of "dip" -- turpentine, acetone, and benzene -- are all commonly used as paint thinners and solvents, which of course means they would spell certain death for the "ink and paint" residents of Toontown.
The Disney Afternoon character Bonkers Bobcat was created because Amblin Entertainment, co-owner of all of the characters created for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," refused to allow Disney to produce a TV series incorporating characters from the film.
Judge Doom is the sole stockholder for Cloverleaf Industries and envisions a place where cars get on and off the freeway all day and all night... A series of exits from a freeway is commonly referred to as a cloverleaf.
The song played by Daffy and Donald Duck in the Ink and Paint Club is Hungarian Rhapsody, a song featured in numerous cartoons, including an Oscar winning Tom & Jerry short. -Thanks to John Edward Kilduff
At the end of the movie when all the characters come out of the wall there is a train that goes by. If you play it in slow motion you see that the train has silhouettes of characters being beaten, shot and stabbed. -Thanks to Shelly
« Click
here to add some Who Framed Roger Rabbit trivia
Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Who Framed Roger Rabbit DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Who Framed Roger Rabbit or 80's Family Fun classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Annie ..... Labyrinth ..... E.T. ..... Dark Crystal ..... Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ..... Goonies ..... NeverEnding Story ..... Wizard ..... Dragon That Wasn't (Or Was He?) ..... Savannah Smiles ..... Ratboy ..... Frankenweenie ..... Santa Claus: The Movie ..... Explorers .....[More]
| | | |
Joel Silver's cameo as the director of the Baby Herman cartoon was a prank on Disney chief Michael Eisner by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg. Eisner and Silver hated each other from their days at Paramount Pictures in the early '80s, particularly after the difficulties involved in making 48 Hrs. (1982). Silver shaved off his beard, paid his own expenses and kept his name out of all initial cast sheets. When Eisner was told, after the movie was complete, who was playing the director - Silver was nearly unrecognizable - he reportedly shrugged and said, "He was pretty good."
Bob Hoskins watched his young daughter to learn how to act with imaginary characters. He later had problems with hallucinations. Hoskins son was reportedly furious that his father hadn't brought any of his cartoon co-stars home to meet him.
Jessica Rabbit's speaking voice was performed by Kathleen Turner, and her singing voice was performed by Amy Irving. Turner was uncredited.
Terry Gilliam considered directing this film, but decided it would be too difficult.
Benny the Cab drives across a bridge while being pursued by the weasels. The bridge used crosses the freeway that runs by the Walt Disney Studio lot on Buena Vista Ave, in Burbank of Los Angeles County, California.
This movie was in development as early as 1981. Charles Fleischer sounds zany enough as the eponymous star of this movie, but his unique tones weren't first pick. Disney was actually looking to use the voice of Paul Reubens, alias Pee Wee Herman, for the voice of Roger. I said it before and I'll say it again: Oh, what the possibilities could've been.
Some scenes of Eddie Valiant in the taxi are actually drawings of Eddie Valiant instead of pictures of Hoskins.
During filming, Charles Fleischer sometimes delivered Roger Rabbit's lines out of camera range while wearing a pair of rabbit ears, yellow gloves and orange over-alls.
Judge Doom's conspiracy is based on a true story. In the 1930's, GM, Firestone Tires, Standard Oil, Phillips Petroleum and Mack Truck entered into a conspiracy to buy up trolleys nationwide and replace them with buses (running on their own products). The companies were convicted of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1949 and fined $5,000 each.
Scenes were worked on that would've featured the Popeye characters, but they never made it into the final cut. -Thanks to John Edward Kilduff
Reportedly Disney stated that Mickey Mouse had to have exactly the same lines and air time as Bugs Bunny. Hence them being in all their scenes together. -Thanks to Michael Gardiner
Reportedly Disney stated that Mickey Mouse had to have exactly the same lines and air time as Bugs Bunny. Hence them being in all their scenes together. -Thanks to Michael Gardiner
Props carried by cartoon characters were puppeteered either with rods going downward or wires. -Thanks to Bellina
«
Click
here to add a new Behind-the-Scenes item for Who Framed Roger Rabbit
|  |  |  | | Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Locations |
|
| | |
The Griffith Park tunnel serves as the road entrance to Toontown. The same location was used as the entrance to NORAD in WarGames (1983)
This same tunnel was also used for the Biff Tannen / Marty Hoverboard chase scene in Back to the Future 2, another Robert Zemekis movie.[Thanks to Doug Reilly]
Exteriors of the Maroon Cartoon studios were shot at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California. [Thanks to John Edward Kilduff]
Can you help? Do you know any of the filming locations used for Who Framed Roger Rabbit? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette |
| | | | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette |
|
| | | |
The opening track on the Sting's "...Nothing Like the Sun" album called "The Lazarus Heart" was originally written as the movie's musical finale, at an early stage of the movie's production when the book's tragic ending was still in the script. When the studio ordered its default ending to be used at the film's end, in which Roger is alive at the end of the duel, however, the song was deleted from the script and ended up on Sting's album instead. [Thanks to Steven Kostis]
This soundtrack is cute and is mostly songs from Warner Bros. Cartoons. It has recently been remastered and re-released. Track listing:
1. Maroon Logo
2. Maroon Cartoon
3. Valiant and Valiant
4. Weasels
5. Hungarian Rhapsody [Dueling Pianos]
6. Judge Doom
7. Why Dont Do Yod Do Right?
8. No Justice for Toons
9. Merry-Go-Round Broke Down [Rogers Song]
10. Jessicas Theme
11. Toontown
12. Eddie's Theme
13. Gag Factory
14. Will
15. Smile Darn Ya Smile/That's All Folks!
16. End Title
The song "Smile Darn Ya Smile", which the toons sing when Valiant first arrives in Toontown and also at the end of the picture, is featured in an eponomous 1931 Warner Bros. Merrie Melody.
«
Click here to add new music trivia for Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Soundtrack Available:
On CD
| | | |
 NEW!
Use our radical Retro Assistant to show you the most accurate information for hard-to-find Who Framed Roger Rabbit products anywhere on the web...
At a glance, you can now see all the Movie
releases, Soundtracks
or Movie
Posters, Scripts and Books ever available with online price comparisons, even if they're
rare, out of print or only available in another country!
Over 3 years in development and covering more than 10,000 of the
best products hand picked by our editors, we think it's the most fun and retro way to celebrate the era --and find what you
want.
It covers Who Framed Roger Rabbit DVD,
VHS,
Blu-ray,
HD-DVD,
Downloads,
Soundtrack
CDs, Movie
Posters, Scripts, Books and more... Why not give
it a try...
The
80's Movies Rewind is proudly a spam-free
non-commercial site, written by movie fans... for movie fans.
If
you enjoy this site, please help to support us and keep us
POP UP & SPAM FREE by ordering your stuff through our services.
As you probably already know, we
are not a corporation, but just 80's fans like you...
| | |
 | | Recent
Additions |
March 3, 2008: Commando USA / UK Blu-ray Coming Soon.
February 28, 2008: Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Soundtrack Update.
Previous
additions
We're always updating and improving, so please and check back with us regularly...
|
| | |
