Who Framed Roger Rabbit
The Golden Age Of Cartoons had a certain style and mindset that was the same across the board no matter what studio produced the given piece of work, that of an animated world where political correctness was unknown, wanton violence and destruction was always used as a source of humor, and the general atmosphere and attitude for the mostly various animal characters was that right out of an insane asylum. Well up through the 1980s, these cartoons from the 30s, 40s, and 50s were the main fount of entertainment for children of all ages, with some of the brilliance of the writing and sight gags being on a par with the best live action comedians at the time. In 1988, a film was made that managed to do the absolute impossible when it came to legal wrangling of rights: to actually have legendary animated characters from both Disney and Warner Brothers (and a few other places) all manage to appear onscreen together in one project (albeit mostly in cameos) while the film itself served as the ultimate tribute to this style of comedy featuring voiceover work from such old pros as Mel Blanc and June Foray and yet also presenting itself as a surprisingly gritty homage to the old school detective Film Noirs that were prevalent at that time as well. As directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film portrays a world where cartoon characters (called âToonsâ) literally and amazingly interact in the same physical world as human beings, and moreso, are thought of as being second class citizens whose only useful purpose is considered to be their ability to entertain and make us laugh, but yet beyond that are looked down upon with contempt. Obviously doing this required that a LOT of animation be done, and since no computers were used and CGI didnât exist yet, the filmmakers relied on oldschool frame by frame handdrawn techniques that required a LOT of time to do, right down to recreating the shadows of the characters in real world environments, a task that would be considered so meticulous and cumbersome that it probably would drive the younger generation of computer animators crazy, not to mention the physical movements of the live actors would have to be pitch perfect in order to make everything match up. Since the established, copyrighted characters were only slated for cameos, that meant that the lead animated Toons had to be created from scratch, and in doing so that created a classic character in his own right, the title character Roger Rabbit as voiced by Charles Fleischer. Essentially a wacky âarchetypeâ of different characters and styles, Roger nevertheless comes off as suitably goofy and lovable in his own way, given an amusing speaking cadence by Fleischer who, interestingly enough, was so dedicated and into playing the role that when speaking his lines to the actors onset from off camera, literally wore a full rabbit suit while doing so complete with ears. In the male lead, we have the recently passed on Bob Hoskins, certainly one of the most underrated actors of this or any other generation, as Eddie Valiant, once known as a private dectective and de facto protector to the Toons, now a bitter alcoholic after the murder of his brother 5 years earlier before being called back into action, with his greatest gift being his innate ability to know the lunatic nature of Toons so well that he finds himself almost always able to outsmart them. The plot concerns Roger being suspected of the murder of an annoying but jolly old man and gag toymaker who apparently âownedâ Toontown (the Toonsâ home where he obviously spent a LOT of time being around these things) with the motive being the old man playing âpatty cakeâ (apparently a form of sex between humans and Toons) with Rogerâs super sexy animated wife Jessica Rabbit voiced by Kathleen Turner, who quickly entered the pantheon as the sexiest female cartoon character ever over even the super cute Disney Princesses. Roger turns to Valiant, the man who took the incriminating photos of these acts, for help in escaping the clutches of Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), the Grim Reaper like dispenser of justice for the Toons who seemingly serves as their law enforcement while also holding a murderous contempt for their brand of insanity, wanting to reign them in whilst actually inventing a way to âkillâ them using a toxic solution called Dip, in which he demonstrates its effectiveness by horrifyingly murdering a sweet, lovable, squeaky, red Toon shoe in a scene that traumatized children everywhere when they saw it upon release. And that right there is part of the edgy, dark side of this movie, with a number of mostly subversive sexual references and some questionable language, as well as a somewhat brutal murder scene involving a helpless, pathetic co-conspirator begging for his life, but with that also comes a sharp dose of black comedy at times, like the now seemingly down and out Betty Boop reduced to working as a cigarette girl since itâs the only work she can get since âcartoons went to colorâ. That and the somewhat bastardly like behavior of some of the more famous Toons, like Donald Duck and Daffy Duck trying to kill each other during their legendary piano duel, and Bugs Bunnyâs completely uncaring attitude towards our hero when he gets into some trouble and Bugs just kind of happens along. But the magic of the (still effective) special FX and the completely bonkers explanation of Judge Doomâs master plan at the end which also features Hoskins literally turning himself into a human cartoon character in order to save the day (one does wonder how he didnât pick up an Oscar nom on the acting side) helps preserve the wonder and awe of the whole spectacle, not descending into mindless kid movie junk but maintaining the spirit of its cartoon heritage (which has NOT been preserved in this day and age) while being mature enough at times for adults to enjoy and know that what they have witnessed is a masterpiece celebrating that of a vintage era that will never be seen againâŚ
10/10