1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit

For the last couple of years in the 80's it had seemed as if Steven Spielberg was heading into more serious territory. Since 1985 there had not been a Spielberg or Lucas production that had made it into the top 5 at the box office, contrasting with the previous five years.

It is hard to think that anyone else would have had the power to bring this together, as the story brought together, for the first and only time, characters from both Disney and Loony Tunes. The story would not have worked without it.

Eddie Valiant is a detective who specialises in Toons, those pesky cartoon Hollywood types. Roger Rabbit is s huge star and is framed for the murder of a studio head. Eddie is called in to save the day.

The way this works is absolutely amazing. We have Bob Hoskins, as Eddie, a real person, interacting beautifully with Roger Rabbit, who is a hand drawn cartoon; as well as Roger's wife, Jessica, a voluptuously drawn toon, and a host of characters.

In this movie we have a piano duet with Daffy Duck and Donald Duck; Bugs Bunny meeting Mickey Mouse and Yosemite Sam flying through the air. There are appearances from Betty Boop, Porky Pig and Tweety Pie.

The film was released throught Touchstone, an arm of Disney, who hired Spielberg to produce and Robert Zemeckis to direct. The seamless interaction between live action and animation is a wonder, even by today's standards. Bob Hoskins is excellent in his portrayal of a real private eye, down and depressed, stinking of booze, as his partner was killed. the other star of this movie is Jessica Rabbit, beautifully drawn and voiced by Kathleen Turner. She made cartoons sexy.

The making of this movie must have been so imaginative, and the fact it works so well is testament to all the crew who brought each scene to life in reality, using mechanical effects and props that would then be overlaid with animation.

The animation was produced by Richard Williams, who refused to do it in L.A. and so a Disney studio was created in the UK.

The film was a huge hit, critically and commercially. The first movie since Mary Poppins that fused live action and animation to such acclaim. It took $329m at the box office and a sequel has been mooted ever since. Though nothing has been forthcoming, and sadly, the lead, Bob Hoskins, has died.

However, the talking remains and we may head further into the land of the toons.




Search Abe Books for the novel and more - Who Framed Roger Rabbit Movie Adaptation Novel