Review on Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Review on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This film noir uses both real human characters and cartoon ones and all of the cartoons were painstakingly hand drawn. Roger Ebert explains how it was done in a review on Chicago Sun-Times. 'How did they do it? First, they plotted every scene, shot by shot, so that they knew where the live actors would be, and where the animated characters would be. Then they shot the live action, forcing actors such as Bob Hoskins, the star, to imagine himself in a world also inhabited by cartoons (or "Toons," as the movie calls them). Then they laboriously went through the movie frame by frame, drawing in the cartoon characters. This is not a computer job.' (Ebert, 1988) 

Roger Rabbit

The cartoon characters shown are a blend of Disney's and Warner Bothers for the first time ever. This collaboration is mentioned on Filmsite.org. 'Unprecedented cooperation from Warner Brothers and Disney allowed for classic cartoon characters to be seen together for the first time, such as Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny parachuting together, having both Tinkerbell and Porky Pig end the movie, and, of course, the famous piano duel between Daffy and Donald Duck in a Cotton Club-style nightclub, the Ink & Paint Club.' (Filmsite, 2011) Perhaps the reason for this was to make as much money as possible and it worked, as quoted by Ben Falk in a review from BBC.co.uk. 'Visually stunning and creatively superior, Zemeckis's work is frequently staggering and always entertaining. Pulling off that old trick of Appealing to the kiddies, while also satisfying their cynical chaperones, it raked in over $350 million worldwide.' (Falk, 2001)

Characters from Disney & Warner Brothers

Rating;

List of Illustrations

Figure 1. Zemeckis, Robert (1988) Who Framed Roger Rabbit [Poster] At: http://www.impawards.com/1988/who_framed_roger_rabbit.html (Accessed on: 02.12.11)

Figure 2. Zemeckis, Robert (1988) Roger Rabbit [Screen cap] At: http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=7661 (Accessed on: 02.12.11)

Figure 3. Zemeckis, Robert (1988) Characters from Disney & Warner Brothers [Screen cap] At: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_cameos_in_Who_Framed_Roger_Rabbit (Accessed on: 02.12.11)

Bibliography

Ebert, Roger (1988) Who Framed Roger Rabbit http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19880622/REVIEWS/806220301 (Accessed on: 02.12.11)

Falk, Ben (2001) Who Framed Roger Rabbit  http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/04/11/who_framed_roger_rabbit_1988_review.shtml (Accessed on: 02.12.11)

Filmsite (2011) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) http://www.filmsite.org/whof.html (Accessed on: 02.12.11)