Review - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're just days away from the start of Disney Renaissance Month, which in turn is part of a much larger celebration of one hundred years of Disney. So, for the last review before we get to the Disney Renaissance, let's take a look at 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Based on the mystery novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf, this movie was produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis, and features a cast that includes Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd. 

        So, we actually open with the production of Something's Cookin', which is a new cartoon starring Baby Herman and Roger Rabbit. Unfortunately, Roger fails at his lines after getting nailed on the head by a refrigerator, where instead of seeing stars as in the script, he sees birds instead, infuriating the directions, Raoul. The production of Something's Cookin' is observed by private detective Eddie Valiant, who used to work with his brother Teddy on solving cases involving cartoons, or Toons as they're also known. Eddie then goes to meet Roger's boss, R.K. Maroon of the Maroon Cartoons studio, who shows Eddie a newspaper headline that reads "Seen cooing over calamari with a not-so-new Sugar Daddy was Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon Cartoons star Roger." Maroon reveals he needs Eddie to take some pictures of Jessica sneaking around behind Roger's back to ease his worries. Eddie, however, has no interest in working in Toontown again, but Maroon tells him that Jessica works at the Ink and Paint Club, which is an entertainment venue for human patrons. Eddie only agrees in exchange for $100. Maroon agrees to it, but only gives him half, saving the rest for when the job is finished. 

        Now, what's really neat about this sequence is we see various cartoon characters, including the likes of Dumbo, and the ostrich, hippo, and brooms from Fantasia, and even Michigan J. Frog from the Looney Tunes. Now, we'll get to more cartoon characters as the movie progresses, but yes this is a rare instance of seeing both Disney characters and Looney Tunes on screen in the same movie. 

       Anyway, we learn that the reason Eddie needs the $100 is because he needs to pay that amount back to a former girlfriend, Dolores, who works at the bar that caters to those who ride on or work for the Pacific Electric transit system aka the Red Car, which has recently been acquired by Cloverleaf Industries. We'll get back to Cloverleaf later. Anyway, Eddie heads off to the Ink and Paint Club, where he witnesses the entertainment, which includes dueling pianos by Donald Duck and Daffy Duck, meets the wait staff, including the penguins from Mary Poppins, and Betty Boop as a cigar girl. Also in attendance is Toontown owner Marvin Acme, whose factory manufactures toon-related gags and props, including disappearing ink and the hand buzzer. However, it's when Jessica Rabbit finally appears that we she she's not a toon rabbit like Roger, but a bombshell woman, but still a toon. After her stellar performance of "Why Don't You Do Right," Acme heads to her dressing room, and after getting tossed out by the bouncer, who is a toon gorilla, Eddie takes pictures from outside the window. And I shit you not, the pictures are of Acme and Jessica LITERALLY playing a game of patty cake. Yes, seriously. Patty cake. 

        Anyway, Eddie shows the pictures to Maroon and Roger, who is distraught over seeing his wife playing patty cake with Acme, goes berserk after a shot of bourbon, and he leaves in a fit of jealous rage to ensure that he and his wife are happy again. Eddie, meanwhile, gets the other $50 from Maroon and heads back to his office/apartment, looking over the pictures that were developed, including the Acme/Jessica pictures, pictures of his time with Dolores, and pictures of himself and his brother Teddy. The next morning, after passing out drunk, Eddie is awoken by Lt. Santino of the LAPD, who informs Eddie that Roger killed Acme overnight, and Eddie should have come to the lieutenant if he needed money so badly. 

        Eddie and Santino head to the crime scene in the Acme Factory, where we see that Acme died of a safe being dropped on his head, and paint on the rope was a similar shade to paint from Roger's gloves. It's here where we're introduced to Judge Doom, who presides as a judge in Toontown, and his method of justice is to simmer toons in a substance called "the Dip," which is composed of turpentine, acetone, and benzine. Also, we meet the Toon Patrol, also known as the Weasels. This is a squad of weasels that work for Doom, and their names are Greasy, Psycho, Wheezy, Stupid, and Smart Ass. By the way, Smart Ass is the leader of the Toon Patrol. 

          Baby Herman, meanwhile, offers to pay Eddie to get Roger out of trouble, as he isn't a murderer, and Acme had a will that left ownership of Toontown to the toons. Eddie, however, refuses, but looks again at the pictures and sees that Acme DID have a will, just as Baby Herman said. Roger, somehow, snuck into Eddie's place to seek his help, as he was innocent and didn't kill Acme. Although, he was jealous when he saw the patty cake pictures, so he wrote Jessica a love letter using a blank sheet of paper and red lipstick. Eddie protects Roger from the Weasels, and takes him across the street to hide in a back room in Dolores' bar. 

        Back at his place, Eddie is confronted by Jessica, who reveals that she was coerced into posing for the patty cake pictures by Maroon, as Roger's career was on the line. Also, Dolores arrives to inform Eddie that Cloverleaf has put in a bid for Toontown, and will claim ownership unless Acme's will appeared by midnight. Eddie and Dolores then hear Roger causing a commotion in the bar, dancing and singing to the tune of "The Merry-go-round Broke Down." Eddie reprimands Roger for making a scene, but both are silenced when Doom shows up looking for Roger. After a bar patron named Angelo points to a non-existent rabbit he calls Harvey, Doom spots the record, and catches Roger's scent. Doom them makes his move to bait Roger out of hiding with what he calls the "Shave and a Haircut" trick. The trick works, and Roger is caught. However, before Roger is tossed into a can of Dip, Eddie offers Roger a glass of bourbon, and uses toon logic to get him to drink it. 

          After saving Roger from the dip, Eddie runs out of the bar with Roger, and the two spring Roger's friend Benny the Cab from the Weasels' truck. After losing both the police and the Weasels, Benny takes Eddie and Roger to a movie theater to hide, and it's here where Eddie reveals that his disdain for toons stemmed from the murder of his brother at the hands of a toon. The day in question has Eddie and Teddy chasing a toon who robbed the First National Bank of Toontown, and then the toon they were chasing dropped a piano on the brothers from fifteen stories up, breaking Eddie's arm and killing Teddy. Dolores arrives to give Eddie some things, and the two start to rekindle their relationship. A newsreel shows Eddie a connection he missed: Maroon selling his studio to Cloverleaf. 

         Eddie then confronts Maroon, who confirms that he saw a chance to sell his studio and retire, but Cloverleaf would only buy him out if Acme sold them his property, but Acme refused, leading Maroon to plan on blackmailing Acme with the patty cake pictures of Acme and Jessica. However, Maroon never meant for Acme to be killed. Maroon is shot by an unknown assailant, and Roger is taken by Jessica. To where? Well, none other than Toontown. Eddie, for the first time since Teddy's death, goes into Toontown, running into such toons as Lena Hyena, Droopy Dog, Tweety, Bugs Bunny, and Mickey Mouse. Ultimately, in an alley, Jessica confronts Eddie, and saves him from Doom, who was Maroon's killer. 

         Eddie summons Benny, who tries to help Eddie and Jessica chase after Roger, only for Benny to drive through Dip and crash. Doom and the Weasels then take Eddie and Jessica to the Acme Factory, where we see the real plan is revealed. Doom plans to retire as a Judge in Toontown, cash in his stocks in Cloverleaf, and use a massive machine to wipe Toontown from the face of the Earth with a mass quantity of Dip. The reason? To aid the city of Los Angeles in the construction of a freeway, which will be a faster means of travel by road. Roger arrives, haven been dropped off by Benny, and confronts Doom. Roger and Jessica are tied up together, and Eddie manages to save them by giving into his sillier side, defeating the Weasels, and causing Doom to be crushed by a steam roller. But, in a twist that no one saw coming, Doom is revealed to be a toon, but not just ANY toon. No, he's the same toon that murdered Teddy all those years ago. Eddie manages to evade all of Doom's attacks, and hit him with the vehicle's entire payload of Dip, destroying him. Eddie then manages to save Roger and Jessica, clear away all of the Dip, and free them from the rope tying them together. 

         Benny arrives with Santino and Dolores, and Eddie shows Santino the rope from safe used to kill Acme, how the paint on the rope is a match for the paint that was around where Doom melted away. In other words, Doom killed Acme, as well as Marion and Eddie's brother Teddy. Santino then remarks "Now, that's what I'd call one seriously disturbed toon." All of the toons of Toontown gather around, wondering who Doom really was, but it's a mystery we don't really know. And, hey, remember the ink stain from before, it pops up again. It turns out that it was Acme's Disappearing/Reappearing Ink, which he also used to write his will, which was the same paper Roger wrote the love letter to Jessica. And as the will states, Toontown now belongs to the toons. The toons of Toontown celebrate, Eddie and Dolores rekindle their relationship, and we have a happy ending. And as Porky Pig says to the audience: "That's all folks!" And with a wave of a wand by Tinker Bell, the movie is over. 

          Okay, so Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a technical marvel, as prior films like Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks used hybrid filmmaking of live-action and animation in only small segments of the movie. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, however, is predominantly hybrid filmmaking, combining live-action and animation seamlessly. It also amazes me how the actors were able to make it seem like they were acting alongside cartoon characters that weren't there, but really made it believable so when they were added later, it seemed perfectly in sync. 

            Now, obviously, Bob Hoskins' performance as Eddie Valiant is just as iconic today as it was years ago, and it's hard not to agree with that. Bob Hoskins just gives a gravitas to the role of Eddie that can't be replicated by any other actor. Similarly, Christopher Lloyd gives a real aura of menace as Judge Doom. You almost figure he must be a toon, but you still don't see the reveal coming. That's how good he is. I also thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Joanna Cassidy as Dolores, Stubby Kaye as Acme, Alan Tilvern as Maroon, and Richard LeParmentier as Lt. Santino. 

          The voice cast is nothing to shy away from either. Charles Fleischer is excellent as the voice of Roger Rabbit, and he also voices Benny the Cab, Greasy, and Psycho. Kathleen Turner was also iconic as Jessica Rabbit, and her vocal mannerisms were just fantastic. And, of course Wayne Allwine and Bill Farmer were excellent as Mickey and Goofy. Now, what's really cool is we got a mix of archived audio from Clarence Nash and new recordings from Tony Anselmo for the character Donald Duck. Mel Blanc would give his final performance as a majority of the Looney Tunes characters that show up in the movie, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Porky, and Sylvester. 

         And speaking of the Looney Tunes, how DID Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis get Warner Bros to allow their iconic characters to appear in a Disney production? Well, the fact that Spielberg is one of the biggest filmmakers working in Hollywood really was a big part of what made it possible. However, Warner Bros one caveat was that THEIR two main icons, Bugs and Daffy, needed to have equal screentime as DISNEY'S two main icons, Mickey and Donald. Which is why we see Mickey and Bugs on screen together, and the same goes for Donald and Daffy. And by the way, this is something that I don't think will ever happen again. 

       Simply put, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of those once-in-a-lifetime event films where the conditions were just able to come together perfectly. Now, prior to the passing of Bob Hoskins back in 2014, there had been talks of a possible sequel. However, his passing ended such talks, and any attempts to revisit the world of Roger Rabbit have pretty much been left behind, most likely because Disney has moved on from the character and the franchise. That's and I don't think it's possible to see the level of dedication and passion from all of the studios to make deals to cross over their classic cartoon characters into a single movie without someone wanting a more favorable deal out of it. 

          Even though we'll never see something like it again, Who Framed Roger Rabbit sits as a cultural touchstone in film history, and it would ultimately help to usher in the Disney Renaissance. It is for that reason that I'm giving Who Framed Roger Rabbit a rating of 5/5. Alrighty guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys on Wednesday for the official start of Disney Renaissance Month.