Film Review: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

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Time is usually not very kind to the films that marked cinema history with technological breakthroughs. From Lumiere Brothers to this day, it is unlikely that films that initially left audience amazed with achievements not seen before would be that impressive or entertaining after such achievements become fact of life. One of rare films to escape such fate is Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988 period crime comedy directed by Robert Zemeckis, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of its time, but also the most successful blend of live action and animation in history of Hollywood.

The film is very loosely based on Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, semi-satirical novel set in a world where regular humans co-exist with comic strip characters. The opening is short animated film, made in style of 1940s Hollywood cartoons, made during the Golden Age of Animation and starring Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer). The sequence ends when plot switches to 1947 Los Angeles film set and Roger is revealed to be cartoon character (or “Toon”) in real life fumbling his lines during production. R. K. Maroon (played by Alan Tilvern), human head of the studio, is concerned that his main star’s problems are related to possible infidelity of his voluptuous “Toon” wife Jessica (voiced by Kathleen Turner). Private investigator Eddie Valentine (played by Bob Hoskins) is hired to find incriminating evidence and he indeed sees that Jessica is strangely close to Marvin Acme (played by Stubby Kaye), local human tycoon who owns “Toontown”, section of Los Angeles where “Toons” live separated from humans. When Acme gets murdered, Roger Rabbit becomes prime suspect. Although Valentine doesn’t like “Toons” because of his brother’s murder in “Toontown”, he reluctantly agrees to help Roger who is at the same time pursued by Judge Doom (played by Christopher Llyod), sinister-looking official equipped with “Dip”, liquid capable of melting “Toons” to death. When another murder occurs, Valentine’s investigation would point to conspiracy involving real estate and business speculation involving building of freeways in Los Angeles.

Unsurprisingly, film that relied on animation, was produced by Disney, studio with reputation for creating some of the most inventive animated films in history of Hollywood. However, crucial decision during pre-production was bringing in Steven Spielberg, then at the height of his power and clout, to the project. Spielberg convinced initially sceptical Disney executives to give direction to his protege Robert Zemeckis, a film maker known for ambitious projects and tendency to experiment with new film making techniques (like with his “Oscar”-awarded Forrest Gump). Production was indeed ambitious and the budget reportedly rose to 70 million US$, which is often cited as record sum for 1980s Hollywood. The money was, however, well-spent because Zemeckis and animation director Richard Williams had meticulously prepared. Each shot was carefully storyboarded, followed by shooting of live action segments with actors interacting with green screen, and around that footage animators were, using old school techniques of hand animation, added animated characters and content. The result was impressive, with cartoon characters seamlessly interacting with “human” characters in their world, just as human characters equally seamlessly interacting with cartoons in their world. This achievement, brought by classic special effects, is impressive even today, and even so when we consider that Zemeckis and Williams didn’t have computer graphics that even the low budget film makers today take for granted.

But the key to this film’s success was in the content – story and characters - rather than artisan display of film wizardry. Just as Zemeckis successfully blends live action and animation, the script by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman successfully blends two iconic genres of 1940s Hollywood – animated cartoons and film noir. There is a lot homage to Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies, classic Warner Bros. animated short series with many of their protagonists having cameo appearances together with those from classic Disney films, as well as those from other studios. Film is not only delight for fans of Hollywood classic animation, but also for fans of film noir. The script gives away strong influence to Chinatown, film, which despite being made decades after Classic Hollywood era, is often cited as one of the most representative of the genre. Some characters, plot elements and certain scenes are taken from it, usually with great comical effect.

But, most importantly, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is very entertaining film. Script has a lot of humour, but some of it is clearly intended for older and more adult audience than with most of Disney films. The example can be found in various double entendres and character of Jessica (perfectly voiced by Kathleen Turner) drawn perfectly the cartoon version of femme fatale. Human acting is top notch, especially in the case of Bob Hoskins, British character actor who did wonderful job in one of the rare leading Hollywood roles, perfectly encapsulating stereotypes of world-weary hard-drinking and cynical private investigator. Christopher Lloyd, who appears villainous Judge Doom, is also effective as his menacing adversary. The only thing that deprives Who Framed Roger Rabbit is musical score by Alan Silvestri which, while adequate, fails to properly hit period “feel”, especially when paired by some old pop standards “Why Don’t Do You Right?”, “performed” by Jessica (actually sung by Amy Irving).

Who Framed Roger Rabbit nevertheless triumphed at the box office and among the critics, winning three Oscars in technical categories. This success was quite justified and allowed Disney to re-position itself as dominant force in Hollywood animation in next ten years with the series of massive hits that would become known as Disney Renaissance. Today, even the viewers uninterested in Hollywood history are likely to be pleased.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)