WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT

US, 1988, 103 minutes, Colour.
Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye, Kathleen Turner.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of the success films of 1988. It was a tour de force combination of live action and animation. Produced by Disney and Steven Spielberg, it was directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Romancing the Stone, Oscar for Forrest Gump). Animation was led by Richard Williams (Charge of the Light Brigade).

The film is a private eye thriller set in the late '40s. It echoes all the conventions of the private eye film. However, Eddie Valiant (played by Bob Hoskins) has to investigate a problem with cartoon characters, especially Roger Rabbit and his wife Jessica (song by Amy Irving, voice by Kathleen Turner). The villain is Judge Doom, played by Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future).

There is an interesting gallery of human characters, but there are also the favourites from the cartoon world including a piano duet between Donald and Daffy Duck, special appearances by Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and Dumbo as well as a range of cartoon characters that appear incidentally.. The film opens with an imitation cartoon with Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman which is an excellent homage to the cartoons of the past. The climax in Toon Town is also a tour de force of animation and live action.

The film highlights our love of the movies and our familiarity with the genres as well as delight in animation.

1. Enjoyable comedy? Animation? Private eye thriller? The skill of the filmmaking? Tribute to the past?

2. The quality of the animation? The Disney traditions and characters? The '30s and '40s style? The '80s technology? The pace and drawing of the cartoons?, Musical accompaniment? Sound effects? Characters, incidents? Slapstick and farce? Crises and violence? Resolution? Cartoons as funny and making audiences laugh?

3. The '80s characters, plots, private eye thriller, homage? The more permissive style of the '30s? The quality of the live action? The blending with the animation? The presentation of Toon Town? The piano duel with the ducks, Dumbo, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, the Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio, Betty Boop and the others?

4. The private eye thriller: Los Angeles, 1947, seedy atmosphere, the film studios, the transport in Los Angeles, the coming of the freeways? Guns, murder?

5. Roger Rabbit: appearance, voice, idiosyncrasies, married to Jessica, the cartoon with Baby Herman, the falling of the refrigerator, his crises in acting, the head of the studios, the set-up with Jessica, his sadness, drinking, the murder, hiding with Eddie, the bed, the kiss, the handcuffs? The searching of the weasel and hiding in the sink? At the hotel and singing and dancing, the cinema sequence and his watching the cartoons, in the cartoon car, Jessica hiding him, the final heroics? Hip type, the cartoon rabbit? Making people laugh?

5. Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant: seedy, his drinking, employed by the cartoon director, the job, the studio and meeting the Toons, his love for Dolores and memories of the past, the memory of his brother and the Toon killing him? Going to the bar, seeing Jessica sing, following her, the photos? Roger's sadness, the drink? The police and the identification of the body? His meeting with the head of Acme? The puzzle, Roger at home, the clash between the two, friendship, hiding him in the sink from the weasels, Dolores and her help, the investigation, the will, in the cinema, the clues, the cartoon car, Maroon's death and his suspicions of Jessica, going to Toon Town, the ugly Toon pursuing him, confrontation with Judge Doom, previously in the bar, The Dip and the final fight? The happy ending?

7. Judge Doom, his role in Los Angeles, the weasels, the truth, The Dip, his being a cartoon? His destruction? A cartoon villain?

8. Jessica, drawn that way, her song, the photos, the shooting, with Eddie, clash with Dolores, taking Roger, the difficulties of the ending?

9. Dolores and the bar, tough, her helping, sharing the adventures with Eddie and Roger?

10. The complexities of the murder plot, Maroon, the head of Acme, his jokes, at the hotel, Jessica, Titter Pac; the murders?

11. The highlights of the animation and live action: the club and the ducks, the penguins serving, the bouncer; the studio and the range of Toons around, Fantasia? The car and its energy?. The weasels and their action, at the end, their dying and going to heaven? Toon Town and its brightness, characters, happiness and songs, the ugly woman chasing Eddie? The special effects and their skill?

12. The focus on the case, the humanising of Eddie, the final kiss of Roger?

13. The film as popular art, tough and charm, audience responses to the genres?