Who Framed Roger Rabbit
“I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.”
Amalgamations are the cornerstone of logline pitches. Titanic was sold as Romeo + Juliet meets A Night to Remember. The Lion King is Hamlet meets Bambi. But would you give money to a bunch of guys who said they wanted to make a crossover between Chinatown and Fantasia? The idea that Sam Spade or Jake Gittes exist in a world where Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse meet up on Tuesday nights to go skydiving sounds ludicrous. But Who Framed Roger Rabbit isn’t just a novelty special effects extravaganza. Twenty-five years down the line it’s still a goofy and refreshing story set in a world that is endlessly fascinating and exciting, and the cartoons look as terrific as ever.
Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is a grouchy gumshoe detective trying to make ends meet in 1947 Hollywood. Since his brother was killed by a “Toon”, Eddie has kept his distance from Toon Town, but can’t resist taking a well-paid job snooping on Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner), wife of Maroon Cartoon superstar Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer). Having caught Jessica in a compromising position, Eddie returns home only to find the next morning that Roger is suspected of murdering his wife’s “lover”, big shot Toon advocate Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), the owner of Toon Town. It soon becomes clear that Acme’s murder and Roger’s set up are part of a plot to seize Toon Town, and like all P.I.’s, Eddie is pissed to have been a patsy in the plan. So when Roger shows up on his doorstep pleading his innocence, Eddie is on the case.
Hailed in its time as the next landmark in special effects filmmaking, Roger Rabbit has lost none of its impact in the years since the advent of CGI. Every cartoon character is hand drawn and painted onto the frame, no computers whatsoever. Director Robert Zemeckis and animation director Richard Williams broke new ground by pushing the limits of live action and animation interaction. Think of the work it took to keep the characters consistent as the camera constantly moves around, as they interact with real life objects, and as they pass through shadows and light, casting reflections and absorbing light. The seams aren’t hard to spot nowadays, but the imagination that manifests itself in this world is still as enchanting as ever.
Like all great special effects driven films, the technology is constantly pushing boundaries in the forefront while still serving a great story and an interesting world. The mind boggles over how the filmmakers made Jessica remove Acme’s handkerchief from his front pocket and rub his head with it during her big musical revue, but to Zemeckis and his crew it’s not a special effect, it’s an act of flirtation. Roger Rabbit sports an impressive and memorable cast of characters, exploiting the genius concept that cartoons are real movie stars who actually film their shorts on a movie set. Jessica is formed from the same mold as the femme fatales of film noir’s past, a sultry vixen who obviously knows more than she lets on. It’s a true balancing act to bring the beloved cartoons of the past into the seedy underworld while still allowing them to retain their goofy nature. Sure Baby Herman has a bit of a potty mouth and a forty-year old’s libido, but he’s not overly vulgar for the sake of irony a la Fritz the Cat. He’s just been in show biz a long time.
Nowadays a majority of movies are made with a few select actors responding to nothing but a green screen. These actors all need to study the late Bob Hoskins’ terrific performance. His arc as Eddie is so surprisingly touching as he battles not only his xenophobia towards Toons but a tough bout of alcoholism as well. He might not have been the obvious choice to fill a role perfected by Humphrey Bogart, but his gruff American accent and loose fitting ties quickly put you to shame you ever doubted him. His rage towards the Toons, Roger in particular, is also an incredibly effective tool towards making us believe that he truly exists alongside them. You can feel the weight in his hand as he picks up Roger by the ears (which are a character unto themselves), and you believe his frustration as Roger refuses to abandon his sense of humor as the law closes in. Roger and Eddie become a team, constantly getting on each other’s nerves, but therein lies the miracle — Roger isn’t a drawing added in post-production, he’s Eddie’s friend and they’re acting alongside each other. Fleischer does some terrific voice work, and used an unorthodox bunny suit to help out during filming, but Hoskins sells us this world and acts as our guide into its wonder by acting like it’s absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
Balancing out the equation is the terrifying Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), who zealously pursues Roger so he can satiate his thirst for execution using the Dip, a paint thinner compound that is the only known way to kill a Toon. Murdering the most adorable shoe ever committed to film, he instantly becomes one of the most horrifying figures of your childhood, balanced out thanks to his cronies, a pack of sly-talking animated weasels — a twisted variation on the seven dwarves with tommy guns. Doom and the Weasels provide not only the gangster angle we adore in these kind of movies, they also contribute to the film noir distrust of the American legal system. Like a squad of secret police they pursue the “guilty” to fulfill their own machinations, showing that Roger Rabbit is a movie that’s about more than a good laugh and a chin-stroking mystery.
Believe it or not, segregation is a major theme of the movie. Toons are seen as second class citizens who are good for a laugh but shouldn’t be treated as people. In the spectacular speakeasy Ink and Paint Club, Toons are not allowed except to perform as entertainment. The seedy underbelly of L.A. laugh their heads off as Donald and Daffy wage war over a piano duet and swoon over Jessica’s steamy number, but have to hide their shame that a Toon can turn them on. Jessica is an interesting attack on our perceptions of animation. Her proportions, physically impossible yet theoretically the ideal woman’s body, remind us of our somewhat sick fascination with living in the animated world because anything is possible, and we’re not just talking running on air. Toons don’t seem to mind their lot in life, happy to cause themselves great bodily harm to elicit a laugh because they believe there is no higher calling. The movie doesn’t dwell on it, but it’s such an interesting side plot filling in a family film. Indeed, the charm of the story is that it’s about Eddie regaining his humanity, which he is able to do by embracing his inner Toon.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a one of a kind sort of movie, one that belongs alongside movies like Chinatown and The Big Sleep while remaining its own thing. Fascinating character moments and world building gags never stop giving with repeat viewing after repeat viewing. We whole-heartedly embrace a world where Goofy is the Buster Keaton of his craft, and owes the Valiant Bros. a debt of gratitude for helping him beat a conspiracy rap. The underbelly of Hollywood is a beautiful backdrop populated by a veritable who’s who of your favorite animated icons. Its structure beautifully mirrors the mysteries of classic Hollywood while awesomely giving us the ending of every Looney Toon and Silly Symphony. You can latch on to the existential implications of the existence of Toons, the social injustice levied against them, or you can simply love a fun plot and that amazing opening cartoon. After all the sex, greed, blackmail, and murder, it’s still so easy to smile, darn ya, smile.
