I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.–Jessica Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? followed an old Hollywood tradition of mixing live actors with cartoon characters. Jessica Rabbit was not the first sexy toon, Betty Boop was, and it is nice that she makes a cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Gertie the Dinosaur was the first live action/animated action film and that was back in 1914. Mary Poppins and a number of other Disney films have used the technique.
But the best of the lot has to be Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The story of a down and out Private Eye and a movie star Toon who team up to make the world safe for bad sight gags. The film is full of cool effects, such as when Roger moves a dusty chair and his fingerprints are left behind. Or when the Rabbit drinks a shot of booze and drops the glass clanking onto the bar top.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a fun movie with solid work from all involved. It is a pretty silly premise, but it works well enough. Christopher Lloyd is great as Judge Doom, a totally insane fellow that wants to wipe Toons off the face of the Earth. Kind of funny, since he turns out to be a Toon himself. Bob Hoskins is perfect as the drunk P.I who hates all Toons because a Toon killed his brother. Kathleen Turner makes Jessica Rabbit sultry and powerful. Charles Fleischer does great work as Roger Rabbit and Benny the Cab. Ok, I really loved this silly movie and everyone in it.
For a couple of years after Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out they made Roger Rabbit Shorts. There was always the feeling that they were going to go ahead and make another movie one of these days. The rumors about a new Roger Rabbit movie are still floating around, but mainly in the form of people saying stuff like-Sure I’d Make Another Roger Rabbit Movie! Maybe there will be a new Roger Rabbit movie some day, but I wouldn’t hold my breath at this point. There are too many bad TV Shows from 1970s to be made into movies first.
I read the sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which had the unfortunate title of Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit. The main cute bit of business here was a smaller version of Jessica Rabbit that was used as a double on long shots. Little Jessica and Eddie Valiant become involved, but it is one of those King Kong/Fay Wray relationships that seems doomed from the start.. It was sort of fun, but lacked the punch of a movie.
Jessica Rabbit has inspired countless artists and a quick Google Image search will find a couple of hundred thousand results. A lot of them have a nude Jessica Rabbit, or a provocatively posed Jessica Rabbit. There is also a line of Jessica Rabbit vibrators. I really like the Jessica Rabbit Paperdoll on DeviantART.
Wikipedia has more Who Framed Roger Rabbit info than anyone will ever need. And if you really want a sequel to this great movie, stop and think about Basic Instinct 2, The Matrix Reloaded, Alien 3 and Battle for the Planet of The Apes. Sometimes once is enough.
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