The reason why dip kills toons is because when you combine turpentine, acetone and benzine, it makes a solution that animators would use to remove ink from animation cells.
@@NiceDudeMovieNight About Judge Doom... When he tells Eddie that he killed his brother, his eyes turn into daggers. There used to be a saying about dagger eyes -- "He looked at her with daggers when she got drunk and spoiled the party" -- meaning that he looked at someone with hate, as if wanting to kill them. But, the scene when Doom was bearing down on Eddie with the buzzsaw hand, you'll notice how Doom's eyes kinda went psychedelic and ended with a spiral pattern. That indicates being under a spell/hypnosis; Or having a severe mental illness/break. Doom was likely suffering from both. The eyes are the windows of the soul, after all. I agree with Never trying to remake or do a sequel to this movie. But, man, I'd love a comic book or short explanation of what happened to Doom to make him that way. Toons are chaotic, but that level of homicidal desire (murdering both humans And toons, wanting to wipe out Toontown and possibly all toons) must be some story
Notice that Betty Boop says, _"What a lucky gal,"_ to Eddie at the club. She's jealous of Jessica because Jessica nabbed Roger, not the other way around. For toons, the ability to make others laugh is their version of sex appeal, not Jessica's extreme character design.
Adding to this, Jessica has it hard as a toon who looks so human. She's not particularly funny, but she's also not human *enough* to blend in the other way. "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way," takes on a whole different meaning.
4:45 Fun Fact: This was actually Mae Questel, the original voice-actor for Betty Boop and in her late 70s at the time, so it means that much more when Eddie says "you still got it."
She also voiced Olive Oyl in the old Popeye cartoons and she portrayed Aunt Bethany in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989) which was her final film.
I've heard that part of the unprecedented deal (between WB and Disney) that allowed Bugs and Mickey to appear onscreen together was: both characters had to have the exact same amount of screen time, and had to speak the exact same number of words while onscreen - so that neither character would be a "bigger" guest star in the movie. :)
The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Warner Brothers *did* have some stipulations about how their characters were portrayed, but they weren't *nearly* that strict.
Betty Boop is actually voiced by her original longest-term voice actress, Mae Questel. She came out of retirement for the role, and nailed the old Betty Boop voice and squeak on the first take without even trying, after decades with no practice whatsoever and well into old age.
@@GuukanKitsune True. IIRC, the character was retired about 50 years earlier. But the actress was still available, so it wasn't such a major thing to contact her to reprise her voice role. Still seems impressive.
11:11 I find this so wholesome of Roger. Roger being jealous of his wife, and most of the time people would get back at someone as revenge. But Roger decides to write a love letter to her. There is something just so endearing to me. Even the scene after when he confesses to Roger that he took the pictures, you would think he would be mad at Eddie, but instead he defuses the anger by complimenting that Eddie helped saved many other toons in the past. Be more like Roger
You guys comment several times about Christopher Lloyd's presence in the movie. It's kinda hard to notice because of the glasses he constantly wears, but if you look closely, you'll notice Lloyd never blinks once throughout the whole movie. He actually trained himself to go as long as possible without blinking as a way to add more presence to his character but also a subtle foreshadowing that his character is not human.
Lot of hints dissiminated throughout the movie : -Just as they notice, first time we see the effect of the dip, Doom puts gloves. Smart one as you would think "heh I won't put my hand into solvents" as a human so you don't mind it first time. Later he coils back when Eddie spreads the dip on the floor after rescuing Roger in Dolores' bar. But more subtle ones are : -When he's smiling, you ought to be pretty alarmed by the unusual withness and perfectness of his teeth. In 1940's, between a daily consumption of tabacco and alcohols, you can fairly imagine white people hadn't immaculate nor aligned teeth as modern dental implants weren't existing until 1980's (even if their prototypes dated back to 50's). -The weird phenomenon of Doom's clothes swaying to wind even inside building. -Strangely, Doom has, for a human, a deep understanding of Toons logic and how to neutralize it. Isn't it suspect when even someone as Eddie, who used to spend time with many Toons, is often caught off guard by their antics while Doom isn't ? When Eddie shot him with the Toon bullets, strange he can so easily deceive them too. -When Jessica and Eddie leave Toontown driving Benny the cab, Doom's waiting for them as he pushes a full barrel of dip using his foot, instead of his hands, avoiding to be splashed. -When he's slipping on ping pong balls, he abnormally stands in the air just like... a Toon stunt. -Just after his fall and while screaming at the laughing weasels, he puts his hand over one of his eyes because he has lost one of his glass eye so it could blow up his disguise.
@@JerryDMetz Useless comment. We can say white people instead of caucasian without feeling racist. There are so many other things way more important than this.
I think Jessica is an interesting subversion of the femme fatale character found in noir films. At first, it seems like she’s undermining Eddie for her own ends. But no. She genuinely loves Roger, not just because he makes her laugh (great punchline btw) but perhaps he sees her for her character, not her looks. She said it best: some people aren’t bad, they’re just drawn that way.
I have a photo of me with my arm around Jessica Rabbit. Back when I had some promotional pencils made when I drew AutoCAD house plans, they had, 'I'm not CAD, I'm just drawn that way.' printed on them. Still have a couple of boxes.
He is good to Betty because if you look at his brother's desk, he was apparently a fan of her with a plushie of her. So since she was something his brother loved, she reminds him of good times. One could also argue he knew that for having red eyes, it could be any colored toon since they can shape shift, so he was somber because they all were suspects BUT black and white toons like her since as much as they coulf shapeshift they couldn't get red eyes or any other color
There's a term in filmmaking where you pay attention to the most minor of details. It's called "Swinging the Lamp" which is a reference to the hidden room scene where the lamp kept swinging back and forth, changing the lighting on Roger.
This is the first time that I noticed his character in the film was previously a clown in Ringling Bros., which explains why he's able to put that slapstick together so readily at the climax.
Sad but touching fact: this was one of Mel Blanc(who voiced almost all of the Looney Tunes line-up in the original cartoons since the 40s) last roles he did before his death in '89, including the "That's All, Folks!" said by Porky Pig at the end. I view it as a good send-off for a legendary career. Edited for accuracy.
Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant) got his acting start as a mime. So that early training helped him imagine Roger standing in front of him. It allowed him to interact with he cartoon and keep the sightlines correct through the movie, as well as being able to do the song and dance at the end. An inspired bit of casting, really.
The only reason Eddie can do all that stuff and live (including getting stuck in the overhead light!) is due to Toontown being on the other side of the warehouse wall!
The moments where the toons interact with real-life objects was done with a combination of puppets (the weasels’ guns), animatronics (Herman’s cigar and Roger’s plates) and the occasional real-person stand in. When Jessica is playing with Acme and Eddie, they had a real performer doing Jessica’s movements, and the animators just painted ‘over’ her. The innovation of this film crew is downright inspiring.
I remember seeing a behind the scenes show that showed some of the mechanisms, like when Roger was in the sink, also, it was a device that came up and sprayed out water to simulate him spitting it out (also remember seeing the plate and drink devices). Don't remember if they showed Acme's cheeks getting pinched by Jessica, but that probably falls under what you were mentioning
The “Harvey” gag in the bar was a reference to a play and movie about a guy who frequents bars and has a six foot rabbit named Harvey that only he can see for a best friend.
My sister and I, both in our early 20s, saw this in the theater at a midweek matinee showing, where we were the only adults unaccompanied by kids. A big portion of the time, we were the only ones laughing at the adult humor, because the kids didn’t get it and the moms were too horrified to laugh. We both loved this film a lot!
Toons are definitely presented as second class citizens in this movie, but to say that they're like slaves is probably an overstatement. When Maroon says he got Dumbo on loan from Disney, that sort of thing was actually not unusual under the old system under which actors were contracted to specific studios and occasionally loaned out to competing studios. Who Framed Roger Rabbit definitely blew my mind as a kid. I never thought I'd see Disney and Warner Bros characters on screen together, let alone in a movie that had such adult subject matter. Of course, the combination of live action and animation was very groundbreaking for its time. For me, it was kinda like what seeing Star Wars might have been like for people a decade earlier.
it's not all that far off actually, Toons were representing ex-slaves, aka Black people, which around that time period they would've definitely been treated like second class citizens.
@@UltimateGamerCC why so people have to bring race into everything? the toons were not "representing ex-slaves" lmao what pure nonsense, you ideologs are the bane of humanity
To be fair, it wasn't until the last few decades that cartoons were considered for kids, they were originally created for adults so the subject matter wouldn't be too far off from that original sensibility.
@@UltimateGamerCC Keep in mind the movie is set in 1947, when the Studio System was still in full force. Actors who worked under contract with the big studios (who controlled the whole chain, from production to distribution) had their image and public appearance basically completely managed for them, up to and including plastic surgery and fake relationships with other stars for publicity. Their contracts had morality clauses that forbade them from doing anything that might ruin their image, like drinking or getting divorced. It's not a huge exaggeration to say they were basically owned by the studios, just like toons. This movie in general really does its homework on the time period. For example, the oven in the opening cartoon is branded "Hotternell" (hotter than hell). Which is exactly the sort of euphemism films used at the time to get past the censors, since it was the time of the Hays Code and even a mild profanity like "hell" was not allowed.
The shoe scene messed me up as a kid, too. My great grandfather took me to see Roger Rabbit in theaters when it released and boy it was not what either of us were expecting it to be.
Didn't see it as a kid but I agree that that scene is fucked up; what makes it even worse is how happy and cuddly the shoe was when it first saw him because it probably recognized that he was a fellow toon...
I was OK with the shoe. It was disturbing, yea, but I know I was scared of Judge in the end. All of it... Flattening with screams, pumping back, his eyes, his screams and dissolving in dip
Interesting fact: Each scene with toons was shot at least twice: once with a prop toon to show Bob roughly where the toon was going to be and once with him having to imagine the toon being there so it would look like he was actually staring at the toon and not just in the direction of the toon. Bob trained so intently for interacting with imaginary beings that he actually began hallucinating toons. This lasted for months after filming wrapped. Another fun fact: the guy that did the lines for Roger did so from off stage while dressed in a full Roger Rabbit suit.
I wasn't just Robert Zemeckis, but it was Richard Williams who supervised everything animation related in this film. He is known to be a perfectionist that's why this remains the greatest looking film of its kind where 2D animation is thrown in with real people. They incorporated as much realistic lighting as possible to the cartoons. It's called 'bumping the lamp'. Shown specifically in the bar basement scene where the lamp was swinging over Roger's head. There are also 3 other Roger Rabbit shorts in case you guys are interested in seeing it. All are just as good in animation quality as this movie and each took a year to make. And lastly if you pause during some parts of the cab chase scene you can see a cartoon version of Eddie Valiant.
Then there’s also the fact that the animation was not only in the hands of a perfectionst, but the animation was then handed off to ILM to make it all seem real, as stated on their website, they made over 10,000 feet of composites. The same company that made the special effects for Star Wars were directly involved in making the toons look lifelike
Which explains why this is still the greatest animated live action film of all time! No film has ever come close to making me feel like cartoons exist in the real world other than this film.
You will likely never Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse together again. You guys should look up "Who Framed Roger Rabbit Lost In Adaptation" for the differences from the novel. Fun Fact: Bob Hoskins claimed that Jessica Rabbit was not yet sketched by the animators when filming wrapped, and he had no idea what the character would look like. Robert Zemeckis told Hoskins to imagine his ideal sexual fantasy. Hoskins claimed that his mental image was less risqué than what Jessica looked like in the completed film.
For those who don't know when he was asked if he could of gotten out of the cuffs at any time Roger says, "Oh no, not at any time. Only when it was funny" which is commonly true. It's a common rule that cartoon characters have the ability to do basically anything so long as it's considered funny. Without the correct timing or action for it to be funny their powers don't necessarily work. Also, when Judge Doom walks into the bar looking for Roger and one of the guys makes a joke about a bunny named Harvey that's a reference to a character in a 1950s movie called Harvey. It's about a kind man who has an invisible friend who is named Harvey, a 6ft tall white rabbit.
@@StCerberusEngel Yes it does. I actually came across a clip of it by accident and after my mom told me about it I decided to watch the whole thing. I loved it.
No matter the movie, you guys always have such an insane amount of passion poured into each reaction, which truly makes you stand out from other reaction/commentary channels. Love your guys content!
@@NiceDudeMovieNight I gotta agree, especially during quarantine it feels like I have my best friends watching with me and we're all geeking out! Keep it up.
I couldn’t agree more! This is the most heartfelt and enthusiastic reaction I’ve seen for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and I’m here for it! You guys have earned a new subscriber!
Saw this in theaters when I was like 13. The audience let out this huge gasp when Bugs and Mickey were on screen at the same time. The feeling of seeing all these movies when movies still had magic and surprise is hard to explain.
I was training to be a customer support guy for IT, and took the required training. The teacher was very good, way younger than me. Once he was describing the workings of DNS (Domain Name Service) and likened it to a concierge who knows what apartment people in a building live in. He looked at me (he knew I was already up on the subject) and asked if I had any better analogy. I put on my best Roger Rabbit voice and said "But the liquor store guy? He knew!" The teacher laughed and said, "Oh, I'm stealing that immediately."
The scene in the bar when Judge Doom was looking for Roger and the guy introduced him to Harvey, was a shout out to the 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie, Harvey, in which Harvey was an invisible, six foot tall, white rabbit.
Daffy and Donald having a having a stage battle while performing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 was easily one of the highlights of this movie for me. Always entertaining as if it's the first time seeing it.
This movie was so well developed it went on to coin a phrase in animation/moviemaking. In the scene at Eddie's apartment during the tussle the overhead light was bumped, forcing the lighting to swing around wildly on everything in the scene. It could have been easily avoided to save effort- but they did it purely for the quality. "Bumping the lamp' went on to mean putting in more effort than necessary to really wow the audience.
Great reaction! I'm actually friends with Bob Hoskins' daughter, she sent me the biography she wrote about him ❤️ This was mostly filmed in London, and the sets were built at Elstree Studios, the same studio as the OG Star Wars trilogy and all 3 Indiana Jones, among many others. The ACME Gag Factory was filmed in an old train power station near London, I was able to visit it on my last night of my London trip in 2018.
2:30 the cartoons weren't slaves of the companies, thats just how studio actors were back in the day. Actors were pretty much contractually obligated to one studio or another as "employees" in a way. Theres more to it than that but you get the idea. If another studio wanted a certain actor, they would have to ask whatever studio has them on contract. 4:00 fun fact about the Donald and Daffy scene. Disney made sure that neither Duck had more onscreen time than the other. They both had about the same amount of time in the whole sequence! 4:55 the voice for that Betty Boop is the original actress that voiced her from day 1! She still got it!
This movie would not be what it was without animator Richard Williams. A wunderkind Canadian animator who opened a small studio in London. People assume this was all Disney... nope... Spielberg and Zemekis hired a small, independent studio to direct the animation. Why? Because Williams was one of the only animators who could not only work in ANY style, but was comfortable animation over live action without a locked down camera...and this was all analog.. so the animators had to draw with changing perspectives in every frame.. Disney's animation dept., while respected, had had a rough couple of years.. so it wasn't up.to the challenge of what Spielberg and Zemekis wanted.
Williams was very connected to Disney, though. The nine old men kind of adopted him as their protege, so that likely played a hand in his studio getting the job.
Truly a masterpiece. It looks just as good today as it did in the theatres. Doesn't it make you wonder what kind of cartoons Jessica performed in, though? You might look up 'Cool World' (1992) which is also live action/2d animation, but with a much darker, more adult tone.
Cool World is interesting but I much prefer Looney Tunes: Back In Action, it feels like a real successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, only without the Disney collaboration and the Warner Bros. cartoons taking more center stage. Some great cameos in that one too.
Oh please don't compare the two. This movie took time, effort, and great care to make everything work so well. Cool World felt absolutely lazy in every way, from top to bottom
Cool World's plot made absolutely no sense. And the blending of live-action and animation looked horrible. Looked like it was made in the 70s...and for something released six years after Roger Rabbit, that was unforgivable.
After a knockout audition Tim Curry was almost cast as Judge Doom -- the role that would eventually go to Christopher Lloyd. Apparently, Curry was just too scary, which is curious considering how scary Lloyd turned out being.
It was a bit more than that. Zemeckis and Gale wanted Lloyd in this movie specifically to make sure Universal couldn't start production on Back To The Future Part II without them (since Universal was the one demanding the BTTF sequels get made against Zemeckis and Gale's wishes and said they would be made with or without them)
I can't understand why everyone is so shocked about the excellence we had in movies (entertainment in general) in the 80s. Every cartoon was not just for kids. We had great things back then too, minus the stress and "in the box" thinking that goes on in today's times. We had talent back then.
It really is legitimately awesome how well this film aged. 1987-88 were just stellar years for film. So many came out in those years that are now parts of American and global culture.
The original story was actually a political satire which Disney all but washed away. In the 19th century, street cars, first pulled by horses, then electrified as trolleys, made possible the "modern" city because one could get downtown so much easier. People could walk or ride in a carriage about 3-5 mph but a trolley could easily go 10x and the ride was so much smoother. This meant for the same travel time, a downtown could draw on 10 squared or 100x the population for theaters, restaurants, night clubs, large hotels, etc. But the trolleys were all privately owned, and had to make a sufficient profit and had to pay taxes. In the 1930's, GM, Standard Oil and one of the major tire companies, got together and set up holding companies in different cities (such as "Cloverleaf Industries" in this movie), with the direct intent to put the trolleys out of business. Thus people would be forced to ride the busses or better yet, get their own cars. This isn't conspiracy theory - the three were convicted in the 1950's and fined 2K (the cost of one auto) but by then, the danger had been done. At the same time, city planners like Robert Moses in the NY area deliberately ran the highways through the low income neighborhoods to break them up, or between the downtown and the poor sections. The satire in the movie is that these were sometimes known as the pejorative "coontown" where "the crazy people live" or here, Toontown.
So in essence, the original story was all about not just putting trolley cars out of business... it was to break up and hide the low-income neighborhoods away to make the cities seem more exciting for tourism's sake?
@@KevinKess No, if definitely was about the trolley cars. It was the city planners who then took the opportunity to break up and separate low-income neighborhoods. (And not so much to hide them as to disrupt them, bulldoze great no-man lands through the middle of them - visuals not being the important thing here.) There are several posts on TH-cam regarding the message behind Roger Rabbit. Here is one of the better ones, I think reasonably balanced (although a bit long - stick with it.) th-cam.com/video/TVNR24ZaLHk/w-d-xo.html
I have loved this movie since I saw it in the theatre when it first came out! The whole show is full of amazingly clever callbacks and shout-outs. When the guy in the trolley car diner says "Say hello, Harvey" he is more than just trolling. It is a reference to another great moving called "Harvey", with James Stuart and an invisible 6' tall rabbit.
Fun detail: Roger wasn't lying, he *literally* couldn't take his hand out of the cuff until it was funny. Because he's a toon and is bound by... let's call it "toon physics". And he didn't handcuff himself to Eddie to force his help. He did it to make him laugh. Speaking of physics, one of the reasons you're so distracted by Jessica's boobs bouncing is because they bounce in reverse (up when they should go down, etc).
Bob Hoskins was an extraordinary actor, gaining fame in the UK in the 70s. One of his finest roles was in the 1979 film that has been described by critics as one of the best films ever made in the UK: 'The Long Good Friday' is one of the best gangster movies you'll ever see.
I love all the subtle foreshadowing in the film of the twist. Aside from Judge Doom being the only “human” character who is just outright is cartoonishly over the top, his coat blows in the wind when there’s none affecting anyone else, he bought the election with “a few simolions” which is what the toon that killed Eddie’s brother stole, he overreacted to the joy buzzer, he all but threw himself away from the dip spill in the bar, he doesn’t blink at any point… Eddie: “I don’t know who’s toonier, you or Doom!” Fun facts: there was a stipulation in the contracts letting them use Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse required they get *exactly* the same screen time, which led to the dueling duck piano duet and the parachute scene. Nobody wanted the role of Eddie Valiant, until Bob came around; the role put him on the map. Lloyd was not the first choice to play Doom, Tim Curry was- and his audition was apparently “too scary” which is impressive given the end product we did get.
funny thing, the reason Eddy keeps a soft spot for Betty Boop is mainly cause his brother did. you see that doll on the desk. Also, you were talking over it, but the whole being surprised that Jessica was married to Roger? The more surprising fact is most toons consider Jessica the lucky one in that relationship. Judge Doon (Lloyd's character) was originally envisioned to be played by Tim Curry.....they canned that idea as they felt Tim was too scary for the tone of the film. will say my absolute favorite part of this movie is the sheer and absolute number of pieces of foreshadowing and chekov's guns thrown in. The will, the portable hole, the extendomallet, Eddy's vaudeville past, everything about Doon being just slightly off, and so many more.
17:44 the poster behind R.K. Maroon as he’s being shot shows a possum character with the same exact gun and the barrel is pointed at him. The theory is this is who Judge Doom really is.
That movie is a revolutionary work of art. Nothing like it had ever come before. It's commonplace now to see a mixture of toons and live action, but back then, it was completely unheard of. The fact they were able to get Disney AND Warner Bros to use all their characters together in the same movie is also super impressive. Also, who knew Christopher Lloyd could be so terrifying?
In the 1945 movie Anchors Aweigh, Gene Kelly danced with Jerry the mouse and that was the first combination of live action and cartoon. th-cam.com/video/2msq6H2HI-Y/w-d-xo.html
Watching this in a room full of animators and people who work in the animation industry in remembrance of the animation director was a blast a few years ago and there was an energy I won't forget, hands down one of my favorite movies!
Fun facts: * Charles Fleischer (the voice of Roger) also voiced Benny the Cab and two the weasels (Greasy, the one in the green suit, and Psycho, the crazy one in the straightjacket). He even dressed as a rabbit and acted alongside Bob Hoskins during rehearsals. * Amy Irving, Spielberg's wife at the time, provided Jessica's singing voice. * David Lander, who voiced Smarty the boss weasel, played Squiggy on Lavern and Shirley. * June Foray (the voice of Granny from the Looney Tunes), voiced the hag Toon woman Lena Hyena and Wheezy, the blue smoking weasel. * Fred Newman (the voice of Skeeter from Doug), voiced Stupid, the fat weasel with the baseball bat. * Christopher Lloyd never blinked on camera to perfectly portray the character. * During the ride in Benny the cab, Bob Hoskins had to be animated in a few shots.
The lady who did the original voice work was still alive when this was made and reprised her role. Her name was Mae Questle. Her last role was Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation
I saw this movie as a kid, but I distinctly recall the first time I watched it as an adult. It suddenly hit me that Roger Rabbit was about the automotive industry buying up public transportation and scrapping it.
I have watched several people watch this for the first time and I guess no one understands the Harvey the Rabbit joke. It's a movie/play from this era so it makes since for them to make that joke. Harvey is literally an invisible rabbit. It's been a while since I watched the movie (Starring James Stewart) but it was like a drunken hallucination or something. Just thought I would spread that old knowledge.
FYI the "best public transportation" joke is a commentary about California. They did have the red line but the motor company bought it out to destroy it because it was competition.
It's such a pity Spielberg wasn't able to get every pre-'47 toon to appear in this...notable among the missing are Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Felix The Cat and Casper the Friendly Ghost.
They probably went through so many redesigns over the years that the studio couldn't pick a specific one to reference, somehow leaving the originals behind
I’m gonna be Straight up with you people…..This move scared the Sh*t outta me as a Kid!! 😂 To this day, I still think of how scared I was of Dooms Reveal! That Face was burned into my brain as a Child! Now being a full grown adult I absolutely love this Movie! It’s such a Timeless classic! Great Reaction you 2! 😁😁
The Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers movie that came out earlier this year is a BEAUTIFUL successor to this movie. It doesn't have nearly the innovation but it has the same heart.
Me too I like this movie and I seen it when I was little and it's my favorite movie from my childhood and it's a good movie but not funny about this movie and it's still a good movie but not funny about this movie and do you agree with me about what I say right and what do you think about this movie same thing what I say right
I loved the ink and paint club scene with Jessica’s scary real performance, cause Eddie was sitting there afterwards like “Did I just get a BONER from a TOON?????” And he absolutely did!!!
The "dip mobile" actually used to be at Walt Disney World in the "MGM Studios" park. it would randomly shoot "dip" out of places into the audience. My dad and I spent that entire day looking for Jessica. :)
This is a type of movie that can't be done again, ownerships of this characters are hell right now, besides the production work is beyond masterful. Movies aren't like this anymore. I think you would surely enjoy watching Cool World btw, if not already, hadn't noticed this video came a year ago. Anyway, good work!
Part of why this film makes a genuinely effective film noir pastiche, is because it is (very loosely) based on a detective novel pastiche called Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which also involves a murder mystery in a world where cartoon characters coexist with humans, and a toon named Roger Rabbit is accused of the crime. I am given to understand, however, that it is significantly darker and has almost nothing else in common, save a couple character names, and even more blatant symbolism in the way toons are treated by humans. You may have noticed that the toons in this world can only seemingly be employed as entertainers, or as service workers to entertainment venues, but can never just watch the entertainment they put on, since the venues are "humans only," or you may have noticed that the toons live in their own entirely separated neighbourhood apart from the humans, and it's threatened to be demolished in favour of a planned development project to increase car dependency and city profits, or that Roger literally is atop a soap box in one scene to speak on how laughter is sometimes "the only weapon we have." I realise that CRT has become a culture war buzzword lately, but I genuinely think it is interesting how much you can find in this movie, when utilizing that lens.
Apparently this film nearly drove Bob Hoskins mad. He couldn't believe you could act towards a green screen and get something out of it, so he invented a persona of Roger Rabbit in his mind, which he couldn't shake after filming for a few months. Also at 14:14 he refers to Harvey - There's a famous film with an invisible rabbit called Harvey (called Harvey) which has Jimmy Stuart in it. Worth checking out.
Fun fact. There are a couple of storylines that gave Judge Doom his backstory. One was that HE was the man that killed Bambi's mother. But that was scrapped. Another was that he was a toon once called Baron Von Rotten. And his thing was portraying bad guys in old cartoon films etc. Basically an actor like the other toons. However one day there was an accident and he hit his head or something and thought himself to be a real villain. After this he goes to rob the bank and kills the one brother and leaves Eddie alive. Another story I heard of are of some weasels or something that bring him back from the dead. He's a unique character. Very mysterious.
"This is not for kids" Crazy thing is this played on Cartoon Network for their movies on either Friday or the weekends. I remember it cause I was shocked considering the themes, even as a child I understood that the themes for this movie were more adult-ish.
I'm not sure but I think the scene where the man in the diner put his arm around an invisible rabbit and said "Say hello Harvey" it was referencing an old James Stewart movie where a man's best friend was a 6 foot tall invisible rabbit called Harvey.
1. First time I saw this was in the middle of the ocean. My ship (USS Tripoli LPH-10) was doing a Tiger Cruise. That's where crew members could bring "male only" family/friends to join us from Hawaii to San Diego. There were displays set up on the hanger bay. For entertainment there was an area to watch movies. This was one of them. 2. There had to be equal time for Disney and HB characters. 3. To make it as realistic as possible they sometimes had to hand paint the shadows. 4. One of the cartoon bullets is the voice of Pat Buttram. He played Mr. Haney on Green Acres. 5. The tunnel going to toon town is the same one used at the end of Back to the Future II. 6. This was Mae Questel's/Betty Boops third to last gig. Her last was Christmas Vacation. (RIP) 7. "One too many edibles man" 🤣 8. Favorite character is the Baby🤣
This is based on a far darker book (Who Censored Roger Rabit), which far more clearly and sinisterly points to the RL plot to get monopoly of transport by the motor and petroleum industries. Hence Eddie's comment about them having the best transport system while on the tram.
Another detail of Judge Doom is that his cape is always blowing in the nonexistent wind. It's so awesome how much detail went into everything about this movie.
we have had other movies , rocky and bullwinkle, Space Jam 1 and 2, Tom and Jerry, Detective Pikachu , Back in Action , Smurfs, but this is the one that remains the best of its genre. We'll see if the Rescue Rangers movie can be as good soon.
At 12:45 "Bumping the Lamp" was famous, because of how complex it makes all of the lighting on Roger change in literally every single frame, and how much it sells him as being present in the scene. That's why that phrase got used for going above and beyond in the technical details of a scene.
One thing you said that the cartoons are kind of like slaves but actually, well, yes, there is it a racial allegory to it all, but here's the thing. In the studio era, actors didn't just go to auditions to any picture they were offered a script for. They were contract employees of a studio. Notice how most of Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn's best work was with WB? Well, that's because they worked for WB. That said, it was never unheard of for studios to share their actors like Bogart, making the African Queen for Paramount. Took some paperwork but it was easy to do.
Yeah in the 1930s to 1950s actors were paid well and had fame but they were treated like property to an extent, in particular actresses. Judy Garland would be put on soup & cottage cheese diets to lose weight and would stalked by MGM spies (they made sure she didn't go out for burgers & fries or something) As for the racial allegory of WFRR that mainly manifests itself into how the Valiant brothers are/were the only humans in the film who actually care about toon lives.
@@msannethropp7497 it's little more complicated than that. The ink and paint club is a parallel to the cotton club, Toons work and perform there but aren't allowed attend it. Toontown being owned and opporated by humans. And most of all the plot is based on the real-life, though highly embellished and mythified, corporate conspiracies by automotive and real estate industries to dismantle the railway trolley systems and the gentrification of minority suburbs to build new towns, stripmalls, shopping centers and of course... freeways. Actually if I read correctly this is loosely based on the plot found in the script for Chinatown 3, which was cancelled and never produced because the second movie was seen as an abject failure.
@@SpiderandMosquito Yep the Freeway subplot was supposed to be for the Chinatown sequel. And I knew about the other things you said, I just kinda focused on the "No Justice for Toons" part because that is often overlooked.
I've been a huge WB fan since the 1960's and I actually saw Roger Rabbit on the big screen in '88 when it came out. That opening scene with Roger and Baby Herman literally had people falling out of their seats laughing!! My guts hurt for 2 days after watching this.🤣 One of the best animation/live action crossovers in history! Great review you guys!😄👍 *P.S.* If you watch it all the way through, the credits alone go on for like 15 minutes at the end!😮
What's really cool is that despite all appearances, Bob Hoskins was an incredibly athletic, nimble person. For the Super Mario Brothers Movie he did nearly all his own stunts, so I can only imagine he did the same here.
There’s a missing scene. I remember having a VHS copy with the scene in it. Eddie gets kidnapped and his head is turned into a cartoon pig. He’s hopping out of the shower after washing the pig head off when Jessica shows up and he drops his pants.
It was a deleted scene that hasn't appeared in any released version EXCEPT for some television broadcasts... maybe you had a recording from television?
The reason why dip kills toons is because when you combine turpentine, acetone and benzine, it makes a solution that animators would use to remove ink from animation cells.
Whoaaaa that's really clever! Thanks for sharing 👌
@@NiceDudeMovieNight It's also apparently the only thing that actually *can* kill a toon.
@@NiceDudeMovieNight About Judge Doom... When he tells Eddie that he killed his brother, his eyes turn into daggers. There used to be a saying about dagger eyes -- "He looked at her with daggers when she got drunk and spoiled the party" -- meaning that he looked at someone with hate, as if wanting to kill them.
But, the scene when Doom was bearing down on Eddie with the buzzsaw hand, you'll notice how Doom's eyes kinda went psychedelic and ended with a spiral pattern. That indicates being under a spell/hypnosis; Or having a severe mental illness/break. Doom was likely suffering from both.
The eyes are the windows of the soul, after all.
I agree with Never trying to remake or do a sequel to this movie. But, man, I'd love a comic book or short explanation of what happened to Doom to make him that way. Toons are chaotic, but that level of homicidal desire (murdering both humans And toons, wanting to wipe out Toontown and possibly all toons) must be some story
@@NiceDudeMovieNight In the original script, Lt Santino tells Eddie that Judge Doom calls the Dip "The Final Solution".
@@LA_HA Oh in the the original novel " Who Censored Roger Rabbit? " it´s a whole different story.
Much darker, no Doom and a sad ending.
Notice that Betty Boop says, _"What a lucky gal,"_ to Eddie at the club. She's jealous of Jessica because Jessica nabbed Roger, not the other way around. For toons, the ability to make others laugh is their version of sex appeal, not Jessica's extreme character design.
Oh, that's clever! I've never noticed that!
And in the context of Toon culture-- Jessica's a small-time lounge act, Roger's a major movie star.
@UnderWaterFurry yup.
Adding to this, Jessica has it hard as a toon who looks so human. She's not particularly funny, but she's also not human *enough* to blend in the other way. "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way," takes on a whole different meaning.
Plus, he's a famous and successful actor. Regardless of how dopey he may look, he's a catch on the level of just below Goofy.
"Hollywood, please leave this movie alone!" Well said, pals!
Exactly
4:45 Fun Fact: This was actually Mae Questel, the original voice-actor for Betty Boop and in her late 70s at the time, so it means that much more when Eddie says "you still got it."
She also voiced Olive Oyl in the old Popeye cartoons and she portrayed Aunt Bethany in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989) which was her final film.
Also some of Mel Blanc's final work-- he passed in 1990.
Every time I watch this part I tear up, and now you added another reason dammit 🤧
@@jamesanthony8438 She also played Popeye for a short time when his VA went to war. Yes, Popeye. She has incredible range.
I love that Betty Boop is the only toon that Eddie is nice too in the beginning.
I've heard that part of the unprecedented deal (between WB and Disney) that allowed Bugs and Mickey to appear onscreen together was: both characters had to have the exact same amount of screen time, and had to speak the exact same number of words while onscreen - so that neither character would be a "bigger" guest star in the movie. :)
You heard correctly. That was the deal that they had. That's why Disney and WB characters always appeared together.
You say that yet the frames tell a different story.
@@Lucas-Stl It was only when Disney and WB characters were in the same scene.
The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Warner Brothers *did* have some stipulations about how their characters were portrayed, but they weren't *nearly* that strict.
@@tempsitch5632 The book "Disney War" by James Stewart.
Betty Boop is actually voiced by her original longest-term voice actress, Mae Questel. She came out of retirement for the role, and nailed the old Betty Boop voice and squeak on the first take without even trying, after decades with no practice whatsoever and well into old age.
That's dedication to your craft, madam, my respect!
@Stephannie Morin All our respect. Rest In Peace to the legend.
She was still active, not retired. For example, she played the floating head in New York Stories.
@@JohnRandomness105 Retired from the role of Betty Boop, along with the character.
@@GuukanKitsune True. IIRC, the character was retired about 50 years earlier. But the actress was still available, so it wasn't such a major thing to contact her to reprise her voice role.
Still seems impressive.
I'll say it again: Bob Hoskins (RIP) can't get enough credit for the job he did in this film working against nothing.
11:11 I find this so wholesome of Roger. Roger being jealous of his wife, and most of the time people would get back at someone as revenge. But Roger decides to write a love letter to her. There is something just so endearing to me. Even the scene after when he confesses to Roger that he took the pictures, you would think he would be mad at Eddie, but instead he defuses the anger by complimenting that Eddie helped saved many other toons in the past. Be more like Roger
You guys comment several times about Christopher Lloyd's presence in the movie. It's kinda hard to notice because of the glasses he constantly wears, but if you look closely, you'll notice Lloyd never blinks once throughout the whole movie. He actually trained himself to go as long as possible without blinking as a way to add more presence to his character but also a subtle foreshadowing that his character is not human.
Lot of hints dissiminated throughout the movie :
-Just as they notice, first time we see the effect of the dip, Doom puts gloves. Smart one as you would think "heh I won't put my hand into solvents" as a human so you don't mind it first time.
Later he coils back when Eddie spreads the dip on the floor after rescuing Roger in Dolores' bar.
But more subtle ones are :
-When he's smiling, you ought to be pretty alarmed by the unusual withness and perfectness of his teeth. In 1940's, between a daily consumption of tabacco and alcohols, you can fairly imagine white people hadn't immaculate nor aligned teeth as modern dental implants weren't existing until 1980's (even if their prototypes dated back to 50's).
-The weird phenomenon of Doom's clothes swaying to wind even inside building.
-Strangely, Doom has, for a human, a deep understanding of Toons logic and how to neutralize it. Isn't it suspect when even someone as Eddie, who used to spend time with many Toons, is often caught off guard by their antics while Doom isn't ?
When Eddie shot him with the Toon bullets, strange he can so easily deceive them too.
-When Jessica and Eddie leave Toontown driving Benny the cab, Doom's waiting for them as he pushes a full barrel of dip using his foot, instead of his hands, avoiding to be splashed.
-When he's slipping on ping pong balls, he abnormally stands in the air just like... a Toon stunt.
-Just after his fall and while screaming at the laughing weasels, he puts his hand over one of his eyes because he has lost one of his glass eye so it could blow up his disguise.
@@JerryDMetz Useless comment. We can say white people instead of caucasian without feeling racist. There are so many other things way more important than this.
I think Jessica is an interesting subversion of the femme fatale character found in noir films. At first, it seems like she’s undermining Eddie for her own ends. But no. She genuinely loves Roger, not just because he makes her laugh (great punchline btw) but perhaps he sees her for her character, not her looks. She said it best: some people aren’t bad, they’re just drawn that way.
I have a photo of me with my arm around Jessica Rabbit. Back when I had some promotional pencils made when I drew AutoCAD house plans, they had, 'I'm not CAD, I'm just drawn that way.' printed on them. Still have a couple of boxes.
He is good to Betty because if you look at his brother's desk, he was apparently a fan of her with a plushie of her. So since she was something his brother loved, she reminds him of good times. One could also argue he knew that for having red eyes, it could be any colored toon since they can shape shift, so he was somber because they all were suspects BUT black and white toons like her since as much as they coulf shapeshift they couldn't get red eyes or any other color
And if I remember correctly, that's the real true voice actress of Betty as well
@@88gschannel39 she is
@@88gschannel39 Aunt Bethany from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
Learning how they made this movie is almost more impressive than the movie itself. It made me miss all the things "movie magic" used to describe.
There's a term in filmmaking where you pay attention to the most minor of details. It's called "Swinging the Lamp" which is a reference to the hidden room scene where the lamp kept swinging back and forth, changing the lighting on Roger.
Fun fact Bob Hoskins actually was a circus performer, but he wasn't a clown
This is the first time that I noticed his character in the film was previously a clown in Ringling Bros., which explains why he's able to put that slapstick together so readily at the climax.
Sad but touching fact: this was one of Mel Blanc(who voiced almost all of the Looney Tunes line-up in the original cartoons since the 40s) last roles he did before his death in '89, including the "That's All, Folks!" said by Porky Pig at the end. I view it as a good send-off for a legendary career.
Edited for accuracy.
That is correct!!
Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant) got his acting start as a mime. So that early training helped him imagine Roger standing in front of him. It allowed him to interact with he cartoon and keep the sightlines correct through the movie, as well as being able to do the song and dance at the end. An inspired bit of casting, really.
The only reason Eddie can do all that stuff and live (including getting stuck in the overhead light!) is due to Toontown being on the other side of the warehouse wall!
I appreciated the casting even as a child watching this. Bob is a great everyman character. Relatable.
The moments where the toons interact with real-life objects was done with a combination of puppets (the weasels’ guns), animatronics (Herman’s cigar and Roger’s plates) and the occasional real-person stand in.
When Jessica is playing with Acme and Eddie, they had a real performer doing Jessica’s movements, and the animators just painted ‘over’ her.
The innovation of this film crew is downright inspiring.
I remember seeing a behind the scenes show that showed some of the mechanisms, like when Roger was in the sink, also, it was a device that came up and sprayed out water to simulate him spitting it out (also remember seeing the plate and drink devices). Don't remember if they showed Acme's cheeks getting pinched by Jessica, but that probably falls under what you were mentioning
The “Harvey” gag in the bar was a reference to a play and movie about a guy who frequents bars and has a six foot rabbit named Harvey that only he can see for a best friend.
Please react to the Jimmy Stewart version
My sister and I, both in our early 20s, saw this in the theater at a midweek matinee showing, where we were the only adults unaccompanied by kids. A big portion of the time, we were the only ones laughing at the adult humor, because the kids didn’t get it and the moms were too horrified to laugh. We both loved this film a lot!
Toons are definitely presented as second class citizens in this movie, but to say that they're like slaves is probably an overstatement. When Maroon says he got Dumbo on loan from Disney, that sort of thing was actually not unusual under the old system under which actors were contracted to specific studios and occasionally loaned out to competing studios.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit definitely blew my mind as a kid. I never thought I'd see Disney and Warner Bros characters on screen together, let alone in a movie that had such adult subject matter. Of course, the combination of live action and animation was very groundbreaking for its time. For me, it was kinda like what seeing Star Wars might have been like for people a decade earlier.
it's not all that far off actually, Toons were representing ex-slaves, aka Black people, which around that time period they would've definitely been treated like second class citizens.
@@UltimateGamerCC why so people have to bring race into everything? the toons were not "representing ex-slaves" lmao what pure nonsense, you ideologs are the bane of humanity
@@imalittletoxicjustalittle it's exactly what was going on, you're just too dumb to read between the lines.
To be fair, it wasn't until the last few decades that cartoons were considered for kids, they were originally created for adults so the subject matter wouldn't be too far off from that original sensibility.
@@UltimateGamerCC Keep in mind the movie is set in 1947, when the Studio System was still in full force. Actors who worked under contract with the big studios (who controlled the whole chain, from production to distribution) had their image and public appearance basically completely managed for them, up to and including plastic surgery and fake relationships with other stars for publicity. Their contracts had morality clauses that forbade them from doing anything that might ruin their image, like drinking or getting divorced. It's not a huge exaggeration to say they were basically owned by the studios, just like toons.
This movie in general really does its homework on the time period. For example, the oven in the opening cartoon is branded "Hotternell" (hotter than hell). Which is exactly the sort of euphemism films used at the time to get past the censors, since it was the time of the Hays Code and even a mild profanity like "hell" was not allowed.
The shoe scene messed me up as a kid, too. My great grandfather took me to see Roger Rabbit in theaters when it released and boy it was not what either of us were expecting it to be.
Didn't see it as a kid but I agree that that scene is fucked up; what makes it even worse is how happy and cuddly the shoe was when it first saw him because it probably recognized that he was a fellow toon...
I was OK with the shoe. It was disturbing, yea, but I know I was scared of Judge in the end. All of it... Flattening with screams, pumping back, his eyes, his screams and dissolving in dip
Yep but I learned after watching Nightmare on Elm Street as a young kid that there are more frightening variations on the acid dip.
Interesting fact: Each scene with toons was shot at least twice: once with a prop toon to show Bob roughly where the toon was going to be and once with him having to imagine the toon being there so it would look like he was actually staring at the toon and not just in the direction of the toon. Bob trained so intently for interacting with imaginary beings that he actually began hallucinating toons. This lasted for months after filming wrapped.
Another fun fact: the guy that did the lines for Roger did so from off stage while dressed in a full Roger Rabbit suit.
Dedication.
“Say hello Harvey” that’s a reference to a movie of the same name where a man talks to an imaginary friend who’s of course, a rabbit
I was 16 when it came out. Roger Rabbit on the big screen at that time was a magically fantastical hilarious good time! Jaw dropping!
I wasn't just Robert Zemeckis, but it was Richard Williams who supervised everything animation related in this film. He is known to be a perfectionist that's why this remains the greatest looking film of its kind where 2D animation is thrown in with real people. They incorporated as much realistic lighting as possible to the cartoons. It's called 'bumping the lamp'. Shown specifically in the bar basement scene where the lamp was swinging over Roger's head. There are also 3 other Roger Rabbit shorts in case you guys are interested in seeing it. All are just as good in animation quality as this movie and each took a year to make. And lastly if you pause during some parts of the cab chase scene you can see a cartoon version of Eddie Valiant.
It really is the lighting (and shadows) that makes it stand far above any other movies that mix animation and live action.
Then there’s also the fact that the animation was not only in the hands of a perfectionst, but the animation was then handed off to ILM to make it all seem real, as stated on their website, they made over 10,000 feet of composites. The same company that made the special effects for Star Wars were directly involved in making the toons look lifelike
Which explains why this is still the greatest animated live action film of all time! No film has ever come close to making me feel like cartoons exist in the real world other than this film.
Thanks - I was looking for this comment :) I don't think this film would have been what it was without Richard.
You will likely never Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse together again.
You guys should look up "Who Framed Roger Rabbit Lost In Adaptation" for the differences from the novel.
Fun Fact: Bob Hoskins claimed that Jessica Rabbit was not yet sketched by the animators when filming wrapped, and he had no idea what the character would look like. Robert Zemeckis told Hoskins to imagine his ideal sexual fantasy. Hoskins claimed that his mental image was less risqué than what Jessica looked like in the completed film.
I don't believe Hoskins
For those who don't know when he was asked if he could of gotten out of the cuffs at any time Roger says, "Oh no, not at any time. Only when it was funny" which is commonly true. It's a common rule that cartoon characters have the ability to do basically anything so long as it's considered funny. Without the correct timing or action for it to be funny their powers don't necessarily work.
Also, when Judge Doom walks into the bar looking for Roger and one of the guys makes a joke about a bunny named Harvey that's a reference to a character in a 1950s movie called Harvey. It's about a kind man who has an invisible friend who is named Harvey, a 6ft tall white rabbit.
A pooka to be precise. Sadly not many people remember that movie anymore. It needs a resurgence. Jimmy Stewart was a treasure.
@@StCerberusEngel Yes it does. I actually came across a clip of it by accident and after my mom told me about it I decided to watch the whole thing. I loved it.
No matter the movie, you guys always have such an insane amount of passion poured into each reaction, which truly makes you stand out from other reaction/commentary channels. Love your guys content!
Hey man, thank you so much. That really means a lot to us!!
@@NiceDudeMovieNight I gotta agree, especially during quarantine it feels like I have my best friends watching with me and we're all geeking out! Keep it up.
I couldn’t agree more! This is the most heartfelt and enthusiastic reaction I’ve seen for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and I’m here for it! You guys have earned a new subscriber!
Agreed they are great to watch.
Saw this in theaters when I was like 13.
The audience let out this huge gasp when Bugs and Mickey were on screen at the same time. The feeling of seeing all these movies when movies still had magic and surprise is hard to explain.
I was training to be a customer support guy for IT, and took the required training. The teacher was very good, way younger than me. Once he was describing the workings of DNS (Domain Name Service) and likened it to a concierge who knows what apartment people in a building live in. He looked at me (he knew I was already up on the subject) and asked if I had any better analogy.
I put on my best Roger Rabbit voice and said "But the liquor store guy? He knew!"
The teacher laughed and said, "Oh, I'm stealing that immediately."
The scene in the bar when Judge Doom was looking for Roger and the guy introduced him to Harvey, was a shout out to the 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie, Harvey, in which Harvey was an invisible, six foot tall, white rabbit.
6:20 The gorilla bouncer moment made an extra unintentional joke.
In Spain the offensive term for bouncers is actually "Gorila" (gorilla)
Daffy and Donald having a having a stage battle while performing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 was easily one of the highlights of this movie for me.
Always entertaining as if it's the first time seeing it.
This movie was SO ahead of its time.
5 years of absorbing content on TH-cam, and this is the very first reaction channel I'm ever subscribing to, you guys are just naturals at it!
Thanks so much! That’s a true honor, lol. Welcome aboard!
as a kid, I never knew Bob Hoskins was British! his accent in this film is incredible 😃
Bob Hoskins also played Smee in the movie Hook
This movie was so well developed it went on to coin a phrase in animation/moviemaking.
In the scene at Eddie's apartment during the tussle the overhead light was bumped, forcing the lighting to swing around wildly on everything in the scene. It could have been easily avoided to save effort- but they did it purely for the quality.
"Bumping the lamp' went on to mean putting in more effort than necessary to really wow the audience.
Great reaction! I'm actually friends with Bob Hoskins' daughter, she sent me the biography she wrote about him ❤️ This was mostly filmed in London, and the sets were built at Elstree Studios, the same studio as the OG Star Wars trilogy and all 3 Indiana Jones, among many others. The ACME Gag Factory was filmed in an old train power station near London, I was able to visit it on my last night of my London trip in 2018.
2:30 the cartoons weren't slaves of the companies, thats just how studio actors were back in the day. Actors were pretty much contractually obligated to one studio or another as "employees" in a way. Theres more to it than that but you get the idea. If another studio wanted a certain actor, they would have to ask whatever studio has them on contract.
4:00 fun fact about the Donald and Daffy scene. Disney made sure that neither Duck had more onscreen time than the other. They both had about the same amount of time in the whole sequence!
4:55 the voice for that Betty Boop is the original actress that voiced her from day 1! She still got it!
Actually Mae Questel (?) wasn't the 1st Betty Boop voice. She was the best-known voice.
14:15 is a reference to the movie "Harvey" from 1950 starring James Stewart where he has an invisible giant rabbit as a friend.
This movie would not be what it was without animator Richard Williams. A wunderkind Canadian animator who opened a small studio in London. People assume this was all Disney... nope... Spielberg and Zemekis hired a small, independent studio to direct the animation.
Why? Because Williams was one of the only animators who could not only work in ANY style, but was comfortable animation over live action without a locked down camera...and this was all analog.. so the animators had to draw with changing perspectives in every frame.. Disney's animation dept., while respected, had had a rough couple of years.. so it wasn't up.to the challenge of what Spielberg and Zemekis wanted.
Theres a few great docs about Williams but I highly reccomend "I Drew Roger Rabbit" th-cam.com/video/6BHVloe8MAc/w-d-xo.html
Williams was very connected to Disney, though. The nine old men kind of adopted him as their protege, so that likely played a hand in his studio getting the job.
The tunnel to Tooontown is the same one used in Back to Future part 2.
The uninterrupted shot of Eddie's office is one of my favorite visual storytelling shots ever.
I took me 15 years to realize that at 24:23 Judge Doom was *”Glaring Daggers”* at Eddie.
Truly a masterpiece. It looks just as good today as it did in the theatres. Doesn't it make you wonder what kind of cartoons Jessica performed in, though?
You might look up 'Cool World' (1992) which is also live action/2d animation, but with a much darker, more adult tone.
Cool World is interesting but I much prefer Looney Tunes: Back In Action, it feels like a real successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, only without the Disney collaboration and the Warner Bros. cartoons taking more center stage. Some great cameos in that one too.
Oh please don't compare the two. This movie took time, effort, and great care to make everything work so well. Cool World felt absolutely lazy in every way, from top to bottom
Cool World's plot made absolutely no sense. And the blending of live-action and animation looked horrible. Looked like it was made in the 70s...and for something released six years after Roger Rabbit, that was unforgivable.
@@snarkus63 It had so much hype at the time too. That made it even worse
@@Drawkcabi true
I Love Back in Action too
After a knockout audition Tim Curry was almost cast as Judge Doom -- the role that would eventually go to Christopher Lloyd. Apparently, Curry was just too scary, which is curious considering how scary Lloyd turned out being.
It was a bit more than that. Zemeckis and Gale wanted Lloyd in this movie specifically to make sure Universal couldn't start production on Back To The Future Part II without them (since Universal was the one demanding the BTTF sequels get made against Zemeckis and Gale's wishes and said they would be made with or without them)
I can't understand why everyone is so shocked about the excellence we had in movies (entertainment in general) in the 80s. Every cartoon was not just for kids. We had great things back then too, minus the stress and "in the box" thinking that goes on in today's times. We had talent back then.
There's also a number of animated Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman shorts that were released as a promotion for the movie.
It really is legitimately awesome how well this film aged. 1987-88 were just stellar years for film. So many came out in those years that are now parts of American and global culture.
The original story was actually a political satire which Disney all but washed away.
In the 19th century, street cars, first pulled by horses, then electrified as trolleys, made possible the "modern" city because one could get downtown so much easier. People could walk or ride in a carriage about 3-5 mph but a trolley could easily go 10x and the ride was so much smoother. This meant for the same travel time, a downtown could draw on 10 squared or 100x the population for theaters, restaurants, night clubs, large hotels, etc.
But the trolleys were all privately owned, and had to make a sufficient profit and had to pay taxes. In the 1930's, GM, Standard Oil and one of the major tire companies, got together and set up holding companies in different cities (such as "Cloverleaf Industries" in this movie), with the direct intent to put the trolleys out of business. Thus people would be forced to ride the busses or better yet, get their own cars.
This isn't conspiracy theory - the three were convicted in the 1950's and fined 2K (the cost of one auto) but by then, the danger had been done.
At the same time, city planners like Robert Moses in the NY area deliberately ran the highways through the low income neighborhoods to break them up, or between the downtown and the poor sections. The satire in the movie is that these were sometimes known as the pejorative "coontown" where "the crazy people live" or here, Toontown.
So in essence, the original story was all about not just putting trolley cars out of business... it was to break up and hide the low-income neighborhoods away to make the cities seem more exciting for tourism's sake?
@@KevinKess No, if definitely was about the trolley cars. It was the city planners who then took the opportunity to break up and separate low-income neighborhoods. (And not so much to hide them as to disrupt them, bulldoze great no-man lands through the middle of them - visuals not being the important thing here.)
There are several posts on TH-cam regarding the message behind Roger Rabbit. Here is one of the better ones, I think reasonably balanced (although a bit long - stick with it.)
th-cam.com/video/TVNR24ZaLHk/w-d-xo.html
The original story was in the book though and it was a much different plot
I have loved this movie since I saw it in the theatre when it first came out! The whole show is full of amazingly clever callbacks and shout-outs. When the guy in the trolley car diner says "Say hello, Harvey" he is more than just trolling. It is a reference to another great moving called "Harvey", with James Stuart and an invisible 6' tall rabbit.
Fun detail: Roger wasn't lying, he *literally* couldn't take his hand out of the cuff until it was funny. Because he's a toon and is bound by... let's call it "toon physics". And he didn't handcuff himself to Eddie to force his help. He did it to make him laugh.
Speaking of physics, one of the reasons you're so distracted by Jessica's boobs bouncing is because they bounce in reverse (up when they should go down, etc).
When the bar fly mentions "Harvey" it's a reference to a Jimmy Stewart movie where he can see an invisible rabbit
Bob Hoskins was an extraordinary actor, gaining fame in the UK in the 70s. One of his finest roles was in the 1979 film that has been described by critics as one of the best films ever made in the UK: 'The Long Good Friday' is one of the best gangster movies you'll ever see.
Yes, he's a Brit! His film Mona Lisa is really wonderful.
I love all the subtle foreshadowing in the film of the twist. Aside from Judge Doom being the only “human” character who is just outright is cartoonishly over the top, his coat blows in the wind when there’s none affecting anyone else, he bought the election with “a few simolions” which is what the toon that killed Eddie’s brother stole, he overreacted to the joy buzzer, he all but threw himself away from the dip spill in the bar, he doesn’t blink at any point…
Eddie: “I don’t know who’s toonier, you or Doom!”
Fun facts: there was a stipulation in the contracts letting them use Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse required they get *exactly* the same screen time, which led to the dueling duck piano duet and the parachute scene.
Nobody wanted the role of Eddie Valiant, until Bob came around; the role put him on the map. Lloyd was not the first choice to play Doom, Tim Curry was- and his audition was apparently “too scary” which is impressive given the end product we did get.
Wasn't Bob Hoskins already an Oscar nominee before this movie though?
funny thing, the reason Eddy keeps a soft spot for Betty Boop is mainly cause his brother did. you see that doll on the desk. Also, you were talking over it, but the whole being surprised that Jessica was married to Roger? The more surprising fact is most toons consider Jessica the lucky one in that relationship.
Judge Doon (Lloyd's character) was originally envisioned to be played by Tim Curry.....they canned that idea as they felt Tim was too scary for the tone of the film.
will say my absolute favorite part of this movie is the sheer and absolute number of pieces of foreshadowing and chekov's guns thrown in. The will, the portable hole, the extendomallet, Eddy's vaudeville past, everything about Doon being just slightly off, and so many more.
Wait, if this was the finished product and it was downright terrifying, just how scary was Curry in the role?
@@BJGvideos they never actually got Curry in the role. They planned to.
17:44 the poster behind R.K. Maroon as he’s being shot shows a possum character with the same exact gun and the barrel is pointed at him. The theory is this is who Judge Doom really is.
And it could be why he wears them glasses because they say Possums can't see that well.
perhaps not a Possum, but a Weasel, would explain his connection to The Weasels.
Could be. Might be simpler foreshadowing that he's about to be offed.
Fun Fact: the tunnel at 18:16 is the same one Zemeckis used for Back to the Future 2.
That movie is a revolutionary work of art. Nothing like it had ever come before. It's commonplace now to see a mixture of toons and live action, but back then, it was completely unheard of. The fact they were able to get Disney AND Warner Bros to use all their characters together in the same movie is also super impressive. Also, who knew Christopher Lloyd could be so terrifying?
In the 1945 movie Anchors Aweigh, Gene Kelly danced with Jerry the mouse and that was the first combination of live action and cartoon. th-cam.com/video/2msq6H2HI-Y/w-d-xo.html
24:16, this was nightmare fuel for kids all over the world! Lol!!
Fun fact; during the production of this movie, over ONE MILLION drawings were made.
Watching this in a room full of animators and people who work in the animation industry in remembrance of the animation director was a blast a few years ago and there was an energy I won't forget, hands down one of my favorite movies!
The novel was titled Who Censored Roger Rabbit, and it was darker. In the original story, Roger was the murderer, out of jealousy.
I love this movie, it's part of my childhood.cheers from spain.
Fun facts:
* Charles Fleischer (the voice of Roger) also voiced Benny the Cab and two the weasels (Greasy, the one in the green suit, and Psycho, the crazy one in the straightjacket). He even dressed as a rabbit and acted alongside Bob Hoskins during rehearsals.
* Amy Irving, Spielberg's wife at the time, provided Jessica's singing voice.
* David Lander, who voiced Smarty the boss weasel, played Squiggy on Lavern and Shirley.
* June Foray (the voice of Granny from the Looney Tunes), voiced the hag Toon woman Lena Hyena and Wheezy, the blue smoking weasel.
* Fred Newman (the voice of Skeeter from Doug), voiced Stupid, the fat weasel with the baseball bat.
* Christopher Lloyd never blinked on camera to perfectly portray the character.
* During the ride in Benny the cab, Bob Hoskins had to be animated in a few shots.
Toontown looks like something out of a child's nightmare.
The lady who did the original voice work was still alive when this was made and reprised her role. Her name was Mae Questle. Her last role was Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation
I saw this movie as a kid, but I distinctly recall the first time I watched it as an adult. It suddenly hit me that Roger Rabbit was about the automotive industry buying up public transportation and scrapping it.
I have watched several people watch this for the first time and I guess no one understands the Harvey the Rabbit joke. It's a movie/play from this era so it makes since for them to make that joke. Harvey is literally an invisible rabbit. It's been a while since I watched the movie (Starring James Stewart) but it was like a drunken hallucination or something. Just thought I would spread that old knowledge.
FYI the "best public transportation" joke is a commentary about California. They did have the red line but the motor company bought it out to destroy it because it was competition.
Christopher loyd is an amazing actor, no wonder he's the best part of foodfight.
5:48 that part got me. 🤣🤣🤣
It's such a pity Spielberg wasn't able to get every pre-'47 toon to appear in this...notable among the missing are Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Felix The Cat and Casper the Friendly Ghost.
They probably went through so many redesigns over the years that the studio couldn't pick a specific one to reference, somehow leaving the originals behind
Though a picture of Felix can be seen over the tunnel to Toontown.
I’m gonna be Straight up with you people…..This move scared the Sh*t outta me as a Kid!! 😂 To this day, I still think of how scared I was of Dooms Reveal! That Face was burned into my brain as a Child! Now being a full grown adult I absolutely love this Movie! It’s such a Timeless classic! Great Reaction you 2! 😁😁
The Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers movie that came out earlier this year is a BEAUTIFUL successor to this movie. It doesn't have nearly the innovation but it has the same heart.
This is one of my favorite childhood movies. 😂❤
Me too I like this movie and I seen it when I was little and it's my favorite movie from my childhood and it's a good movie but not funny about this movie and it's still a good movie but not funny about this movie and do you agree with me about what I say right and what do you think about this movie same thing what I say right
I loved the ink and paint club scene with Jessica’s scary real performance, cause Eddie was sitting there afterwards like “Did I just get a BONER from a TOON?????” And he absolutely did!!!
I'm convinced she is the main culprit for my ginger fixation
Me: "you werent the only one, Eddie..."
The "dip mobile" actually used to be at Walt Disney World in the "MGM Studios" park. it would randomly shoot "dip" out of places into the audience.
My dad and I spent that entire day looking for Jessica. :)
This is a type of movie that can't be done again, ownerships of this characters are hell right now, besides the production work is beyond masterful. Movies aren't like this anymore. I think you would surely enjoy watching Cool World btw, if not already, hadn't noticed this video came a year ago. Anyway, good work!
Part of why this film makes a genuinely effective film noir pastiche, is because it is (very loosely) based on a detective novel pastiche called Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which also involves a murder mystery in a world where cartoon characters coexist with humans, and a toon named Roger Rabbit is accused of the crime. I am given to understand, however, that it is significantly darker and has almost nothing else in common, save a couple character names, and even more blatant symbolism in the way toons are treated by humans.
You may have noticed that the toons in this world can only seemingly be employed as entertainers, or as service workers to entertainment venues, but can never just watch the entertainment they put on, since the venues are "humans only," or you may have noticed that the toons live in their own entirely separated neighbourhood apart from the humans, and it's threatened to be demolished in favour of a planned development project to increase car dependency and city profits, or that Roger literally is atop a soap box in one scene to speak on how laughter is sometimes "the only weapon we have." I realise that CRT has become a culture war buzzword lately, but I genuinely think it is interesting how much you can find in this movie, when utilizing that lens.
I appreciate people who understand just how monumental it is to see Warner Bros. and Disney toons interacting in the same shot.
Apparently this film nearly drove Bob Hoskins mad. He couldn't believe you could act towards a green screen and get something out of it, so he invented a persona of Roger Rabbit in his mind, which he couldn't shake after filming for a few months.
Also at 14:14 he refers to Harvey - There's a famous film with an invisible rabbit called Harvey (called Harvey) which has Jimmy Stuart in it. Worth checking out.
It makes me so happy, seeing people react to this movie for the first time. It's one of my all-time favorite films.
Fun fact. There are a couple of storylines that gave Judge Doom his backstory.
One was that HE was the man that killed Bambi's mother. But that was scrapped.
Another was that he was a toon once called Baron Von Rotten. And his thing was portraying bad guys in old cartoon films etc. Basically an actor like the other toons.
However one day there was an accident and he hit his head or something and thought himself to be a real villain. After this he goes to rob the bank and kills the one brother and leaves Eddie alive.
Another story I heard of are of some weasels or something that bring him back from the dead. He's a unique character. Very mysterious.
"This is not for kids"
Crazy thing is this played on Cartoon Network for their movies on either Friday or the weekends. I remember it cause I was shocked considering the themes, even as a child I understood that the themes for this movie were more adult-ish.
I'm not sure but I think the scene where the man in the diner put his arm around an invisible rabbit and said "Say hello Harvey" it was referencing an old James Stewart movie where a man's best friend was a 6 foot tall invisible rabbit called Harvey.
I loved this movie when I was a kid. The 80's was a great era for movies.
1. First time I saw this was in the middle of the ocean. My ship (USS Tripoli LPH-10) was doing
a Tiger Cruise. That's where crew members could bring "male only" family/friends to join us
from Hawaii to San Diego. There were displays set up on the hanger bay. For entertainment
there was an area to watch movies. This was one of them.
2. There had to be equal time for Disney and HB characters.
3. To make it as realistic as possible they sometimes had to hand paint the shadows.
4. One of the cartoon bullets is the voice of Pat Buttram. He played Mr. Haney on Green Acres.
5. The tunnel going to toon town is the same one used at the end of Back to the Future II.
6. This was Mae Questel's/Betty Boops third to last gig. Her last was Christmas Vacation. (RIP)
7. "One too many edibles man" 🤣
8. Favorite character is the Baby🤣
This is based on a far darker book (Who Censored Roger Rabit), which far more clearly and sinisterly points to the RL plot to get monopoly of transport by the motor and petroleum industries.
Hence Eddie's comment about them having the best transport system while on the tram.
Another detail of Judge Doom is that his cape is always blowing in the nonexistent wind. It's so awesome how much detail went into everything about this movie.
Rest in peace, Bob Hoskins. He was great in this and was the best live action Smee in Hook.
Fun fact, Harrison Ford was originally asked to be Valiant, but as cool as that would have been, really liked Hoskins here
we have had other movies , rocky and bullwinkle, Space Jam 1 and 2, Tom and Jerry, Detective Pikachu , Back in Action , Smurfs, but this is the one that remains the best of its genre. We'll see if the Rescue Rangers movie can be as good soon.
fun fact he was also in the iconic blues Brothers
At 12:45 "Bumping the Lamp" was famous, because of how complex it makes all of the lighting on Roger change in literally every single frame, and how much it sells him as being present in the scene. That's why that phrase got used for going above and beyond in the technical details of a scene.
One thing you said that the cartoons are kind of like slaves but actually, well, yes, there is it a racial allegory to it all, but here's the thing.
In the studio era, actors didn't just go to auditions to any picture they were offered a script for. They were contract employees of a studio. Notice how most of Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn's best work was with WB? Well, that's because they worked for WB.
That said, it was never unheard of for studios to share their actors like Bogart, making the African Queen for Paramount. Took some paperwork but it was easy to do.
Yeah in the 1930s to 1950s actors were paid well and had fame but they were treated like property to an extent, in particular actresses.
Judy Garland would be put on soup & cottage cheese diets to lose weight and would stalked by MGM spies (they made sure she didn't go out for burgers & fries or something)
As for the racial allegory of WFRR that mainly manifests itself into how the Valiant brothers are/were the only humans in the film who actually care about toon lives.
@@msannethropp7497 it's little more complicated than that.
The ink and paint club is a parallel to the cotton club, Toons work and perform there but aren't allowed attend it.
Toontown being owned and opporated by humans.
And most of all the plot is based on the real-life, though highly embellished and mythified, corporate conspiracies by automotive and real estate industries to dismantle the railway trolley systems and the gentrification of minority suburbs to build new towns, stripmalls, shopping centers and of course... freeways.
Actually if I read correctly this is loosely based on the plot found in the script for Chinatown 3, which was cancelled and never produced because the second movie was seen as an abject failure.
@@SpiderandMosquito Yep the Freeway subplot was supposed to be for the Chinatown sequel.
And I knew about the other things you said, I just kinda focused on the "No Justice for Toons" part because that is often overlooked.
I've been a huge WB fan since the 1960's and I actually saw Roger Rabbit on the big screen in '88 when it came out. That opening scene with Roger and Baby Herman literally had people falling out of their seats laughing!! My guts hurt for 2 days after watching this.🤣 One of the best animation/live action crossovers in history! Great review you guys!😄👍 *P.S.* If you watch it all the way through, the credits alone go on for like 15 minutes at the end!😮
What's really cool is that despite all appearances, Bob Hoskins was an incredibly athletic, nimble person. For the Super Mario Brothers Movie he did nearly all his own stunts, so I can only imagine he did the same here.
This movie is just phenomenal easily on my top 10 movies list.
There’s a missing scene. I remember having a VHS copy with the scene in it. Eddie gets kidnapped and his head is turned into a cartoon pig. He’s hopping out of the shower after washing the pig head off when Jessica shows up and he drops his pants.
It was a deleted scene that hasn't appeared in any released version EXCEPT for some television broadcasts... maybe you had a recording from television?
That’s exactly it. I remember recording it as a little kid. @@thatwastheweekthatwaswasit1707