A for Apple, B for Bat... Review on Who framed Roger Rabbit Movie

1. Hollywood. Lights, Camera, Action!

I must have watched this movie in 1990 or thereabouts after which I only saw it a few months ago on Zee MGM at the end of which I was left with a guilty conscience for having missed it in my childhood.

Story

The name is Rabbit - Roger Rabbit. Superstar of a cartoon studio and the apple of everyone’s eye, is battling severe stress and a falling relationship as he struggles to complete his film assignments.

Studio magnate R.K. Maroon entrusts a now-salt-and-pepperish private detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) to investigate a squalid relationship brewing between Roger’s voluptuously seductive wife, Jessica Rabbit (voice of Kathleen Turner) and creative genius Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye). Valiant is quite keen to take the case because it was a Toon that caused his brother’s untimely death.

Eddie accepts the case and returns with incriminating photos of Jessica and Marvin Acme in err…compromising poses. Maroon shows the snaps to Roger who instantly plumbs into depression. To make matters worse, Acme is found dead and Roger Rabbit, obviously, is the lead suspect!

Enter a new judge in the town in the form of the tyrannical Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd). Judge Doom has created a highly toxic green liquid called “Dip.” This liquid has the ability to kill any toon it comes into contact with. Judge Doom is hell-bent on clearing up the town of all Toons, most of all Roger Rabbit. Then starts the chase. Roger Rabbit is the fugitive and has the cops and Judge Doom looking high and low for him.

Out of desperation, Roger begs Eddie Valiant to help him clear his name. With the help of a girlfriend Dolores (Joanna Cassidy) and a cartoon taxi named Benny The Cab, the two of them uncover an unbelievable scandal involving the will of Marvin Acme, which ensures the safety of all the fellow cartoons that reside in neighboring Toontown and clears Roger Rabbits name.

The Movie

Walt Disney Pictures and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment got together to make this celebrated film. The movie is largely wonderful because it seamlessly brings together a plethora of cartoons and real life characters.

The movie would have probably fallen flat on its face if the very concept of real and toon characters sharing screen time together didn’t go down well with the public. Thankfully, the producers and director (Robert Zemeckis) do an able job of drawing a fine line between reality and fantasy and the result is an eminently palatable fare. Bob Hoskins is sublime in a role that’s clearly modeled on the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Poirot and their fraternity.

The screenplay, by Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman, was adapted from Gary K. Wolf’s novel “Who Censored Roger Rabbit. The movie is extremely light-hearted with a simple story handled with great care and sensitivity. The background score is by Alan Silvestri is a terrific concoction of typical cartoon sounds with an enjoyable peppering of and the early jazz music.

A whole lot of credit to Zemeckis and his creative team for the sheer amount of work put into the movie. Toons drive cars, shoot with real guns, fight with Eddie and even entertain people in nightclubs! The animation is simply too good to be true and that at a time when most of the modern techniques were not even introduced.

One might wonder as to what’s transpiring on the screen during the first 10 minutes or so. Once you reconcile yourself to the fact that this movie requires you to leave your common sense (if any) outside the theatre, its all the more engaging and entertaining.

Cheeky’s Riddle of the day

What would Spookay have been if he was not Spooky?