BCDB: Cartoon Reviews: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

For all cartoon fans out there, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is essential viewing. It nicely mixes the golden-age cartoons with film noir detective stories very nicely without getting too silly or too adult. A nice, family film that definitely lives up to it's expectations.

Another thing to point out is that it's also one of few live-action/animation films with a plot to it. "Space Jam" and "Cool World" simply didn't think things through, but rest assured that there is logic behind this film as well as laughter, suspense and two hours of fun that will have you on the edge of your seat! "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is a classic for the whole family to enjoy!

Wow. Roger Rabbit is unlike anything ever made, and probably will be the only thing like in for a very long time. Being one of the last films made before computers started in on animation (and rightfully so, as commented by Richard Williams, the involvement of computers would have not been right for the style they were going for, especially as it was a movie honoring the greatness of classic cartoon animation) you have to appreciate every single frame of drawings in the movie. Everything from the complexities of dropping live action Bob Hoskins from the top of a million-story high Toontown skyscraper to the oh-so-subtle toon interactions with live action objects (moving papers and paraphanalia on a desk, putting fingerprints on a dusty chair, etc.) make this movie a wonder of technological achievement due to the result of very much appreciated hard work.

But even putting the technological aspects aside, the film is simply wonderful. Being a golden age 'toon fan myself, this is just about as wild and wacky as a movie can get, especially with the involvement of various cartoon studios characters. I doubt I will ever again see animated scenes as fun and wonderful as the duiling piano players Daffy and Donald Duck, or the heart stopping grand entrance into Toontown with all our favorite 'toon stars singing "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile", emphasising what I think is the moral of the whole movie: When life gets you down, just laugh. What makes these 'toon scenes even more enlightening is the setting the movie takes place in. Its a sort of "film noir" world, full of sex, scandal, murder, drinking, and not-so-pretty language, making it that more wacky and fun when Yosemite Sam falls out of the sky from a recent encounter with some kid of explosive or when Roger sings his nutty rendition of "The Merry Go Round Broke Down".

I think this is possibly my favorite movie of all time. (animated or not)

When I saw this movie in the theatres, my appreciation for animation went through the roof. I'm sure this eventually led to me being an animation student today. Well, that and every Chuck Jones cartoon ever made.