Let's finish this Special Effects movie marathon with one of the most beloved movies of the 1980s. I'll admit, a large reason I did want to do this marathon was that it put Who Framed Roger Rabbit in my list of potential reviews, and while I was not fully set on doing it, I thought, why not? I wanted to end this marathon on a movie that I loved, especially since as of the publication of this review, my birthday is tomorrow, and it also helps that I did kind of tease this movie back when I wrote my editorial about TRON. So, why not give Who Framed Roger Rabbit a look? Besides, we also had that Chip 'N Dale movie recently, so the timing is, a little off, but still fortuitous, it really does seem like everything just kind of fell into place for me to review this movie, and really, do I even need an excuse to talk about this movie? It is legitimately one of my favourites.
Set in Hollywood in 1947, Private Eye Eddie Valiant is asked by cartoon producer R. K. Maroon to follow Jessica Rabbit, the wife of his employee Roger, and Marvin Acme, to show Roger some evidence his wife may not be best for him. The next day however, Marvin Acme is found murdered and Roger is the number one suspect and is being chased by Judge Doom and his gang of weasels. From there, a mystery is set surrounding the missing will of Marvin Acme, and the connections an upcoming company called Cloverleaf industries has with R. K. Maroon. As a mystery, on the one hand it is done really well. That being said I don't think it's really going to surprise you, but I found myself invested in where it was going, even after countless rewatches. On top of that, the plot itself is really solid, especially the way they establish things early on. For example, when looking at the scene of Acme's murder, they set up the tools that Eddie would use to fight Judge Doom at the end, and the sweeping transition shot of Eddie's desk would set up the circus tricks he would utilize to defeat the Weasels. I do think they could have established the disappearing/reappearing ink plot point a bit earlier in the story, but all in all, I definitely give the plot a solid A.
In comparison, the characters may seem a bit basic. You have Eddie who is the drunk and bitter private eye with a hard backstory, Roger is a toon who loves to entertain, and Judge Doom is the creepy villain. However, not only are the performances by Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer and Christopher Lloyd absolutely superb, but the way these characters are introduced is excellent. The first shot we see of Eddie, we get everything we need to know about who he is, he's a drunk, he's bitter and he doesn't like Toons, and Judge Doom's introduction, the dark figure towering over Eddie and glaring down at him, it's absolutely perfect. The characters are easily identifiable, easy to relate to, and entertaining to watch, some stories don't need much else. You could have some really deep and complex characters, but that would have taken away from the mystery, the setting and the commentary.
Oh yeah, let's talk about the commentary. Now, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was based on the book Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolfe, I haven't read it but I am aware that the movie is not a true adaptation. That being said, so much about this movie ties into the racial issues of the time period. Turning Toon Town into a freeway sounds really similar to gentrification, and Roger even alludes to Toons not getting proper justice, much like Black Americans of the 40s and 50s and many will even argue today. The commentary is subtle, but it is there. This is where I feel this movie and the recent Chip 'n Dale movie differ the most. That movie, one could argue, attempted to have commentary about the nature of fandom and the treatment of child stars, but I found it to be weak. Here, you could tell me directly that this movie is an allusion to racism and I would buy it without calling any of the evidence a stretch.
Speaking of Chip 'n Dale, when I talked about that movie, I brought up that Roger Rabbit isn't really a comedy. So, how many times do I have to say "Whoops, I was wrong, my mistake" before people just forget I made the mistake? Yeah, for whatever reason I do forget how funny this movie actually is, and a lot of that is thanks to the animation. The animation director for this movie was Richard Williams and you can tell just from the opening skit, with the beautifully flowing camera work. Richard Williams was great at animating flow, whether it is the flow of a camera or the flow of a dancing ragdoll, he was just such an amazing talent. On top of that, the mixing is pretty damn near spotless. Sure there was one or two times the items did not interact quite well with the animation, but for the most part it really does look like these animated figures were actually there, live on camera. So many mechanics and doodads had to be hidden underneath very lively character animation, almost like a form of rotoscoping, and it is all just so perfect.
I mean, do I really have to explain why this is one of my favourite movies of all time? Even putting aside the investing plot, spot on performances and really good comedy, the animation and live-action mixing alone makes it enough of a mind blowing film, and then we get the different characters from different studios making appearances, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy, heck even Felix the Cat appears as the Comedy and Tragedy masks above the Toon Town Tunnel. I mean the only thing missing is a nod to Winsor McCay, but I'll take a Coyote and Road Runner cameo instead, even if they are a bit anachronistic. It is a well made, well written, well acted, well animated, well directed and well received movie, none of you needed me to tell you to go see it, you probably already have. Legit, it is one of the greatest movies ever made, and if you're going to pass it up because "It has cartoons in it" well fine, it's your loss. I'm sure your kids will absolutely love it though. Do I even need to say it is a High Recommendation?
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