Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

[Quelquefois]

"Many film buffs label Jessica Rabbit a "Frankenstein of Film Goddesses": with a Lauren Bacall-ish speaking voice, Betty Grable's legs, Marilyn Monroe's torso and buttocks, Jayne Mansfield's breasts, Veronica Lake's hairstyle, Rita Hayworth's hair color, Marlene Dietrich's eyes, and a Judy Garland-like singing voice."

From Wikipedia, although I'd have to argue with comparing Mrs. Rabbit's voice to Judy Garland's.

Another interesting fact is that her singing voice was done by Steven Spielberg's wife at the time.

 

[BJonas]

nevertheless, it's a genius idea. i'd never really noticed the time period until now...i was kinda just fixated on jessica rabbit

I gotta admit to this too.

 

[CharlieH.]

Bob Hoskins was one of the first human actors to have to work talking to tennis balls to represent the characters involved

Actually, the combining of live action and animation is almost as old as animation itself. Walt Disney's earliest work featured a live action girl in a cartoon world (the Alice Comedies), and a young Walter Lantz (of Woody Woodpecker fame) fought a cartoon wolf in a silent Dinky Doodle short.

There's a Looney Tunes short from 1940 called You Ought To Be In Pictures,where Daffy Duck and Porky pig have a little talk with their producer Leon Schlesinger. In another scene, a live action studio guard tosses Porky out of the lot.

Of course, none of those are even close to the marvelous complexity of Roger Rabbit.

 

[BJonas]

After all these years, that scene still gives me chills.

Yeah. Your avatar gives me chills, too.

 

[Slicksuit]

And another thing- Jessica's performance at the Ink & Paint club is, in my opinion, the greatest animated scene ever, and I'm still baffled by one small detail - how the heck could a cartoon character pull out a real pocket square and use it to rub a real bald guy's head? (I actually have a clue, but knowing it for certain would banish the magic of it all.)

I wonder if maybe it was done with rotoscoping, in which the animation is superimposed over the negative, frame-by-frame. Maybe the cut out the actor or device used to pull out the pocket square?

 

[CharlieH.]

Yep. Rotoscoping is definitely part of the equation.

 

[Quelquefois]

Using a stand-in then replacing him or her with the animation cel is the only way I can think of. So the only solution out there, without any use of computerized aid, is rotoscoping.

Rotoscoping is exactly what I started thinking about when someone stated Bob Haskins must have been the first human to interact with animations. I was thinking about Cab Calloway and his renowned slide dancing in Betty Boop Toons.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

There were some nifty little overlooked touches - metal strips down the streets to look like the old Red Car tracks. No overhead lines for the Red Cars but they would periodically shoot sparks out of the dummy poles on the roof that would get power for the cars from the lines, just like the real ones would periodically do.

 

[Nick Charles]

Funny to mention this now, Saturday I was out dressed in a vintage sweater, tie, white shirt, tweed jacket, olive khakis and a brow fedora and the girl at saples said "I thought you were the guy from Who framed Roger Rabbit! Being short and stubby like Hoskins I took it as a compliment and went on my way.

But then I got home and had to watch it again.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I went marketing late today at Fred Meyer, a Northwest chain that has almost everything under one roof...and I walked past a stand which had Roger Rabbit on sale. "Hmmm, I have the video, but not the DVD..." but opted to pass it up and moved on to gathering up the other items on my shopping list. I finished my shopping and got to the checkout stand, got everything on to the conveyor belt, reached for a magazine I wanted and out fell another Roger Rabbit DVD. After the posts here on FL and a friend coincidentally saying "I'm not bad - I'm only drawn that way" earlier today, on top of having DVD's virtually jumping into the cart, I took it as a sign, surrendered and bought the copy that somewhat mysteriously appeared at the checkout. I figure someone's sending me a message...who and why and from where, I don't know...

 

[JazzBaby]

Using a stand-in then replacing him or her with the animation cel is the only way I can think of. So the only solution out there, without any use of computerized aid, is rotoscoping.

Rotoscoping is exactly what I started thinking about when someone stated Bob Haskins must have been the first human to interact with animations. I was thinking about Cab Calloway and his renowned slide dancing in Betty Boop Toons.

That was definitely done by rotoscoping, which I believe is something like tracing the actors movements frame by frame onto a sheet of frosted glass? and then drawing the cartoon characters on top. It made for some great Betty Boop toons, given their age!

 

[MissHuff]

Speaking of Betty Boop, I love the little part at the Ink and Paint club where she's talking to Valiant.

"Work's been kinda slow since cartoons went to colour. But I still got it Eddie. Boo boo bedoo. Boop!"

She's definitely still got it, I love Betty hehe. "What a lucky goirl!"

 

[The Wingnut]

Eddie: "What do you see in him, anyway?"

Jessica: "He makes me laugh."

 

[Mr. Sable]

In some instances, they rotoscoped over robots, as in the case of the cigar smoking baby in the carriage.

 

[CharlieH.]

In some instances, they rotoscoped over robots, as in the case of the cigar smoking baby in the carriage.

"Problem is I got a 50 year old lust and a 3 year old......."

(Incidentally, in a few shots, you can actually see the robot's shadow!)

 

[Quigley Brown]

Bob Hoskins wears that same necktie through the whole movie (he may take it off once). There's a scene wear he's taken the shirt off but still has the tie on.

 

[nubsnubs]

A golden era inspired flick with a twist. I loved this movie when it first came out, and I still do. I dont know what it is, but I just like it.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

A golden era inspired flick with a twist. I loved this movie when it first came out, and I still do. I dont know what it is, but I just like it.

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=15340&highlight=roger+rabbit

whole bunch of opinions on it all already organized for ya!

 

[carter]

Jessica Rabbit was prominently mentioned as a favorite cartoon character on another thread recently.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I always thought that Roger's voice was annoying and irritating. But.....Jessica made up for that! I never understood what she saw in that little wild hare, anyway!? lol

-Dixon Cannon