Sutured with care

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2007)

By some kind of miracle, "Who Frammed Roger Rabbit" received a PG rating despite its very dark themes, segments of non-cartoonish violence, and prominent sexuality. This very fact made it hard for me to enjoy this well-crafted film-noir. But even if the film had received an appropriate rating, nothing would excuse its divergence from the supposed nature of cartoons in the film. The 'toons' are supposed to exist to make people laugh, but character Jessica Rabbit has grotesque features very much aimed toward her sexual parts, like she was conceived from some beyond help geekoid. Sure I remember the hilarious "Little Red Riding Hood" shorts that involved a very frisky wolf, but Rabbit's character was emphasized so disturbingly beyond her importance as the femme fatale in this mock film-noir. I wasn't laughing. Still, there are very clever homages to the nature of 'toons' (and underlying tones that allude to racism and genocide) that make the film work. The toons are blended so realistically into the story, technically and thematically, that I will praise it for such. Loopy cartoons and 1940's film noir should be wholly analogous to each other, but here they work to a level that makes it feel like this genre has always existed. This idea does much favor to the film's aesthetic appeal, and the animation appears to be computer animated with its use of shadow, despite the dark tone coloring. It was certainly a technical achievement. I'm sure the film inspired future efforts of the odd mixing of defined groups of entertainment, "Happy Feet", "Space Jam" and "Shrek" all come to mind, the latter being one of the better films in my opinion. So certainly, it is a big contribution to the animation medium.