"Is he always this funny, or only on days when he's wanted for murder?"

Rating: 8/10 (14 October 2007)

'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' is simply a lot of fun, a good-natured hybrid of the hard-boiled film noirs of the 1940s and the iconic Hollywood cartoons of about the same time. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, who  having also given us such classics as 'Back to the Future (1985)' and 'Forrest Gump (1994)'  we know is highly adept at providing excellent, wholesome entertainment, and this film is a glowing example of his talents. Meticulously crafted, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' is a technical marvel, faultlessly blending cartoon characters and live-action performances, without ever allowing the visual effects to overshadow the story. The $70 million film was a risky investment for Amblin Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company, but delivered handsome box-office returns (approximately. $330 million worldwide), almost universal critical acclaim and four Academy Awards (including one Special Achievement Award for Richard Williams' animation direction). The film is also unique in that, for the first time, it brought many of cinema's classic cartoon characters from different studios together on screen, mainly for brief cameo roles; including Mickey Mouse (Disney), Bugs Bunny (Warner Bros.), Droopy Dog (MGM), Betty Boop (Paramount Pictures) and Woody Woodpecker (Walter Lantz).
The film was based on Gary K. Wolf's book, entitled "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?," and the screenplay was written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. The plot for the film also borrows many elements from the film noirs of the 1940s, as well as some of the more recent neo-noirs, particularly Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown (1974).' The setting is Hollywood, 1947. For years, humans and cartoon characters ("Toons") have co-existed together, though relations have often been a bit frictional. The Toons, when they're not working for the major animation studios, reside in Toon-town, an entirely-animated city that is owned by childlike, gag-gifts supplier Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye). After Acme is found dead, a hefty vault having been dumped on his head, zany and disaster-prone Toon Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer) is suspected of the murder, having recently discovered that his beautiful wife Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner and Amy Irving) had been cheating on him with the deceased. Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is a depressed, drunken and hard-boiled private investigator with a militant dislike of Toons, due to the horrible death of his brother five years earlier, at the hands of an unknown, red-eyed cartoon lunatic. After Roger is accused of murder, Valiant is pressed  against his wishes  to uncover the conspiracy and clear the rabbit's name.
I genuinely believe that 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' can rank with the very best animated films that Hollywood has produced. Just a quite scroll down its credits page reveals the hundreds upon hundreds of crew members whose tireless efforts painstakingly brought the animated characters to life; every single piece of animation was hand-drawn without the use of computers, and analogue optical effects were also used for adding shadows and lighting to the Toons. The way that the live-actors interact with their animated counterparts is nothing short of awe-inspiring, and no minute detail is left imperfect. These Toons cast shadows, break windows, smash plates on their head, slam doors and grab hold of humans, and all this is achieved convincingly. The main actors, especially Bob Hoskins, keep their performances astonishingly natural, despite presumably communicating with empty space a lot of the time. Even if you don't take the time to consider what a remarkable technical achievement the film is, you are still very likely to fall in love with it; 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' is the most fun I've had watching a movie in quite a few months. At first it seems like a film that only children would enjoy, despite the occasionally dark theme (several murders take place, including the surprisingly shocking "dipping" of an animated shoe). However, Robert Zemeckis has succeeded in creating that rare thing  a picture that is equally entertaining for adults and children alike.