Product: Who Framed Roger Rabbit [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 5.0
Incredible Blending of Animation and Live Action
It seems difficult to believe that this movie came out in 1988. As I watched the new Vista Series release, one part of me kept thinking computer graphics, but I knew that there were no digital computer effects in this movie. All the effects that you see are a combination of animation and physical special effects. However, you do not need to know that there were no computer effects in this movie to enjoy it.The story: Roger Rabbit was framed for the murder of Marvin Acme, played by Stubby Kaye. Bob Hoskins, playing gumshoe Eddie Valiant, finds that he has been suckered into being part of setting poor Roger up to take the fall. Sounds like film noire, and in fact it is, with one tiny twist; Roger Rabbit and many of the characters in this movie are "Toons", short for cartoons, of course. What follows is a twist on the detective movies of the 30s and 40s, only with everything larger than life and with a good dose of humor.The animation in this movie is nothing short of fantastic. The special effects used to simulate the interaction of the cartoon characters and the human actors are so seamless that eventually you accept that the cartoon characters are "real". The animation was so good that the movie won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1988, along with several other Academy Awards.One fascinating feature of the animated characters is the appearance by characters from multiple studios. Though Touchstone Pictures, a division of Disney, made this film, there are Warner Brothers characters, Woody Woodpecker, Betty Boop, Droopy Dog and a host of Disney characters from Dumbo to Donald Duck. Such inter-studio cooperation is unusual, but works extremely well for this movie, making the movie much more believable and enjoyable.The combination of film noire, animation and humor in the movie make the movie suitable for adults and children. However, some scenes are somewhat intense, garnering the movie a PG rating, so parents should consider whether the movie is suitable for the youngest members of the family.While I could spend more time on the movie itself, I think the movie speaks for itself. It was highly lauded by a number of critics when it came out, and the movie did very well at the box office and in release on video. Instead, I'd rather focus on the features of the Vista Series release.This release contains two DVDs, with more features and extras than I was aware existed. The two DVD's contain three animated shorts that were made after the success of "Who Made Roger Rabbit". There are commentaries, pictures, and several features related to how portions of the movie were filmed. One of the most interesting features show comparisons between Bob Hoskins and his actions against a blue screen in comparison to how the final scenes came out. Another interesting feature shows how plastic dolls were used to aid in setting up shots. A deleted scene with Bob Hoskins in a pig's head is also included, along with the reasons the scene was deleted. One of the complaints regarding the previous releases has been that there was this wealth of material available, but not available on a video release. I think much of the material regarding how this movie was made and the trivia associated with it is included in this DVD. I spent several hours going through the material and I'm not sure that I've seen it all yet.I only have one small complaint regarding all this material. The material was not well-organized and I had a hard time finding specific features, and found myself jumping from screen to screen to find everything. In fact, I'm not sure I've found it all yet. Of course, that also means you get the thrill of discovery each time you find a feature listed on the box that you struggled to find in the first place.For the aficionado of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" that has sought more information about the movie than was previously available, your version of this DVD is here. The movie itself is just as fresh and amazing today as it was in 1988. The extras are numerous and are nearly worth the price of the DVD by themselves. Five stars for a film that will likely continue to amaze audiences for decades to come.