Product: Who Framed Roger Rabbit [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 5.0
One of the reasons I want to be an animator!
This movie came out when I was 8, and I believed it! Chalk it up to Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney animators and Industrial Light & Magic FX technicians! The story of Roger Rabbit accused of mudering gag king Marvin Acme makes for an intriguing story as we try to find out who did it. It does seem hard to believe that help could come in the form of Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskin's greatest role). Eddie is a man who's brother was killed by a toon, and since then, his life has gone downhill to teh point of over drinking alochol (making him a joke to many on the police force). Roger Rabbit does what he does best: try to make Eddie crack a smile, and at the same time help him crack the case. But Eddie not only has to put up with Roger, but a gang of insidious weasels out to stop Roger, a loud-mouthed cartoon cab, and the ever evil Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd during his Doc Brown years). Many people go away form this movi remembering Jessica, and it's easy to see why: modeled after the female contour of aniamtion during the 40's and 50's, the animators capture the feminine charm that was instilled in the cartoons of the greats like Tex Avery. The art is incredible for the fact that the characters do not wield Computer-generated props, but actual items (at times you can see the wires, which is funny), which the animators had to animate around. The visual effects guys did an incredible job of adding little touches like shadows, lighting details on the characters, and much more. Also the fun comes from seeing things that probably would never happen again, like seing Daffy and Donald battling it out over the Hungarian Rhapsody on Piano, and Mickey mouse and Bugs Bunny skydiving.