Product: Who Framed Roger Rabbit [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 4.0
The movie is dated, but still fun
Zemeckis hybridized the too-adult world of Ralph Bakshi and the too-juvenile world of Looney Toons and make Roger Rabbit "just right". Mixing the cartoon zanyness of classic Disney and Looney Toons shorts with the film noir hard-drinking detective and the very adult Jessica Rabbit was a brilliant idea.Although I started to find Roger Rabbit's constant hyperactivity a bit annoying by the end of the movie, they kept his endearing traits strong enough that I was happy that the fatal "dip" was not to be. At the same time, half the thrill of the movie was to see the juxtaposition of the Disney and Warner Brothers cartoon characters (all contractually paired up and given equal time), as well as the insider jokes spread through the movie.The movie was considered groundbreaking in its mixture of live action and cartoons. Although it was not by any means the first, the level of quality was very high.This movie was on the leading edge of a wave of animation, wherein animation became popular again. As a consequence, much of the terrible low-quality Saturday morning animation of the 70's and 80's suddenly had a higher bar to reach. Toons became decent again!Like a great Disney movie, Roger Rabbit works for both young and old audiences. The very young may find some of the violence intense, and their guardians may have some discomfort explaining Jessica Rabbit's anatomy, but otherwise age 9 and above is probably fine.