Product: Who Framed Roger Rabbit [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 3.0
HIDE THIS ONE EDDIE - P-P-P-PLEASE!
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is a hybrid of genres: a film noir murder mystery grafted onto the hyper-text of the animated cartoon. The plot centers on washed up detective, Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins). Shifting between his own inner demons of a brother who was killed on a case and his alcoholism, Eddie's luck appears to take a turn for the better when R.K. Maroon hires him for a cheap and easy snoop job. But the job is a set up directly linking the murder of a night club owner to the mystery behind a missing last will and testament. Roger (voiced by Charles Fleischer), a five foot tall animated rabbit is the prime suspect. He and Eddie go together like oil and water but with the help of Roger's lusty busty wife, Jessica (voiced by Kathlene Turner) the two embark on a burgeoning friendship destined to save Los Angeles from the dreaded Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd).At the time of its release the seamless blend of traditional animation and live action won Disney and Touchstone a host of accolades and the respect of the entire industry, not to mention a couple of technical achievement Oscars for good merit. However, in the intermission between 1988 and the present this sort of complexity has become rather passé (seen in everything from theater promos to television commercials). Thus in retrospect the film has dated much more as a cliché than might be expected. Instead of maintaining timelessness there is the faint odor of formaldehyde teeming from the cheering sidelines of animation's finest and most enduring creations. Everyone from Bugs Bunny to Betty Boop appear in cameos but the effect no longer enthralls as much as it seems the expected sideline to an otherwise stagy cinematic experience.The original DVD release of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was not anamorphic and although that problem has been rectified on Touchstone's newly minted two disc special edition, there remains a host of digital anomalies that seem new to this incarnation. In a pre-digital domain environment of editing, the source elements for the duped and animated plates in this film seem exceptionally worn, suffering from a barrage of dirt and scratches. Screen flutter is excessive in almost every scene in which cartoons and humans interact. There are also a few cases where either the human element or the cartoon characters appear slightly out of focus. Shadow effects on animated characters create a disturbing and distracting halo effect that is unflattering to say the least. Digital grit is at times excessive, especially in the opening cartoon sequence. Fine details occasionally shimmer. Colors are overall well balanced. But there are a few inconsistencies. For example, watch how Roger's red pants change from red to orange, then back to red, throughout the film. Also, "the Red Car" street cars register more orange than red. All of these problems, I suspect, are the result of cramming too much info on one disc.Even though this is a two disc set, Disney/Touchstone has reserved the first disc for a full frame copy of the movie and an audio commentary only. The rest of the features, including an extensive array of well produced documentaries, deleted scenes, trailers and other extras, have all been crammed onto disc #2 along with the widescreen version of the film. The result is less than optimal picture quality. The sound for both versions of the film is a 5.1 remix that is identical to the previously issued DVD. It is strident and shrill at times and very well balanced at other moments. With all the hype surrounding this re-issue, more should have been expected and delivered from the folks over at Disney.