Product: Who Framed Roger Rabbit [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 3.0
Pl-pl-pl-pl-EEZE!! I wanted MORE!!
First of all, sorry to contradict you, Luis Arturo Gutierrez Calv, but "...Roger Rabbit" does NOT have CGI effects! While I was living in Los Angeles shortly after the film was released, one of the animation directors for the film was a speaker at a special "...Roger Rabbit" symposium at an animation festival. He directly answered a question from the audience about CGI in the film by stating that even though some effects LOOK computer-generated (specifically, the reflective kitchen floor in the opening cartoon segment), everything (even the sequins on Jessica Rabbit's show gown reflecting light like minature flashbulbs) was done the old-fashioned way, by HAND!! Yes, Richard Williams (main animation director) is JUST THAT GOOD!!! As the speaker (whose name escapes me for now) put it: (and I'm paraphrasing by memory here) "the only time the animators used their computers was in figuring out equations" for camera angles and such!That same director also mentioned three scenes that were cut. Namely, the "Aaah! I'm a pig!!" scene (which was in commercials for the movie during its theatrical run!) that has since been shown on network television (and is included on this dvd), the scene leading up to that one: Eddie Valiant being caught...in Jessica Rabbit's dressing room, I think...by Jessica, Judge Doom, the Weasels and the Gorilla Bouncer, and gag tycoon Marvin Acme's funeral, featuring Forhorn Leghorn delivering the eulogy (which are not!)!!Also, I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with voice-over actress Norma MacMillan who recorded lines for "...Roger Rabbit" as Casper, The Friendly Ghost!! But where WAS the little guy?? Perhaps at the aforementioned funeral?? Why isn't this scene included?? Even a 'rough' animated pencil test of it would be MORE than welcome!!We were also treated, that evening, to seing the ENTIRE 'Bob Hoskins in Toontown' sequence WITHOUT the animation!! It was simultaneously fascinating and hysterically funny seeing the brilliantly talented actor (who truly deserved an Academy Award nomination for his under-rated work in this movie!) reacting to such devices as wooden sticks with 'x's taped to them, representing Bugs and Mickey!!Well, the movie itself is still a classic, but why weren't these truly special 'extras' included?? Hopefully, this will be rectified by an 'anniversary', or 'SPECIAL-special' edition.But THIS version's lack of goodies which I KNOW are out there (such as footage of Joe Pantoliano...remember Ralphie from 'The Sopranos'?....playing Eddie Valiant (!) in a VERY early animation test!) will cause me to hesitate from buying this dvd on March 25th. And for someone like me....for whom animation and cartooning are pretty much my LIFE!!...that's a hard thing to admit, indeed!