Product: Who Framed Roger Rabbit [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 5.0
"Thanks! I needed that!"
This DVD set is sure to please anyone who enjoyed the ambitious, innovative and hilarious movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In 1988, Roger Rabbit earned several Oscars, combined animation with live action, made British actor Bob Hoskins a star and featured cameos from dozens of Disney, Warner Bros, MGM and Universal cartoon stars. Director Robert Zemeckis would also direct the Back to the Future series.The story takes place in 1947 and it all begins with the lovable goofball Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer) co-starring with the cute but not-so-innocent Baby Herman (offstage, Herman is a whiney, scowling cigar smoking midget) in What's Cookin'. It's not long before Roger is under investigation by hapless no-nonsense detective Eddie Valiant (Hoskins). Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), owner of Toontown, has been murdered. Judge Doom (Back to the Future and Taxi's Christopher Lloyd) and his pack of scheming weasels suspect Roger is the culprit, particularly after Acme plays a game of patty-cake with Roger's sultry wife, Jessica (Kathleen Turner). Jessica's defense: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way!" Roger, Jessica and Valiant do their best to prove Roger's innocence and save the fate of Toontown. Benny the wisecrackin' Cab is there to help Valiant get to the bottom of it all. Cameos include Daffy and Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny (voiced by the late Mel Blanc), Yosemite Sam, Mickey Mouse, Tweety, Droopy Dog, Betty Boop (with the original voice of Mae Questel) and many others. The musical score is composed by Alan Silvestri (Forrest Gump, Lilo and Stitch).Now for the extras. There is a spoken commentary as well as a "pop-up video" style commentary on the picture, outtakes including the "pig head" sequence, information on before/after animation, a DVD game Trouble in Toontown, options of widescreen and fullscreen, and (if you're bi-lingual) dubbed in versions in French and Spanish.Finally, it includes 3 Roger Rabbit short films, including Tummy Trouble (where Baby Herman swallows everything), Rollercoaster Rabbit (where Roger babysits Herman in an amusement park; my favourite of the 3) and Trail Mix-Up (where Roger takes Herman camping around Yellowstone Park; watch for Jessica's cameos in all of these!).Give yourself a week or 2 to enjoy the movie and all the extras! Enjoy the ride and leave the driving to Benny, your faithful tourgide!