Roller Coaster Rabbit

Roller Coaster Rabbit is a 1990 short, starring Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman, that was shown before the film Dick Tracy. It's the second animated Roger Rabbit short, produced after the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was produced by Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.
==Plot==
Roger is at the fair with Baby Herman and his mother. Mrs. Herman leaves her infant son under the care of Roger while she goes to get her palm read by a psychic, under a stern warning that she'd cook Roger in a rabbit stew for dinner if he doesn't comply with her orders.
When Mrs. Herman is away, Baby Herman loses his red balloon and Roger goes to get him a new one. Before he returns, however, Baby Herman sees another red balloon at a dart game and goes to try to get it. When Roger comes back to give Baby Herman his balloon, he finds that he is gone, and the chase begins.
First, Baby Herman finds himself following the balloon into a field home to a grazing bull. Roger soon follows him. Baby Herman walks through directly underneath the bull, he notices a round balloon-like object and grasps it unknown to him that it was really the bull's scrotum. The bull snaps. Roger picks up Baby Herman but just happens to be looking the bull in the eyes. It hurls Roger and Baby Herman into the air sending him flying out of the field and they land in a roller coaster train which is traveling slowly up the lift hill.
The next stage of this short the train continues to climb the lift hill. They reach the top which is exaggerated to reach beyond the clouds and into space. Roger looks down in horror and sees the world. Moments later the train drops down thousands of meters. The speed of the drop is maintained throughout the remainder of the chase. Only after they encounter the signs "DON'T STAND UP" and "WE MEAN IT" does the train derail at another drop, leaving only one car on the tracks with Roger and Baby Herman on board.
After a few twist and turns (in the track) a shot of Jessica Rabbit appears where she is tied down to the tracks, unable to move. She calls out to be saved before the car crushes her. As it draws near, it topples over and fortunately bounces over her avoiding her completely. The camera "moves" along and Droopy appears beside her for a quick one-liner.
The story then continues. They encounter another drop which leaves Roger hanging in midair for before he suffers gravity. Roger, grasping onto Baby Herman, tumbles and breaks the car to pieces, leaving Roger sliding along the tracks with his feet, gradually gaining friction causing his feet to catch fire. The track follows into a dark tunnel and then stumbles across a "wrong way sign".
Finally, Roger and Baby Herman crash through it and into a real-life filming studio, a direct reference to the reality/cartoon cross-over from the feature film. Baby Herman, in his natural voice, and is sent flying into the microphone spinning around. After Roger's flaming feet are extinguished by a fireman, the director complains that his latest masterpiece was ruined, and angrily orders Roger to go back to do the entire scene again, but Roger instead runs away from the studio without second thought.
In the post-credits scene, Baby Herman puts on a robe and is smoking a cigar, grousing to himself about Roger's usual shenanigans. An attractive young woman in live action is seen holding the balloon and offering it to Baby Herman, who uses his lit cigar to pop it. As the cute girl flinches at the pop, Herman cackles and remarks: "What's the matter, toots? Afraid of a little...bang?"
==Voice Cast==
*Roger Rabbit - Charles Fleischer
*Jessica Rabbit - Kathleen Turner
*Young Baby Herman/Mrs. Herman - April Winchell
*Adult Baby Herman - Lou Hirsch
*Droopy - Corey Burton
*Bull - Frank Welker
===Live Action Cast===
*Fritz - Damian London
*Secretary - Joni Barnes
*Cameraman - Jim Bracken
*Fireman - Ancel Cook
===Uncredited===
*Charlie Adler - Carnival Barker
==Credits==
*Directed by: Rob Minkoff and Frank Marshall
*Produced by: Donald W. Ernst
*Music by: Bruce Broughton
*Based On Characters Created by: Gary K. Wolf
*Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy
*Associate Producer: Thom Enriquez
*Voice Cast: Charles Fleischer, Kathleen Turner, April Winchell, Lou Hirsch, Corey Burton, Frank Welker
*Live Action Cast: Damian London, Joni Barnes, Jim Bracken, Ancel Cook
*Story: Bill Kopp, Kevin Harkey, Lynne Naylor, Patrick A. Ventura
*Art Direction: Kelly A. Asbury
*Animation: Brigitte Hartley, Mark Henn, Mark Kausler, Alex Kupershmidt, David P. Stephan, Barry Temple, Alexander Williams
*Layout: James Beihold, Robert Walker, Mark Wallace
*Background: Ric Sluiter, Katherine Altieri, Robert E. Stanton
*Assistant Animators: Tom Bancroft, Tony Bancroft, Philo Barnhart, Aaron Blaise, Lou Dellarosa, Sam Ewing, Daniel A. Gracey, Alan Simpson, Jane Tucker
*Inbetweeners: Philip S. Boyd, Trey Finney, Susan Gal, Ken Hettig, Christine Lawrence, Tracy M. Lee, Matt Novak, Jennifer Oliver, Daniel Wawrzaszek
*Special Effects: Barry Cook, Rob Bekuhrs, Jeff Dutton, James R. Tooley, Kevin Turcotte, Dorse A. Lanpher, Dave Bossert, William Allen Blyth, Dan Chaika, Christine Harding, Steve Starr, Eusebio Torres
*Ink & Paint: Fran Kirsten, Jason L. Buske, Irma Cartaya, Greg Chin, Janet English, Robert S. Kerr, Al Kirsten, Michael Lusby, Pamela Manes, Monica Mendez, Lisa A. Reinert, Laura Lynn Rippberger, Laurie A. Sacks, Elsa V. Sesto, Andrew Simmons, Jo Anne Tzuanos, Pam Vastbinder, Sharon K. Vincent, Loretta A. Weeks, Victoria L. Winner
*Production Manager: Tim O'Donnell
*Editor: Chuck Williams
*Assistant Editors: Bill Wilner and Beth Ann Collins
*Camera: Gary W. Smith and Mary E. Lescher
*Animation Check: Paul Steele
*Production Accountant: Darrell Brown
*Production Secretaries: Barbara Poirier and Hollis Trainer
*Production Assistant: Janet McLaurin
*Production Runner: Matthew Garbera
*Live Action Photography Unit - Director Of Photography: Hiro Narita
*Art Director: Bill Durrell
*Unit Production Manager: Scott Thaler
*First Assistant Director: J. Michael Haynie
*Second Assistant Director: Bruce Cohen
*Set Decorator: Bob Lucas
*Special Effects: Calvin Joe Acord
*Toon Wrangler: Steve Starkey
*Special Visual Effects: Industrial Light & Magic
*Visual Effects Supervisor: Ed L. Jones
*Visual Effects Producer: Susan Adele Colletta
*Optical Photography Supervisor: Brad C. Kuehn
*Visual Effects Editor: Michael Gleason
*Sound Mixers: Terry Porter, C.A.S., Mel Metcalfe, David J. Hudson
*Sound Effects Editors: Richard C. Franklin, Jr. and Louis L. Edemann
*Sound Designer: Drew Neuman
*Foley Artists: John Roesch and Ellen Heuer
*Music Editor: Craig Pettigrew
*Orchestrator: Don Nemitz
*"Orange Blossom Special" Written by: Ervin Rouse
*DROOPY DOG Is A Trademark Of Turner Entertainment Co. © 1947 Loews, Inc., Renewed © 1970 MGM, Inc. Used By Permission Of Turner Entertainment Co.
*Produced At Disney MGM Studios Theme Park, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
*Color by TECHNICOLOR®
*Dolby Stereo In Select Theaters
*© Copyright MCMXC The Walt Disney Company and Amblin Entertainment
*Amblin Entertainment
*Touchstone Pictures
*Distributed By Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Co., Inc.
==Cameos==
The cartoon characters that make cameos appearances in this short include:
*Mickey Mouse
*Clarabelle Cow 
*Pinocchio
*Ariel from The Little Mermaid (*)
*Droopy
(*) Denotes anachronistic cameos, since the Roger Rabbit short films are set in 1947, as revealed in the title cards, and the characters wouldn't have debuted in 1947.
This is the first of the only two of the three Roger Rabbit short films to feature cameos from Disney characters created after the Golden Age of American Animation, in this case Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), who debuted in the previous year before this short film came out.
==Trivia==
*The title card at the start of the short states that it was made in 1947, the year Who Framed Roger Rabbit was set in.
*The version of the short on video is just a tad shorter than the one seen in theaters. The scene where Roger's coaster car goes out of the frame has been spliced out a bit. However, this was done in order to make the gag work better.
*Shooting gallery prizes not only include Mickey Mouse, but also Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman.
*When Roger is throwing stuff out of Baby Herman's baby carriage, he tosses out a bottle, a rattle, a teddy bear, a ball, a safety pin, a rolling pin, a pistol (which fires), a box of cigars, two fluffy dice, an axe, TNT, a Mickey Mouse Club hat, a book titled The Disney Look, a bowling ball, a bear trap, an anvil (which squishes one of the dice), a rubber tire, a bottle with a skull motif, a kitchen sink, and a copy of Play-Toon magazine (with a winking Jessica Rabbit in the centerfold).
**The rattle Roger threw out of the baby carriage is the exact same one from the previous Roger Rabbit short, Tummy Trouble.
*The small billboard poster in the opening shot is a reference to the name change of The Great Mouse Detective, which was originally titled "Basil of Baker Street".
*Originally, a special in-joke was planned. It was to have taken place when Roger and Baby Herman reached the top of the roller coaster's lift hill. At the top would have been an intersection with a traffic light that turned red, pausing their train. At this point, the "Long Car" was have zoomed through the intersection in front of them. Riding in this train was supposed to have been every single animated character that has ever appeared in a Disney film. Mickey and Minnie were to have been seated in the front car, while Monstro the Whale from Pinocchio and Chernabog would have been towering over everyone from seats at the very back. Disney animators worked for weeks to get this brief flash of a scene just right. Ancient model sheets were pulled from the studio's animation research library to make sure every single character looked perfect. Whether each character should go on the train was endlessly debated. However, despite all the effort put into the gag, it had to eventually be cut. If the "Long Car" zoomed through the scene as fast as it was originally supposed to, none of the audience would have been able to recognize any of the characters. But if it was slowed down, it threw off the frantic pace of the rest of the short. So the joke was cut and therefore left on the cutting room floor.
*This short was the center of some disputes. Michael Eisner wanted it to proceed Dick Tracy. Steven Spielberg wanted it to be shown before Arachnophobia. It ended up preceding Dick Tracy.
*This was the only one of the three Roger Rabbit shorts to get a PG rating. The given reasons take place in two mildly risque gags; 
**Firstly, the beginning where Roger accidentally grabs the mother’s panties while begging not to get her palm read and puts them in his pocket instead of returning it back to her, allowing her to go on the rides bottomless (a homage to the gag from the Looney Tunes cartoon "The Big Snooze" where Bugs Bunny begs Elmer Fudd not to drop out of the cartoon, only to accidentally grab Elmer's trousers and then abruptly return it back to Elmer).
**And then in the bull scene where Roger lands head first in manure and Baby Herman grabs the bull by his groin, thinking it is a balloon (albeit it was hidden by the balloon).
***These could be the possible reasons why it was released by Touchstone Pictures instead of Walt Disney Pictures. However, it was the only Disney animated short to be rated PG until 2003's Destino.
****In fact, the theatrical trailer shows that (like Dick Tracy) the short was originally to be released under the Walt Disney Pictures bannerRunning A Rare Rollercoaster Rabbit/Dick Tracey 35mm Film Trailer From 1990!!! until it was eventually decided that it would instead be released under the Touchstone Pictures banner.
*****However, when the short was re-released on the Who Framed Roger Rabbit Blu-ray, the 1987 Touchstone Pictures logo was plastered with the 2011 variant of the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo. This occurred on Disney+ as an extra on said film.
******Despite this, the opening credits still mention Touchstone Pictures.
*****Due to this short being released under the Touchstone Pictures banner during its original 1990 theatrical release, this is the only short film as well as the only theatrical cartoon short ever produced and released by Touchstone Pictures.
*This short was filmed at Disney MGM Studios in 1989.
*The short was reissued in 1995 in front of the US theatrical release of Toy Story.
*In the cancelled Sunset Boulevard expansion for a Roger Rabbit land in Disney's Hollywood Studios (then-named Disney-MGM Studios), there was a roller coaster that is speculated to be themed after this short.
*This was the first Roger Rabbit cartoon short where voice actor Corey Burton, whom is best known as the current voice actor for roles originally performed by the late Bill Thompson over at Disney, voices the MGM/Turner Entertainment cartoon character Droopy. This would occur again in Droopy's brief cameo scene in "Trail Mix-Up".
**Co-incidentally, Bill Thompson, who originally voiced Droopy in the original MGM cartoons in the 1940s and 1950s, also provided the original voices of the Disney characters White Rabbit, Professor Owl and J. Audubon Woodlore at the same time and were even voiced by Corey Burton at some point after Thompson's death.
*At one point, the roller coaster tracks are seen to spell out the word "JEEPERS", Roger's catchphrase.
==Home video releases==
VHS
*The Best of Roger Rabbit
Laserdisc
*The Best of Roger Rabbit
DVD
*Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Vista Series
Blu-ray
*Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 25th Anniversary Edition
==Gallery==
Roller Coaster Rabbit - Toy Story Poster.jpg|Poster for the UK release of the short for Toy Story in 1996.
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1990-rollercoaster-3.jpg|"Curses. Foiled again."
==References==
Category:Touchstone Pictures films
Category:1990 shorts
Category:Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Category:Animated shorts
Category:Films
Category:PG-rated films