Post #2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a Dedication to Animators
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a Dedication to Animators
Is Who Framed Roger Rabbit a dedication to some of the most amazing animators that are described within Maltin’s, Of Mice and Magic? The creators of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg used the magical charm of Walt Disney creations, the Warner Brothers characterization, Tex Avery’s art of gag cartoon; such as the avalanche falling on the head or dynamite in your pants. They demonstrate the collaburation of all the main contributions through this one goofy rabbited, named Roger Rabbit. Watch the clip below to see a better look at Roger Rabbit demonstrating some of the things listed above. See if you can observe the type of magical and realistic features of Walt Disney, the Tex Avery’s unrealistic and dangerous gags, and of course the way you can feel the characteristics of the cartoon as demonstrated in Warner Brothers productions.
As you have noticed in the short or throughout the movie, Roger Rabbit behaves in a humanistic way with a full range of emotions such as Walt Disney creations. Then he is able to transition to a extreme and far stretched qualities such as buggling eyes or jumping 200 feet in the air. But Roger Rabbit easily transitions back into a conservative, humanistic cartoon. I feel this movie is an unique display created by Zemeckis and Spielberg, to create a contribution piece to Animation.
One thing that sets this movie apart is that Roger Rabbit lives in a world of humans. Similar to the type of opposite reality when Disney introduced a concept of a human girl in a toon world such as Alice in Cartoonland. Then in years later Disney was able to take the concept of mixing humans with animation in a short scene in Mary poppins. Where Dick Van Dyke had his famous scene in animation when he danced with penquins. Can Imagine the difficulty in producing the human interacting with cartoons? I recall listening to an interview with Dick Van Dyke in working in Mary Poppins; he recalls that he had many retakes because it was difficult to imagine were to look. The penguins in the dance were only a few feet high and he would tend to look too high or too low.
One other way you can look at Who Framed Roger Rabbit as a dedication piece to various animators is by the special appearances of various cartoons from the decades. Before Jessica Rabbits performance Donald Duck and Daffy are the opening act in which they have piano battle. Also you can not miss appearance by Betty Boob, Tweety Bird, Minnie Mouse, Droopy the doorman, and Woody Woodpecker. The most memorable scene is when Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny are falling from a cliff. The clip shown below demonstrated the two of the famous characters from Warner Brothers and Disney. This scene alone, can not be a bigger sign to show a dedication piece.
Refrences:
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic. Plume Books, 1980. Print.
Commented on Emily Witt and Alissa Potter Blogs.
jamesbenjamin said,
February 2, 2010 at 5:07 am
I always thought the most interesting part of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was that they actually got Disney and Warner Bros to allow their characters to appear in the same film! I’d think that took a great deal of bargaining behind the scenes. But I also never realized the way they combined the two styles of animation (Disney’s and Avery’s) to bring Roger to life. It definitely makes me re-think the movie, and now that you’ve pointed it out, I may have to re-watch it soon.
And I will also go ahead and add that the most intriguing part of this week’s reading was the section on how Disney did the live-action/animation scenes, with all the projection. The first thing I thought of was Roger Rabbit, though I did watch Song of the South this weekend as well.
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animashunation said,
February 6, 2010 at 4:28 am
Who framed Roger Rabbit is one of my all time favorite movies because of the fact that it combines actual humans and objects with cartoon characters. For some reason, movies who combine the two elements bring something new to the screen that cannot be done with animation alone or solely with movies with actual humans and setting. It creates a fantastical world where the two can coexist, creating the allure for the audience. Another movie that did a great job with this was “Space Jam.” The Mary Poppins example you posted was also a good one. Even though the latest movie that combined human realistic characters with animation (Avatar) did a remarkable job with the animation, it still does not create the effect of having actual drawn cartoon characters interacting with humans. Overall, great post, I enjoyed all the you tube clips!
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