Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Vista Series)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Vista Series)
by Robert Zemeckis

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DVD Cover Information

• In a world where laughing can be dangerous, romance can be hilarious, and first-class Toons live side by side with second-rate humans, private detective Eddie Valiant investigates a crime of passion. System Requirements: Starring: Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, and Kathleen Turner. Directed By: Robert Zemeckis. This film is presented in both "Widescreen"

Movie Reviews of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Vista Series)

Movie Review: You'll be on your couch for hours...
Summary: 5 Stars

1) The Movie

Based on the book "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" (which had the characters as comic strip stars instead of cartoon ones), the film has characters Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) and Roger Rabbit (voice by Charles Fleischer) hoping (no pun intended) through a murder mystery. Eddie is sent out to prove Roger's sensual wife Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner) is having an affair with the owner of the Acme company. Eddie succeeds and shows Roger the pictures, which makes Roger extremely sad and jealous. The day after it turns out that Mr. Acme was hit on the head with a safe (what else?) in the Acme Warehouse the night before. It also turns out that Roger was at the Acme Warehouse around the same time! All fingers point to Roger, as he must be the one who did it because he was jealous about Mr. Acme's "supposed" fling with Jessica. The evil and supicious Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) wants Roger for the murder...now. He has plans to excute him a new fashion that is being used to kill toons, Dip (which turns out is made of the same elements to clean animation cels in the commentary). Roger soon turns up at Eddie's office for help. Eddie, extremely reluctant at first, starts to grow a friendship with Roger. It comes to an hilarious end in this wonderful movie, and it is the only film to find Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny in one scene...together...talking to each other!

2) The Extras

There are two discs: Family-Friendly and For the Enthusiast. Don't worry, the movie is on both discs.

The family-friendly disc has sparse features, though. It also is very easy to navigate, and this disc doesn't have a director's commentary. Basically this disc was made so even a 5 year-old could get to the movie by himself.

The extras on the family-friendly disc are 3 Roger Rabbit shorts, a breif 10-minute kid-friendly "Who Made Roger Rabbit", hosted by Roger himself, Charles Fleischer, and a "Trouble In Toontown" game.

The 3 Roger Rabbit shorts are the only reason (except for the hidden original theatrical trailer. Hint: Push down on the main menu) to pop in the disc if you're a film enthusiast and/or a Roger Rabbit fan. They all feature the same basic story: In a Maroon Cartoon, Roger has to take care of Baby Herman and ends up in wild fashion. The real treat of each of these are the endings. Shown with Disney films through 1993, the shorts are extremely well thought out, clever, and hilarious with a personal touch by Mr. Spielburg himslef. The shorts are as of follows:

*Tummy Trouble (1989, released with "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids") is the first animated short to be released by Disney since 1961. It was also the most expensive animated short at that time. It features Roger trying to help Baby Herman when he swallows a baby rattle. Wouldn't you know that a Roger Rabbit short helped the "Honey, I" franchise to get popular. Many Roger fans flocked to it to see the short, yet they were also pleasantly suprised to see what followed. (NOTE: Freeze-frame the part where Roger and Baby Herman are falling through the hospital floors, and they reach a bathroom. Mickey Mouse is inside one of the stalls)

*Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990, shown with "Dick Tracy") immediately followed, also helping "Dick Tracy" get a decent run in the box office. It features Roger and Baby Herman trying to chase a red balloon, and yes, as the title suggest, ends on a wild roller coaster ride. Did you know that Spielburg wanted this short to preceed "Arachnaphobia"?

*Trail Mix-Up (1993, shown with "A Far Off Place") was a big suprise to many Roger fans, as a short (this is also the last short) had not been produced and released in almost three years. It is also the first cartoon short to use computer animation, and it shows. This is defintely the best looking of the shorts, with excellent effects to keep you watching and laughing. It features Roger trying to chase Baby Herman through the forest, leading to a Splash Mountain-esque ride through a saw mill.

The only bad thing about the shorts is that they don't come with commentary.

Now, onto the "For the Enthusiast" disc, this IS the disc for film buffs. A little hard to navigate (they could've sharpened up the menu a bit), but wonderfully done. This disc features both the movie and the commentary, along with a slew of extras.

The commentary is great, with Robert Zemickis and others who pitched in with the film. They offer great trivia, such as the fact that Judge Doom used to be the one who shot Bambi's mother!

Other extras are a "Before and After" featurette, having Bob Hoskins going through Toontown...with both the final product and the original shot product with blue-screens simutaneously. Another is "On-Set!", a look at the Benny the Cab scenes before the animation. Another has puppet figures as stand-ins for the toons.

"Toontown Confindental" is a trivia opition that allows you to have continous trivia along with the film. "Behind the Ears: The Making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is an excellent 36-minute documentary that you really just need to take the time and sit for.

"The Pig-Head Sequence", a deleted scene is feature also here. It has Eddie snooping through Jessica's office, and Judge Doom finds out. To get back, the Judge has his weasels throw Eddie into Toontown. Eddie comes back with an animated pig head on his face. At his office, Eddie uses turpintine to get the pig head off. Now you know why Eddie wasn't wearing a shirt when Jessica came to greet him in the final film.

"Valiant Files" combines image gallerys with a snoop-feature. You can look through Eddie's office for images, or just use the cheat sheet if you're lazy. This has some great images and drawings, a must-see.

Well, that's pretty much the DVD in my words. A wonderful buy for all. The film has themes and language that a 10-12 year old could pick up and not be suitable for, but anyone with an age lower than that would not catch it. You'll be on your couch for hours, as my title says, watching this DVD...

Summary of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Vista Series)