Thanks for reacting to this one! I saw it in the theater opening weekend. The behind the scenes of how they shot some of the scenes is amazing and elaborate. Ink and paint club without the tunes is astounding! Definitely worth seeing with the movie.
Here's a few quick notes about how toon society works: 1. For toons, humor = beauty. Roger is hilarious, so he's the 'handsomest' toon around, while Jessica, although beautiful by human standards isn't funny at all, so for toons, she's 'ugly'. Jessica loves Roger because he's funny, and Roger loves Jessica because she's honest and kind. That's also why Betty said that Jessica was a 'lucky girl' to be married to someone as funny and famous as Roger Rabbit. 2. Toons are seen as second-class citizens in this world. As far as humans are concerned, a toon is only good for entertaining people, and if they're not funny, they have to make do with blue collar work, like working at night clubs. 3. The 'Shave and a Haircut Trick' is an old comedy joke where a character suspects that someone is hiding behind a barrier, so they knock five times in quick succession (the syllables of 'shave and a haircut'), and the hidden character makes two quick knocks in response ('two bits'). And since Roger is a toon, he literally can't resist giving away his position by finishing the joke and saying/knocking 'two bits'. 4. The 'only when it was funny' bit is an actual law of physics for toons; they can only do impossible or crazy things when it would be funny to do so. This can be a good thing (like when Roger slips out of the handcuffs or the weasels 'die laughing') or a bad thing (like when Roger gave away their position for the sake of telling jokes). 5. Eddie's brother really was killed by a toon (Judge Doom), not a human. After the murder/robbery, the evil toon disguised himself as a human and took on the alias 'Judge Doom' so he could continue his evil 'freeway' plan without suspicion. Thank you for reading. I hope this clears up a few of your questions about the film.
Some additional (meta) notes: 6. Jessica's impossible non-waist and lack of a nose were incorporated into her design so that the filmmakers could not be accused of just filming a real woman and then drawing Jessica over top. 7. The absolute brilliance of Bob Hoskins' ability to "rack focus" without anything to focus on is highlighted in one scene where ironically he MESSES IT UP and aims his eyes just a bit too high (the animators stretched Roger to line him up). But, again, this only reinforces how awesome Hoskins was because it proves he was doing it sans any visual aids.
Also although pretty much all the toons are good (with a few exceptions) they tend to have chaos follow them around and cause issues in our world just by being present, even without intending to. IE how clumsy roger rabbit is and the baby actually being an adult horn dog. This leads to humans seeing them as trouble makers and "unable to follow the law".
If you read the book Who Censored Roger Rabbit, there's a little bit more background of the world to explain some things. Toons being second class citizens was an allusion to racism and Judge Doom was a toon named Baron Rotten who pretty much played villains in almost every cartoon, even shooting Bambi's mother off screen. He played villains so much that it affected his mind and made him evil.
An early draft of the script had Valiant identify the killer as the hunter to killed Bambi's mother. But it was changed to keep the identity ambiguous.
@@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935 and it was innocent of any crime. Like, it's sort of portrayed as maybe a cartoon equivalent of an animal: not sentient enough to speak, but obviously is cute, and feels pain. Like a puppy or a kitten. All it did was cozy up to Doom's ankle, and he grabbed it and killed it for no reason whatsoever. (The "reason," film-wise- it functions to establish the lethality of "Dip." But in context, there is no reason for Doom to have killed that innocent creature.) It's like if a real-world judge picked up a kitten and shot it dead, just to show his gun is loaded. Sick and demented and sadistic. I agree with you. It is incredibly dark.
The question of why Jessica is married to Roger is answered in the movie: Eddie: seriously, what do you see in that guy? Jessica: he makes me laugh She's a toon. That's what's important to a toon.
It's also answered more directly in the book. Roger finds a magic lamp and wishes that he has a beautiful wife, and the genie gives him the most beautiful toon wife there is. They cut that part out when they made the movie. They also changed the villain from the genie to Judge Doom.
@@Rocket1377 So...a couple questions If you feel like answering. Was Jessica the same in the book? And, what were the differences between Judge Doom and the genie?
@@LA_HA Jessica was a bit of a different character in the first book but, after enjoying the film, the author retcon the original and then everyone was the same in the books as they were in the movie from the second book and beyond.
@@nickthedreamer4434 Oh, that's new. I've never heard of that happening before. Thank you for the information. I wonder if you can still get the original to compare to the retconned book.
@@jkhoover That's what we said about Marvel and Spider-Man, X-men, and Fantastic Four. Spider-Man is still a Sony property (as far as film rights are concerned), but the other two are now all under one roof. For that matter, I never would have guessed that Star Wars, X-Men, and The Incredibles would all be owned by the same studio. It's unlikely, sure, but, at this point, I wouldn't put anything past Disney.
@@StarkRG Yes, anything is possible. Marvel wasn't a huge surprise to me, because Marvel started their own studio to make Iron Man, and it was just easier to sell to a real studio at some point. Star Wars was a HUGE shock, as well as buying 20th Century Fox.
@@jkhoover I'm not talking about just Marvel, I'm talking about the recombining of Marvel Studios properties like Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, etc. with X-Men and Fantastic Four. This recombination hasn't quite happened yet, but it's definitely on the way (and several people have theorized that WandaVision will be the vector to do one or both).
“I was too old to watch it.” My sister and I were in our 20s when we saw it at a midweek matinee showing. We were the only adults there unaccompanied by kids, and for many of the jokes, we were the only ones laughing-the kids didn’t get them, and the moms were too horrified to laugh.
I was five years old when I first saw this film, lol. I didn't get many of the jokes, but I still laughed at Roger's antics. The image of Judge Doom scrambling to get out from under the steamroller still haunts me to this day.
I was three when I first saw it on the big screen. And I can't say the sight of a cartoon-eyed Christopher Lloyd was the most relaxing thing to see at that age. Lol.
Hahaha - something similar happened when I saw Nightmare Before Christmas in the theater. Most of the kids were perplexed and parents uneasy. Audible gasps when they sang “kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick” - I laughed my ass off.
@@ShanelleRiccio The standards of the MPAA today are broken. I'm sorry but there's no reason why inside out is rated PG when fucking Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame is rated G! XD
Exactly. When Valiant is surprised SHE is married to Roger, Betty Boop describes her as a "lucky gal." What a toon looks for in a partner is not necessarily what a human would look for. Roger Rabbit, as a super-funny entertainer, is wonderful husband material in the value system of the toons. (Humans may enjoy him in movies, but find his maniacal personality impossibly tiresome otherwise, as he incessantly tries to be "funny.") Jessica herself, as a pretty human-like toon with a far more calm personality than most toons, may be a downright BLAND person as toons perceive things. It is just those strange human men who for some incomprehensible reason are besotted with her.
“Shave and a haircut, two bits.” is an infamous 7 note jingle I swear everyone knows even if you haven’t heard the words. It’s so well known that it’s recognizable just from the beat pattern that the Judge was doing: tap tap ta-tap tap, tap tap. Just do the first five notes or beats and most people will finish it like Roger did. It’s hard to describe it further in text.
I'm from Mexico, and as far as I know this is the only place where that jingle means something insulting. It's like a jingle insult, so it's always a bit weird when it's in movies
@@LA_HA I wish I knew the origin. I'm 26, and ever since I was a little kid other kids knew it was an inapropriate little tune. something about what would be the spanish equivalent to mother effer
Definitely disagree with Roger not deserving Jessica. He's like the only guy that doesn't treat her like a sex object or a bad person. Doug Walker actually summed it up best in his Top 11 Strange Couples: ua-cam.com/video/mWX0g0kBjAQ/v-deo.htmlm27s
@@shadycnetwork that's what guys with shitty personalities always say, lol. I'll add another data point with my girly perspective: guys that make me laugh automatically get hotter, physically. Confidence makes all the difference.
Not only does Roger make Jessica laugh, but he's also pretty much the only character we see who sees her as not just a sex object, Like she says, she's "just drawn that way"
@@emmanuelharris6445 that she comes across as a "femme fatale" and a sex symbol because of her looks and breathy voice, but that's just how she's drawn, it doesn't represent her actual personality. Kinda like how Marilyn Monroe was an introverted book nerd.
I have a headcannon that's she's actually asexual bc even tho she's drawn sexy, she's not really interested in sex, just appears femme fatal bc that's how she's 'drawn'
@@dylanfooler I don't see how she could be asexual, since when Eddie Valiant's talking to her when they're on the run from the weasels in Benny the Talking Cab, he refers to Roger as "a better lover than a fighter, huh?" Jessica responds by saying, "You better believe it, buddy." Asexual people don't talk like that. And no it's not just because he's a romantic, either. Rabbits are very...shall we say..."frisky" animals. They want to do it all the time. I used to have rabbits.
@@cassiemichael7414 as someone who's ace, I assure you, I probably make more dirty jokes than my allosexual peers, and literally the whole 'cheating' scene, is her playing paddy cake, that's the extent of her friskiness, that's why is still upsets Rodger that'd she'd go that far, even for the will
This movie also marks the final performances of three celebrated voice artists: Mel Blanc, who did Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Tweety (his son Noel had to do Yosemite Sam, I understand); June Foray, who did Lena Hyena (the hussy who shouted "A MAN!!" in Toontown), as well as Wheezy the breathless Weasel; and Mae Questal, who did her classic Betty Boop.
Some things: IMO, Jessica was right when she said that Roger made her laugh, and that’s why she loved him. She doesn’t strike me as a woman who laughs easily. The dip was made out of what they use to wash cells IRL. “Shave and a haircut” is a very famous rhyme/song, and only having the first portion of it just leaves the rest hanging there, begging for the completion. Oh, and I looooove Joanna Cassidy!! She has always been one of my favorite actresses.
Not sure why she didn't think Roger is good enough for Jessica just because Jessica is beautiful and sultry. I can get that they seem too different in personality, but from what she says,it's based solely on looks. In the real world, comedians marry pretty women all the time because they're funny. A good sense of humor is a huge plus, especially these days because so many people are very serious about themselves and everything else.
@@LA_HA Jessica's also very smart, which is a big part of her identity as the anti-femme fatale in the film. She's not some manipulative piece of eye candy who lacks moral fiber, a sense of impending doom, or hellbent on luring the gumshoe to his death like in regular film noir. It's like she says, 'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way.' My point is that maybe that's also part of what throws Shanelle off about the relationship. It might not just be the looks.
For the record, there really were electric trolleys in Los Angeles back then called Red Cars, and they really were phased out because of the freeways being built.
I loved that touch of realism! In that way it really felt like Back to the Future, where they'd add the real-life touches to the past -- Like Marty throwing the frisbee pie plate!
It wasn't even just the freeway. Lots of places had them at the time, but transportation companies realized they could make more money with busses due to charging for the gasoline and increased maintenance costs.
@@wardenm Where I grew up there had been streetcars. All that can be seen now is one portion of road that still has the tracks. In in my father's desk, after he passed, I found a streetcar token from when he was young and used them to get around town.
@@wardenm One of the few moments In history where there really was a "conspiracy" to do something, the only difference from what we think of, with the business men surrounding a darkly lit table smoking cigars while contemplating world domination, The reality was Firestone tires, General Motors, and Standard Oil all had the basic same idea to sell more cars, oil, and tires that when one of them bought up an independent Red Car line in La the others followed suit and they were all dismantled. La had the third-best public transportation system in the World when the Red Car was around, we dropped to the third-worst after it was taken out.
@Marty McFly II That's interesting stuff, but I wonder why you would post them in response to "I'm not bad I'm just drawn that way" rather than as your own individual posts. Those trivia notes have nothing to do with the quote you are replying to.
"I'm being such an adult about it. I hope that doesn't upset you." That should upset YOU. lol. Don't lose your childhood like that - it'd just be so sad.
This movie made 3x its budget and won 3 academy awards for visual effects and sound. The animation department invented a new animation term called "bumping the lamp"
I met the animation director Dick Williams (R.I.P.) back in the 90s and he drew some Roger Rabbit stuff for me, my bro, and cousins at my family's home on Nantucket. It was a random occurrence that we happened to find him that day. He was on our property and seemed lost. So we went to talk to him and he was explaining that he was looking for land that was once owned by his parents and he was now the owner. Something like that. But anyway, my family (bro and parents) got talking to him and he told us he was the director of animation for this film. We invited him to our home and he drew us some pictures. My female cousin got a Jessica Rabbit drawing. Mr. Williams went on to tell a story about how Spielberg was the one to approve of the look of Jessica. He produced this film. "Her t!ts are too small." Later: "they're too big." "Make her waste smaller, and her a$$ bigger... and make her breasts bigger again." etc, etc, etc... Poor Richard Williams had to go through so many versions. HAHAHAHA It was funny to hear that about one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. 😂 😂
I think you're missing a key element. Eddie's brother WAS killed by a toon. Judge Doom was a toon all along. (Unless I have that wrong, I'm sure somebody will correct me if so).
Shave and a haircut two bits was a call and response used at the end of early twentieth century musical numbers. American vietnam prisoners of war would use this 5 count call and 2 count response to authenticate communication between themselves
@@ShanelleRiccio some more info for you. The routine harkens back to Vaudeville. The question is the cost for a shave and a haircut. The answer is "two bits," which is 25¢, i.e. a quarter. While we are on the topic of money; a "simoleon" is a dollar bill, a "fin" is a five dollar bill and a "sawbuck" is a ten dollar bill.
Christopher Lloyd makes a great villain in this movie. I remember being quite scared of him as a kid, and his design has been copied time and again in other media. I didn't recognize him as the professor until I was an adult. I didn't really consider this a kids movie because of the themes, and I really appreciate that. These cartoons have been around since the 40s, so there are many cartoon fans who are no longer kids (like the makers of the movie itself) and might appreciate some adult elements in their movies. Also, Jessica Rabbit is so sexy that it's almost uncomfortable. XD But I appreciate that discomfort because it makes the film's world a bit less curated and more real.
Rather famously, in the scene where Eddie and Jessica are thrown from the car, one of the animators drew Jessica without any panties for two or three frames. It wasn't discovered until the movie was released for home video, and people could advance frame-by-frame. It was of course re-edited for subsequent home video releases.
Pausing VHS cassettes often had the effect of stretching the tape between the heads under pressure over time. Rentals of WFRR were notorious for being damaged at that point mentioned above as guys would regularly try to pause the film and catch a glimpse up her skirt! Also, the question of “What do you call middle of a song” was answered implicitly as a visual, the answer, of course, is a bridge.
@@MrDarkwing78 this scene uncensored is available in laserdisc and that format doesn't have the same problem as VHS when pausing a scene. In fact. it has a frame-by-frame advance pause.
if you can find a behind the scenes of this movie where they show how they did the practical effects, its really amazing. The amount of time and craftmanship it took to make this movie work is just *chefs kiss*
Yeah they have some behind the scenes on UA-cam. The actors went to mime school and they had some real props. They were amazing especially the late Bob Hoskins with his toon fight scenes.
Roger's character was invented for the book, and the film is his first screen appearance. He wasn't an actual nostalgia character...just played one in the film.
All the live action was filmed at Elstree studios in London England, and the scene where they hide in the cinema was filmed in my local cinema in Grays Essex, The State, because it was one of the few remaining 40s era art deco theatres (with a genuine Wurlitzer organ too)
Lol, maybe not a full sexual awakening. I was 10 at the time, and hadn’t quite realized I liked girls (and being the start of the 90s, not even knowing that was a thing, or that it was ok). But let’s just say, Jessica Rabbit had my full attention, every time I rewatched it.
As to what they were looking at, there were a lot of different things. I remember there was a life-size Roger statue for many scenes. Sometimes there was an animatronic rig or a puppeteer controlling the toon's live action prop, sometimes just a tennis ball on a stick for eyelines. My favorite bit is that Charlie Fleischer - the voice of Roger (and Benny) - was there on set every day, in a Roger Rabbit costume, standing off camera performing Roger's lines for Bob Hoskins and the rest of the cast to act against. No one asked him to do this! He just showed up and did it. He wasn't required to show up until it was time to lay down Roger's lines in a recording booth.
He also doesn't treat her like a sex object like everybody else does. Roger's not in love with her because she has a long curves and a nice rack. He sees her as a genuinely nice person.
Yet the author loved the Disney movie so much, he actually retconned the original novel to be just a weird dream Jessica Rabbit has one night when he was writing the sequel.
@@gerstelb Nya, in the original script there was a sequence that was not shot in its entirety and from which the fragment to be included was cut at the last minute. In the sequence, Doom and the weasels try to teach Eddie a lesson to stop him investigating. They beat him up and take him to Toontown, where they paint him into a semi-toon pig. He travels home as fast as he can because if he doesn't remove the paint he will soon become a toon for good. On the way back people force him to sit in the back of a bus, make fun of him, forbid him to enter a bar and various other things based on what was happening to minorities at that time. This makes him realize for the first time how unfair life is for toons. When he arrives at his house he washes himself with turpentine and erases the paint in time to avoid a complete transformation. That is why there is a scene in the movie where he comes out of the bathroom for no apparent reason.
I'm from the same tiny town as Gary K. Wolf (author of the book.)🙂 I didn't know him but my parents were in school with him. By all accounts he's a regular guy that wrote some good books. (If a bit bookish, Go figure) The only other thing of note about our hometown is we have a drive in theatre...(a bit of a rarity these days) ... it is what it is 😋 Just discovered your channel & have subscribed 👍
Before Jessica Rabbit met Roger Rabbit, she was Jessica Krupnick, a small town farm girl who made it big in Hollywood. There was indeed a prequel that was supposed to show how Roger and Jessica first met, but never came to be.
It was contracted that for every scene that a Disney character was featured, a Looney Tunes character had to be there, hence why you see Bugs and Mickey in one scene and Donald and Daffy in another. Apparently, Chuck Jones wasn't thrilled about working on the movie for this very reason.
The shoe killing scene freaked me out as a kid. But the behind the scenes stuff for this incredible. Stuff like the Daffy vs Donald fight, it had to legally be 50/50 so that Disney and Warner Bros would allow them to appear. Or the stuff about how I’d you’re holding a toon item you have to hold it without gaps between your fingers because if you do that costs a couple of grand per frame
It's obviously not the first movie to incorporate animated characters interacting with live actors. But the....."realism", if you will, was something wholly new. THESE cartoons manipulated real-world objects and were fully integrated into the lighting schemes, down to and including the translucency effects in Jessica's dress. And the fact that it was all accomplished without the aid of computers?? All hand-drawn cels and practical effects - just a TON of work. Absolutely astounding.
I don’t usually comment on many videos, but you are gradually becoming one of my favourite UA-camrs/reactors. Your videos just have such a pleasant vibe, and you’re obviously incredibly knowledgeable about film production. I’m in the process of switching careers into the TV industry, so it’s really great to see someone else following their passion! Much love from Scotland!
oh yes! thank you so much that means a lot!! Follow your passions right into the TV film industry! Everyone watches TV/movies we need your voice always!
Agreed. I watched her reaction to Clue twice. She is the only reactor to get some of the jokes and to appreciate the witty comedic timing. She referenced the similarity in flow to "Who's on First" which really impressed me. She was correct.
You should watch the show “prop culture”. There is an episode that shows how some of the special effects are done. AMAZING!! Christopher Lloyd also shows up in the episode!!
There's also the UA-cam video "VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGi 12" where a group of visual effects artists talk about some of the other effects in the film that Prop Culture doesn't talk about. I'd watch that along with the Prop Culture one
This wasn't the first time a film mixed animation and life action, but it was the first to do it to the extent that it did. There were several attempts at doing something similar over the years, and some of them did pretty well for their time. The one that always springs to mind for me is The Incredible Mr. Limpet starring Don Knotts from 1964.
Charles Fliescher the voice of Roger was in Back to the Future 2 where he played Terry the guy who told Marty about putting money on the Cubbies...he was also in the 50's...the mechanic young Biff argues with about getting the manure out of his car
Nya, but it does make sense. Toons, like any other minority, have their own culture and traditions. One of them is that they prioritize everything that is fun. Making people laugh is one of the most important things in a toon's life. Jessica is not very funny and Roger is. That makes him incredibly attractive to toon girls. From the point of view of the toon community Roger is a famous, successful and beautiful Hollywood actor and Jessica is an ugly little talented girl with a humiliating job. Despite this, Roger was able to see Jessica as a girl with a huge heart deserving of affection. For her part, Jessica loves Roger not because he is attractive or famous, but because he is the kindest person she has ever met.
Jessica Rabbit.... Yep, when i was a little kid... I had funny and confusing feelings for her Lol EDIT: Now that I think about it, it would probably explain my attraction to Redheads... I just figured that out.
As a fellow film maker and member of the DGA I enjoy your reactions mixed in with your knowledgeof the process. This is going to sound like a back handed compliment and I don't mean it in that way, but I love to watch reactions from someone that's so knowledgeable that hasn't seen a lot of classics, a very rare thing. It's very refreshing in the reacting genre.
And my 2 recommendations would be my all time favorite RomCom that is often over looked, "Defending Your Life" staring Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. And a great thriller/"mind-fuck" "the Game" staring Michael Douglas. But warning the game is pretty dark.
The behind-the-scenes on this is absolutely amazing and it pioneered a lot of the technology we use today in CGI-heavy films. Motion control rigs for the cameras and lights (so the different takes would be consistent for the animators who had to shade the cartoon portions), actor and prop stand-ins to maintain eye line including animatronics to manipulate real-world props. The attention to detail is what really sells this as they put in so much effort for tiny things like when Jessica holds Eddie's tie and slowly slides it between her fingers during the performance or objects moving on a table or desk when Roger bumps into it. Also, this movie is loosely based on a book called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" and...honestly, the movie is WAY better. And a lot less...ummm...let's just say that Jessica wasn't with Roger by her own volition in the book. Anyway, apparently even the author likes the film version better because he wrote a sequel novel to the film version and not his original novel.
I read (probably on IMDB) that originally, Judge Doom was supposed to have a cartoon buzzard that was always perched on his shoulder but they decided it would be too expensive to animate. Also, in an early version of the script, Judge Doom was the hunter that shot Bambi's mother.
@@Retailman100 Some have theorized that he might be the possum in the poster that has the reflection of Doom's gun given that the gun is the same shape and if you look very closely, you can see the possum has red eyes similar to Doom's.
@@MrTristy22 I think an earlier version of the script has Doom as actually being the hunter that shoots Bambi's mum (oh, spoilers for Bambi, I guess...) Being such a despised figure is what drives Doom to insanity.
The animation was directed not by Disney but by a small indie studio in London. Richard Williams was an animation prodigy who, at the time, was one of the only guys in the industry who could work in basically any style of animation, and could do animation to live action without a locked down static camera (adjusting for camera moves and perspective changed by hand). Disney Animation had not had its revival yet and they (Spielberg and Zemekis) wanted a guy who could meld the style of Warner Bros (Looney Tunes), Disney, and MGM (Tex Avery cartoons like Droopy or the Wolf / Red Riding Hood cartoons). Richard Williams won an Oscar for that film. Even crazier.. there are ZERO CGI fx in this movie. One of the last totally analog blockbusters. So all the animation, shading, interactive props, and tricks you see are done by hand. They shot the whole movie twice.. once with toon Stand ins like dolls and cardboard cutouts.. then again without.. so the actors would have correct eye lines. One of the best special FX in this movie is Bob Hoskins acting. He really went all in for this.. so much so he started to hallucinate toons were really there.
It's probably already been said, but Mary Poppins (1964) had live action interacting with animation and Anchors Away (1945) had Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the mouse (Tom and Jerry).
The sequence with all the toons at the end is; if I’m not mistaken, the first time characters from Disney, Warner Bros & Fleischer Studios appeared all together. To answer your question about the filming: VistaVision cameras installed with motion-control technology were used for the photography of the live-action scenes, which would be composited with animation. Rubber mannequins of Roger Rabbit, Baby Herman, and the Toon Patrol portrayed the animated characters during rehearsals to teach the actors where to look when acting with "open air and imaginative cartoon characters". Many of the live-action props held by cartoon characters were shot on set with the props either held by robotic arms or manipulated with strings, similar to a marionette. The actor who played the voice of Roger, Charles Fleischer, insisted on wearing a Roger Rabbit costume while on the set, to get into character. Although the film is set in 1947 Los Angeles, the live action footage & outdoor locations were filmed at Elstree Studios, England & also on Hope Street in LA. The Acme Factory is the Dimco Building which is located in Shepard’s Bush, West London & stands next to the Westfield Shopping Centre. The Dimco Building also doubled for the British Museum in The Mummy Returns (2001). Other locations included Grays State Theatre in Essex, UK, the Glendale-Hyperion viaduct, LA, & also the Griffith Park Tunnel (also seen in Back to the Future).
I saw in an interview with Bob Hoskins that he had to be careful when he was grabbing Roger Rabbit to keep his fingers together otherwise the animators had to draw between them which took more time
If you've ever heard someone knock in the rhythm of "knock ... knock knock knock ... knock ..... knock knock - that's "shave ... and a haircut ... two bits".
I saw this in the theater when I was a kid and LOVED it, but didn't totally understand the adult dialogue or the detective plot. It was a big moment for me to see it in the theater last year, because I understood everything for the first time. I felt so grown up.
That's right. When Disney called up Warner Brothers and asked to borrow their characters for this movie, Warner Brothers said 'okay, but on one condition: Bugs and Daffy get just as much screen time as Mickey and Donald'. that's why the characters are always on screen together.
It's actually kind of interesting you used the word discrimination about the Toons because this is actually somewhat based on a book called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" and was about the McCarthy trials happening in Hollywood trying to out "communists". In the book, communism is replaced by the toon characters.
Kathleen Turner was a big name during the ‘80s, particularly with the commercial and critical success of Romancing the Stone and its sequel Jewel of the Nile (a franchise that managed to capture women’s interest in the romance novel aspect and men’s and children’s in the adventure movie aspect). She was famous for her deep, sultry voice which, combined with the visuals, defines Jessica Rabbit.
Fun fact, You know how old disney liked to hide "questionable" content in their films? There's one in this movie. The scene where jessica is thrown from the cab, you can look up her dress and see that she's... anatomically correct.
Historical note, LA did have one of the best public transportation systems in the early 20th century US. The problem was it was privately owned and operated. So Goodyear tire corporation came along, bought the Redcar train system, dismantled it and stopped construction of the subway system. Thus, everyone was forced to buy cars, and by extension, tires.
Not just Goodyear, if I recall. Wasn't it a collaborative effort with oil companies and others to make L.A. a car city? Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. If so, let me know.
Here's a vid explaining how they made the film (and why we'll never see anything like it again)- a lot of the time they would do two shoots, one with a dummy and one without to establish line of sight, some could be fixed during the animation portion of production: ua-cam.com/video/NKOum-MftXY/v-deo.html Ps Yes to your question re: Jessica Rabbit
Fun Facts: Shave and a Haircut dates back as early as 1899 and usually uses the notes "C-G-G-A-G B-C". Two Bits refers to a slang term for twenty-five cents. The jingle was frequently present in many old cartoons and comedy shorts such as Three Stooges films. The most recent time I've seen it was during an episode of The Big Bang Theory wherein Amy Farrah-Fowler was attempting to "cure" Sheldon of his Obsessive-Compulsive need to complete rituals.
I am surprised she didn't see or mention the tole this role took on the late, great Bob Hoskins. she mentioned how difficult it is to act alongside of a cartoon co star, reportedly Bob was so stressed during production he was hallucinating some of the cartoons in his real life. A testament to how hard he worked and the professionalism he had.
When this came out on VHS, there was a big controversy. People would pause the movie at the point where Jessica flies out of the car during the accident. You could see her cartoon "panties" if you pause it at just the right moment. It was a big deal back then. I thought it was stupid.
I had lots of audio issues on this one :( I'm sorry if my voice is low compared to the background noise! I had a setting on my camera that was off!
i am spastically excited to watch this.
💪️😎👍
this video did NOT disappoint.
👍👍👍
@@LennyT007 oh phew im glad!
Thanks for reacting to this one! I saw it in the theater opening weekend. The behind the scenes of how they shot some of the scenes is amazing and elaborate. Ink and paint club without the tunes is astounding! Definitely worth seeing with the movie.
Your rapidly becoming one of my favourite reactors. Love your insights and the trivia.
Here's a few quick notes about how toon society works:
1. For toons, humor = beauty. Roger is hilarious, so he's the 'handsomest' toon around, while Jessica, although beautiful by human standards isn't funny at all, so for toons, she's 'ugly'.
Jessica loves Roger because he's funny, and Roger loves Jessica because she's honest and kind. That's also why Betty said that Jessica was a 'lucky girl' to be married to someone as funny and famous as Roger Rabbit.
2. Toons are seen as second-class citizens in this world. As far as humans are concerned, a toon is only good for entertaining people, and if they're not funny, they have to make do with blue collar work, like working at night clubs.
3. The 'Shave and a Haircut Trick' is an old comedy joke where a character suspects that someone is hiding behind a barrier, so they knock five times in quick succession (the syllables of 'shave and a haircut'), and the hidden character makes two quick knocks in response ('two bits'). And since Roger is a toon, he literally can't resist giving away his position by finishing the joke and saying/knocking 'two bits'.
4. The 'only when it was funny' bit is an actual law of physics for toons; they can only do impossible or crazy things when it would be funny to do so. This can be a good thing (like when Roger slips out of the handcuffs or the weasels 'die laughing') or a bad thing (like when Roger gave away their position for the sake of telling jokes).
5. Eddie's brother really was killed by a toon (Judge Doom), not a human. After the murder/robbery, the evil toon disguised himself as a human and took on the alias 'Judge Doom' so he could continue his evil 'freeway' plan without suspicion.
Thank you for reading. I hope this clears up a few of your questions about the film.
Some additional (meta) notes:
6. Jessica's impossible non-waist and lack of a nose were incorporated into her design so that the filmmakers could not be accused of just filming a real woman and then drawing Jessica over top.
7. The absolute brilliance of Bob Hoskins' ability to "rack focus" without anything to focus on is highlighted in one scene where ironically he MESSES IT UP and aims his eyes just a bit too high (the animators stretched Roger to line him up). But, again, this only reinforces how awesome Hoskins was because it proves he was doing it sans any visual aids.
Also although pretty much all the toons are good (with a few exceptions) they tend to have chaos follow them around and cause issues in our world just by being present, even without intending to. IE how clumsy roger rabbit is and the baby actually being an adult horn dog. This leads to humans seeing them as trouble makers and "unable to follow the law".
Actually, I think Doom found about the Freeway scheme as the Judge; previously becoming a Judge was his highest asperation
If you read the book Who Censored Roger Rabbit, there's a little bit more background of the world to explain some things. Toons being second class citizens was an allusion to racism and Judge Doom was a toon named Baron Rotten who pretty much played villains in almost every cartoon, even shooting Bambi's mother off screen. He played villains so much that it affected his mind and made him evil.
An early draft of the script had Valiant identify the killer as the hunter to killed Bambi's mother. But it was changed to keep the identity ambiguous.
“I knew his brother wasn’t killed by a toon”
....but, he was. Doom’s a toon.
@@williamshelton4318 She wasn't.
She watch the film and didn't know he was a toon. Smh
Fun fact: the chemicals in "dip" are all paint thinners, hence why the mixture kills toons so effectively.
For me that is still one of the darkest moments in animated history, it freaked me out as a kid when I saw this at the movie theater.
genius
@@Zodia195 It freaked me out as an adult. Still does.
Killing the town shoe was pretty dark. It was a live while it was dying fairly slowly. And it even cried in pain while it happened.
@@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935 and it was innocent of any crime. Like, it's sort of portrayed as maybe a cartoon equivalent of an animal: not sentient enough to speak, but obviously is cute, and feels pain. Like a puppy or a kitten. All it did was cozy up to Doom's ankle, and he grabbed it and killed it for no reason whatsoever. (The "reason," film-wise- it functions to establish the lethality of "Dip." But in context, there is no reason for Doom to have killed that innocent creature.)
It's like if a real-world judge picked up a kitten and shot it dead, just to show his gun is loaded. Sick and demented and sadistic.
I agree with you. It is incredibly dark.
"I knew his brother wasn't killed by a toon."
Meanwhile Eddie said this : "HOLY SMOKE HE'S A TOON!"
The question of why Jessica is married to Roger is answered in the movie:
Eddie: seriously, what do you see in that guy?
Jessica: he makes me laugh
She's a toon. That's what's important to a toon.
It's also answered more directly in the book. Roger finds a magic lamp and wishes that he has a beautiful wife, and the genie gives him the most beautiful toon wife there is. They cut that part out when they made the movie. They also changed the villain from the genie to Judge Doom.
Brad H: Yes. I didn't think that and once I read your post, it's obvious. Awesome. Thank you for sharing this.
@@Rocket1377 So...a couple questions If you feel like answering. Was Jessica the same in the book? And, what were the differences between Judge Doom and the genie?
@@LA_HA Jessica was a bit of a different character in the first book but, after enjoying the film, the author retcon the original and then everyone was the same in the books as they were in the movie from the second book and beyond.
@@nickthedreamer4434 Oh, that's new. I've never heard of that happening before. Thank you for the information. I wonder if you can still get the original to compare to the retconned book.
This was a HUGE groundbreaking collaboration between Disney and Looney Tunes, which may never happen again.
Unless Disney continues gobbling up all the studios.
@@StarkRG Yeah, I thought about that when I typed this, but I still don't expect it to happen, and not just with Disney and WB but any franchise.
@@jkhoover That's what we said about Marvel and Spider-Man, X-men, and Fantastic Four. Spider-Man is still a Sony property (as far as film rights are concerned), but the other two are now all under one roof. For that matter, I never would have guessed that Star Wars, X-Men, and The Incredibles would all be owned by the same studio. It's unlikely, sure, but, at this point, I wouldn't put anything past Disney.
@@StarkRG Yes, anything is possible. Marvel wasn't a huge surprise to me, because Marvel started their own studio to make Iron Man, and it was just easier to sell to a real studio at some point. Star Wars was a HUGE shock, as well as buying 20th Century Fox.
@@jkhoover I'm not talking about just Marvel, I'm talking about the recombining of Marvel Studios properties like Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, etc. with X-Men and Fantastic Four. This recombination hasn't quite happened yet, but it's definitely on the way (and several people have theorized that WandaVision will be the vector to do one or both).
“I was too old to watch it.” My sister and I were in our 20s when we saw it at a midweek matinee showing. We were the only adults there unaccompanied by kids, and for many of the jokes, we were the only ones laughing-the kids didn’t get them, and the moms were too horrified to laugh.
hahah yeah I got that major PG-13 vibe from all 80s films that are rated PG -- the patty cake bit killed me
I was five years old when I first saw this film, lol. I didn't get many of the jokes, but I still laughed at Roger's antics. The image of Judge Doom scrambling to get out from under the steamroller still haunts me to this day.
I was three when I first saw it on the big screen. And I can't say the sight of a cartoon-eyed Christopher Lloyd was the most relaxing thing to see at that age. Lol.
Hahaha - something similar happened when I saw Nightmare Before Christmas in the theater. Most of the kids were perplexed and parents uneasy. Audible gasps when they sang “kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick” - I laughed my ass off.
@@ShanelleRiccio The standards of the MPAA today are broken. I'm sorry but there's no reason why inside out is rated PG when fucking Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame is rated G! XD
Roger Rabbit is like the George Clooney of Toon Town, Jessica Rabbit is the one reaching up
Yes! Haha, I love that!
For the toons, yes. For the humans, no.
Thank you someone else said it I knew I wasn't the only one who caught that
Exactly. When Valiant is surprised SHE is married to Roger, Betty Boop describes her as a "lucky gal." What a toon looks for in a partner is not necessarily what a human would look for. Roger Rabbit, as a super-funny entertainer, is wonderful husband material in the value system of the toons. (Humans may enjoy him in movies, but find his maniacal personality impossibly tiresome otherwise, as he incessantly tries to be "funny.")
Jessica herself, as a pretty human-like toon with a far more calm personality than most toons, may be a downright BLAND person as toons perceive things. It is just those strange human men who for some incomprehensible reason are besotted with her.
“Shave and a haircut, two bits.” is an infamous 7 note jingle I swear everyone knows even if you haven’t heard the words. It’s so well known that it’s recognizable just from the beat pattern that the Judge was doing: tap tap ta-tap tap, tap tap. Just do the first five notes or beats and most people will finish it like Roger did. It’s hard to describe it further in text.
like nardwuar’s ending song doot doodeloot doot doot-doot
I'm from Mexico, and as far as I know this is the only place where that jingle means something insulting. It's like a jingle insult, so it's always a bit weird when it's in movies
@@SoloJona Really? Do you know why?
It's odd she's never heard of it since people use it all the time. Knocking, honking horns, all that.
@@LA_HA I wish I knew the origin. I'm 26, and ever since I was a little kid other kids knew it was an inapropriate little tune. something about what would be the spanish equivalent to mother effer
Definitely disagree with Roger not deserving Jessica. He's like the only guy that doesn't treat her like a sex object or a bad person. Doug Walker actually summed it up best in his Top 11 Strange Couples: ua-cam.com/video/mWX0g0kBjAQ/v-deo.htmlm27s
And he makes her laugh. Compatible personalities are *far* more important that the appearances of each person.
@@CraigKostelecky ironically enough the only three of us saying this are guys. I've been saying for a while females are more shallow than guys are.
@@shadycnetwork and yet they're the ones dating/marrying the unattractive, goofy looking guys with bad personalities...
@@shadycnetwork that's what guys with shitty personalities always say, lol.
I'll add another data point with my girly perspective: guys that make me laugh automatically get hotter, physically. Confidence makes all the difference.
Funny thing is that she says it right after witnessing Jessica cheat on her husband.
Not only does Roger make Jessica laugh, but he's also pretty much the only character we see who sees her as not just a sex object,
Like she says, she's "just drawn that way"
What did Jessica even mean by “Just drawn that way”? Never understood that even back then as a Kid that I wanna know what she really meant by that
@@emmanuelharris6445 that she comes across as a "femme fatale" and a sex symbol because of her looks and breathy voice, but that's just how she's drawn, it doesn't represent her actual personality.
Kinda like how Marilyn Monroe was an introverted book nerd.
I have a headcannon that's she's actually asexual bc even tho she's drawn sexy, she's not really interested in sex, just appears femme fatal bc that's how she's 'drawn'
@@dylanfooler I don't see how she could be asexual, since when Eddie Valiant's talking to her when they're on the run from the weasels in Benny the Talking Cab, he refers to Roger as "a better lover than a fighter, huh?" Jessica responds by saying, "You better believe it, buddy."
Asexual people don't talk like that. And no it's not just because he's a romantic, either. Rabbits are very...shall we say..."frisky" animals. They want to do it all the time. I used to have rabbits.
@@cassiemichael7414 as someone who's ace, I assure you, I probably make more dirty jokes than my allosexual peers, and literally the whole 'cheating' scene, is her playing paddy cake, that's the extent of her friskiness, that's why is still upsets Rodger that'd she'd go that far, even for the will
It always funny how people are like Roger doesn't deserve Jess, when she feel she can't believe she has him.
Wow, so many cultural references went right over her head. I guess a lot of things really will die out as us old folks shuffle off this mortal coil.
RIP Bob Hoskins, what an actor he was!
He almost died making this, I think he had a mild heart attack due to how physical it all was.
@@andysutcliffe3915 Really? Wow! That I did not know.
@@TheJamieRamone not many fans do and he wasn't in the best shape at the time. Plus all the years of smoking also didn't help.
This movie also marks the final performances of three celebrated voice artists: Mel Blanc, who did Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Tweety (his son Noel had to do Yosemite Sam, I understand);
June Foray, who did Lena Hyena (the hussy who shouted "A MAN!!" in Toontown), as well as Wheezy the breathless Weasel; and
Mae Questal, who did her classic Betty Boop.
@@donaldball3245 no, that would be Jetsons: The Movie. Both him and O'Hanlon died while making that movie, and it was dedicated in their memory.
Some things: IMO, Jessica was right when she said that Roger made her laugh, and that’s why she loved him. She doesn’t strike me as a woman who laughs easily.
The dip was made out of what they use to wash cells IRL.
“Shave and a haircut” is a very famous rhyme/song, and only having the first portion of it just leaves the rest hanging there, begging for the completion.
Oh, and I looooove Joanna Cassidy!! She has always been one of my favorite actresses.
Not sure why she didn't think Roger is good enough for Jessica just because Jessica is beautiful and sultry. I can get that they seem too different in personality, but from what she says,it's based solely on looks.
In the real world, comedians marry pretty women all the time because they're funny. A good sense of humor is a huge plus, especially these days because so many people are very serious about themselves and everything else.
@@LA_HA Jessica's also very smart, which is a big part of her identity as the anti-femme fatale in the film. She's not some manipulative piece of eye candy who lacks moral fiber, a sense of impending doom, or hellbent on luring the gumshoe to his death like in regular film noir. It's like she says, 'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way.' My point is that maybe that's also part of what throws Shanelle off about the relationship. It might not just be the looks.
"I don't know much about animation."
Well, this is a great way to get you started! It's basically a love letter to the medium.
For the record, there really were electric trolleys in Los Angeles back then called Red Cars, and they really were phased out because of the freeways being built.
I loved that touch of realism! In that way it really felt like Back to the Future, where they'd add the real-life touches to the past -- Like Marty throwing the frisbee pie plate!
It wasn't even just the freeway. Lots of places had them at the time, but transportation companies realized they could make more money with busses due to charging for the gasoline and increased maintenance costs.
@@wardenm Where I grew up there had been streetcars. All that can be seen now is one portion of road that still has the tracks.
In in my father's desk, after he passed, I found a streetcar token from when he was young and used them to get around town.
@@wardenm One of the few moments In history where there really was a "conspiracy" to do something, the only difference from what we think of, with the business men surrounding a darkly lit table smoking cigars while contemplating world domination, The reality was Firestone tires, General Motors, and Standard Oil all had the basic same idea to sell more cars, oil, and tires that when one of them bought up an independent Red Car line in La the others followed suit and they were all dismantled. La had the third-best public transportation system in the World when the Red Car was around, we dropped to the third-worst after it was taken out.
@@Gradyolson and today, the LA subway system is, in many places, placed over the exact routes of the old routes that had been torn up years ago.
“Hit me like a ton of bricks” you really have to be careful what you say in Toon Town
The toon equivalent to "I'll be right back." Haha
Underrated thread
Really really important statement.
No, it hit you like a safe. Try to keep up. ;)
"I'm not bad I'm just drawn that way"
Iconic and I see why!
Literally.
@Marty McFly II 25:09
@@3Rayfire How else can it be taken?
@Marty McFly II That's interesting stuff, but I wonder why you would post them in response to "I'm not bad I'm just drawn that way" rather than as your own individual posts. Those trivia notes have nothing to do with the quote you are replying to.
One other BTTF parallel: Christopher Lloyd's invention gets destroyed by a train at the end
If people fail to notice your special effects, you have done them correctly.
Except she was noticing the sfx throughout this reaction.
"I'm being such an adult about it. I hope that doesn't upset you."
That should upset YOU. lol. Don't lose your childhood like that - it'd just be so sad.
This movie made 3x its budget and won 3 academy awards for visual effects and sound. The animation department invented a new animation term called "bumping the lamp"
I met the animation director Dick Williams (R.I.P.) back in the 90s and he drew some Roger Rabbit stuff for me, my bro, and cousins at my family's home on Nantucket. It was a random occurrence that we happened to find him that day. He was on our property and seemed lost. So we went to talk to him and he was explaining that he was looking for land that was once owned by his parents and he was now the owner. Something like that. But anyway, my family (bro and parents) got talking to him and he told us he was the director of animation for this film. We invited him to our home and he drew us some pictures. My female cousin got a Jessica Rabbit drawing. Mr. Williams went on to tell a story about how Spielberg was the one to approve of the look of Jessica. He produced this film. "Her t!ts are too small." Later: "they're too big." "Make her waste smaller, and her a$$ bigger... and make her breasts bigger again." etc, etc, etc... Poor Richard Williams had to go through so many versions. HAHAHAHA It was funny to hear that about one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. 😂 😂
Cool story😎
I think you're missing a key element. Eddie's brother WAS killed by a toon. Judge Doom was a toon all along. (Unless I have that wrong, I'm sure somebody will correct me if so).
Yeah I don't really get how she didn't understand that. Eddie even says he's a toon when he rises up after being steamrolled.
Girl, Roger and Jessica have one of the best marriages in all of cinema!
Lol screw her for not like Roger, he's endearing, funny and genuine. She clearly doesn't value heart.
Apart from Morticia and Gomez.
Shave and a haircut two bits was a call and response used at the end of early twentieth century musical numbers. American vietnam prisoners of war would use this 5 count call and 2 count response to authenticate communication between themselves
OMG YES Answers that I NEED!!!
@@ShanelleRiccio Thank Ken Burns I Got this tidbit from his documentary Vietnam
Credit were credit is due.
@@ShanelleRiccio some more info for you.
The routine harkens back to Vaudeville. The question is the cost for a shave and a haircut. The answer is "two bits," which is 25¢, i.e. a quarter.
While we are on the topic of money; a "simoleon" is a dollar bill, a "fin" is a five dollar bill and a "sawbuck" is a ten dollar bill.
Yeah, a similar example would be singing the first part of Pop Goes the Weasel and then just stopping right before the "Pop goes the weasel" part.
To this day, if somebody does the "shave and a haircut" knock, I say "nice try, Judge Doom" and don't answer the door
Tim curry auditioned for judge doom but Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis thought he was too scary
Yeah, I could see Curry taking it too far. LOL
@@brianstraight9308 Dude was literally the head demon in Legend, so it checks out, lol.
Same thing happened when he auditioned for the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series.
@@brianstraight9308 he always brings his a game to any character no matter how good or bad the movie is
@@vodengc520 LOL I was going to say, maybe the creators saw Legend and thought he be too much lol.
I took my 6 and 10 year old nephew and niece to see this in theatres. I just realized they're 39 and 43 now and I still think of them as kids.
The guy that did Roger's voice is in Back To The Future 2. He's the guy who wished he'd "put some money on the Cubbies!"
There's a younger version of that character as the mechanic who gives Biff his car back and charges him $300
He was also the sleep doctor in Nightmare on Elm street.
He was the leader of the rival gang of the sweathogs on welcome back kotter
Charles Fleischer is the voice of Roger, Baby Herman, Bennie the Cab and Psycho Weasel.
Christopher Lloyd makes a great villain in this movie. I remember being quite scared of him as a kid, and his design has been copied time and again in other media. I didn't recognize him as the professor until I was an adult. I didn't really consider this a kids movie because of the themes, and I really appreciate that. These cartoons have been around since the 40s, so there are many cartoon fans who are no longer kids (like the makers of the movie itself) and might appreciate some adult elements in their movies.
Also, Jessica Rabbit is so sexy that it's almost uncomfortable. XD But I appreciate that discomfort because it makes the film's world a bit less curated and more real.
Rather famously, in the scene where Eddie and Jessica are thrown from the car, one of the animators drew Jessica without any panties for two or three frames. It wasn't discovered until the movie was released for home video, and people could advance frame-by-frame.
It was of course re-edited for subsequent home video releases.
her basic instinct moment! I did read that!
Pausing VHS cassettes often had the effect of stretching the tape between the heads under pressure over time. Rentals of WFRR were notorious for being damaged at that point mentioned above as guys would regularly try to pause the film and catch a glimpse up her skirt!
Also, the question of “What do you call middle of a song” was answered implicitly as a visual, the answer, of course, is a bridge.
@@MrDarkwing78 this scene uncensored is available in laserdisc and that format doesn't have the same problem as VHS when pausing a scene. In fact. it has a frame-by-frame advance pause.
@@saturninhabitant WOO-HOO!!! I’ll have to borrow my brother in laws laserdisc! 😍🤣
@@saturninhabitant So, if you find someone with a Laserdisk of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, you'll know why...
if you can find a behind the scenes of this movie where they show how they did the practical effects, its really amazing. The amount of time and craftmanship it took to make this movie work is just *chefs kiss*
Yeah they have some behind the scenes on UA-cam. The actors went to mime school and they had some real props. They were amazing especially the late Bob Hoskins with his toon fight scenes.
The film won 4 Oscars including Best Visual Effects.
Roger's character was invented for the book, and the film is his first screen appearance. He wasn't an actual nostalgia character...just played one in the film.
If you enjoyed this movie, I would definitely recommend you watch The Muppet Movie from 1979 next.
I want to add, while it's not a traditional musical, it has amazing songs! Oscar nominated and Grammy winning!
Oh yeah!
I love that you picked out the line "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." It was a big line at the time, with posters of her saying that.
All the live action was filmed at Elstree studios in London England, and the scene where they hide in the cinema was filmed in my local cinema in Grays Essex, The State, because it was one of the few remaining 40s era art deco theatres (with a genuine Wurlitzer organ too)
Lol, maybe not a full sexual awakening. I was 10 at the time, and hadn’t quite realized I liked girls (and being the start of the 90s, not even knowing that was a thing, or that it was ok). But let’s just say, Jessica Rabbit had my full attention, every time I rewatched it.
As to what they were looking at, there were a lot of different things. I remember there was a life-size Roger statue for many scenes. Sometimes there was an animatronic rig or a puppeteer controlling the toon's live action prop, sometimes just a tennis ball on a stick for eyelines.
My favorite bit is that Charlie Fleischer - the voice of Roger (and Benny) - was there on set every day, in a Roger Rabbit costume, standing off camera performing Roger's lines for Bob Hoskins and the rest of the cast to act against. No one asked him to do this! He just showed up and did it. He wasn't required to show up until it was time to lay down Roger's lines in a recording booth.
What does she see in him? He's devoted, she thinks he's funny, and he's apparently a great lover. Which, he's a rabbit so tha tracks.
He also doesn't treat her like a sex object like everybody else does. Roger's not in love with her because she has a long curves and a nice rack. He sees her as a genuinely nice person.
The novel it's based on, "WHO CENSORED ROGER RABBIT?", is even more adult.
Great read highly recommended lol
And even more explicit about using the toons as a metaphor for racism.
Yet the author loved the Disney movie so much, he actually retconned the original novel to be just a weird dream Jessica Rabbit has one night when he was writing the sequel.
@@gerstelb Nya, in the original script there was a sequence that was not shot in its entirety and from which the fragment to be included was cut at the last minute.
In the sequence, Doom and the weasels try to teach Eddie a lesson to stop him investigating. They beat him up and take him to Toontown, where they paint him into a semi-toon pig. He travels home as fast as he can because if he doesn't remove the paint he will soon become a toon for good. On the way back people force him to sit in the back of a bus, make fun of him, forbid him to enter a bar and various other things based on what was happening to minorities at that time. This makes him realize for the first time how unfair life is for toons. When he arrives at his house he washes himself with turpentine and erases the paint in time to avoid a complete transformation. That is why there is a scene in the movie where he comes out of the bathroom for no apparent reason.
I'm from the same tiny town as Gary K. Wolf (author of the book.)🙂
I didn't know him but my parents were in school with him.
By all accounts he's a regular guy that wrote some good books.
(If a bit bookish, Go figure)
The only other thing of note about our hometown is we have a drive in theatre...(a bit of a rarity these days)
... it is what it is 😋
Just discovered your channel & have subscribed 👍
Before Jessica Rabbit met Roger Rabbit, she was Jessica Krupnick, a small town farm girl who made it big in Hollywood. There was indeed a prequel that was supposed to show how Roger and Jessica first met, but never came to be.
The one and only Mae Questel, was the voice of Bettie Boop in the original cartoons!
Kathleen Turner voiced Jessica Rabbit.
Mae Questel was also the voice of Olive Oyl in the Popeye cartoons. She based the voice on actress Zasu Pitts.
Also Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation.
@@darcywiley5096 Play ball!
@@Retailman100 Is Russ still in the navy?
@@kevinramsey417 Aunt Bethany, why don't you go with Catherine and Francis, go into the living room and say, "Hello everybody!"
Seeing Warner Bros and Disney characters onscreen together blew my mind, and it lived up to my dreams.
It was contracted that for every scene that a Disney character was featured, a Looney Tunes character had to be there, hence why you see Bugs and Mickey in one scene and Donald and Daffy in another. Apparently, Chuck Jones wasn't thrilled about working on the movie for this very reason.
I find it one part funny and one part sobering that you thought Roger Rabbit was an established character before this film.
The shoe killing scene freaked me out as a kid. But the behind the scenes stuff for this incredible. Stuff like the Daffy vs Donald fight, it had to legally be 50/50 so that Disney and Warner Bros would allow them to appear. Or the stuff about how I’d you’re holding a toon item you have to hold it without gaps between your fingers because if you do that costs a couple of grand per frame
That shoe killing scene freaked me out as an ADULT, what are you talking about?!
It's obviously not the first movie to incorporate animated characters interacting with live actors. But the....."realism", if you will, was something wholly new. THESE cartoons manipulated real-world objects and were fully integrated into the lighting schemes, down to and including the translucency effects in Jessica's dress. And the fact that it was all accomplished without the aid of computers?? All hand-drawn cels and practical effects - just a TON of work. Absolutely astounding.
Charles Fleisher was on-site performing his lines live wearing a Roger Rabbit costume.
Judge Doom scarred me for life when I watched this as a kid. Literal nightmares.
Remember ME, Miko??!!
I don’t usually comment on many videos, but you are gradually becoming one of my favourite UA-camrs/reactors. Your videos just have such a pleasant vibe, and you’re obviously incredibly knowledgeable about film production. I’m in the process of switching careers into the TV industry, so it’s really great to see someone else following their passion!
Much love from Scotland!
oh yes! thank you so much that means a lot!! Follow your passions right into the TV film industry! Everyone watches TV/movies we need your voice always!
@@ShanelleRiccio Definitely - best of luck with your future career!
Agreed. I watched her reaction to Clue twice. She is the only reactor to get some of the jokes and to appreciate the witty comedic timing. She referenced the similarity in flow to "Who's on First" which really impressed me. She was correct.
The opening cartoon is brilliant.
You should watch the show “prop culture”. There is an episode that shows how some of the special effects are done. AMAZING!!
Christopher Lloyd also shows up in the episode!!
There's also the UA-cam video "VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGi 12" where a group of visual effects artists talk about some of the other effects in the film that Prop Culture doesn't talk about. I'd watch that along with the Prop Culture one
This wasn't the first time a film mixed animation and life action, but it was the first to do it to the extent that it did. There were several attempts at doing something similar over the years, and some of them did pretty well for their time. The one that always springs to mind for me is The Incredible Mr. Limpet starring Don Knotts from 1964.
Charles Fliescher the voice of Roger was in Back to the Future 2 where he played Terry the guy who told Marty about putting money on the Cubbies...he was also in the 50's...the mechanic young Biff argues with about getting the manure out of his car
you: i knew a toon didn't kill his brother meanwhile eddie: holy smoke he's a toon!
The one question about what Jessica sees in Roger... Well, they're toons. They're not supposed to make any sense 😂
He makes her laugh
Nya, but it does make sense. Toons, like any other minority, have their own culture and traditions. One of them is that they prioritize everything that is fun. Making people laugh is one of the most important things in a toon's life. Jessica is not very funny and Roger is. That makes him incredibly attractive to toon girls. From the point of view of the toon community Roger is a famous, successful and beautiful Hollywood actor and Jessica is an ugly little talented girl with a humiliating job. Despite this, Roger was able to see Jessica as a girl with a huge heart deserving of affection. For her part, Jessica loves Roger not because he is attractive or famous, but because he is the kindest person she has ever met.
I love that the "dip" is just paint thinner. That makes it so funny that the toons are literally just walking talking ink and paint.
Jessica Rabbit.... Yep, when i was a little kid... I had funny and confusing feelings for her Lol
EDIT: Now that I think about it, it would probably explain my attraction to Redheads... I just figured that out.
hahahah
As a fellow film maker and member of the DGA I enjoy your reactions mixed in with your knowledgeof the process. This is going to sound like a back handed compliment and I don't mean it in that way, but I love to watch reactions from someone that's so knowledgeable that hasn't seen a lot of classics, a very rare thing. It's very refreshing in the reacting genre.
And my 2 recommendations would be my all time favorite RomCom that is often over looked, "Defending Your Life" staring Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. And a great thriller/"mind-fuck" "the Game" staring Michael Douglas. But warning the game is pretty dark.
In the case of Roger, Charles Fleischer would sometimes be on set in a costume for eyelines
The behind-the-scenes on this is absolutely amazing and it pioneered a lot of the technology we use today in CGI-heavy films. Motion control rigs for the cameras and lights (so the different takes would be consistent for the animators who had to shade the cartoon portions), actor and prop stand-ins to maintain eye line including animatronics to manipulate real-world props. The attention to detail is what really sells this as they put in so much effort for tiny things like when Jessica holds Eddie's tie and slowly slides it between her fingers during the performance or objects moving on a table or desk when Roger bumps into it.
Also, this movie is loosely based on a book called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" and...honestly, the movie is WAY better. And a lot less...ummm...let's just say that Jessica wasn't with Roger by her own volition in the book. Anyway, apparently even the author likes the film version better because he wrote a sequel novel to the film version and not his original novel.
"The Dip" is actually simply paint thinner
I read (probably on IMDB) that originally, Judge Doom was supposed to have a cartoon buzzard that was always perched on his shoulder but they decided it would be too expensive to animate. Also, in an early version of the script, Judge Doom was the hunter that shot Bambi's mother.
19:50 Doom IS a toon.
ha yeah I guess in the moment I thought he was some hybrid? who eeven knows
@@ShanelleRiccio maybe like in MIB
He's wearing a human suit?
Or his animator was BIG into realism and also a masterful shader/colorist?
@@Retailman100 Some have theorized that he might be the possum in the poster that has the reflection of Doom's gun given that the gun is the same shape and if you look very closely, you can see the possum has red eyes similar to Doom's.
@@MrTristy22 I think an earlier version of the script has Doom as actually being the hunter that shoots Bambi's mum (oh, spoilers for Bambi, I guess...) Being such a despised figure is what drives Doom to insanity.
12:20 "Is this the movie that made Roger Rabbit like one of the more famous toons?"
Roger Rabbit never existed before this movie...
If you like Zemeckis, might I recommend "Death Becomes Her"
The animation was directed not by Disney but by a small indie studio in London. Richard Williams was an animation prodigy who, at the time, was one of the only guys in the industry who could work in basically any style of animation, and could do animation to live action without a locked down static camera (adjusting for camera moves and perspective changed by hand). Disney Animation had not had its revival yet and they (Spielberg and Zemekis) wanted a guy who could meld the style of Warner Bros (Looney Tunes), Disney, and MGM (Tex Avery cartoons like Droopy or the Wolf / Red Riding Hood cartoons). Richard Williams won an Oscar for that film.
Even crazier.. there are ZERO CGI fx in this movie. One of the last totally analog blockbusters. So all the animation, shading, interactive props, and tricks you see are done by hand.
They shot the whole movie twice.. once with toon Stand ins like dolls and cardboard cutouts.. then again without.. so the actors would have correct eye lines.
One of the best special FX in this movie is Bob Hoskins acting. He really went all in for this.. so much so he started to hallucinate toons were really there.
Please watch "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987) ! It's one of my favourite childhood movies !
It's probably already been said, but Mary Poppins (1964) had live action interacting with animation and Anchors Away (1945) had Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the mouse (Tom and Jerry).
The window and blinds breaking with Rodger running through it was done practically and in 1 take.
The sequence with all the toons at the end is; if I’m not mistaken, the first time characters from Disney, Warner Bros & Fleischer Studios appeared all together.
To answer your question about the filming: VistaVision cameras installed with motion-control technology were used for the photography of the live-action scenes, which would be composited with animation. Rubber mannequins of Roger Rabbit, Baby Herman, and the Toon Patrol portrayed the animated characters during rehearsals to teach the actors where to look when acting with "open air and imaginative cartoon characters". Many of the live-action props held by cartoon characters were shot on set with the props either held by robotic arms or manipulated with strings, similar to a marionette. The actor who played the voice of Roger, Charles Fleischer, insisted on wearing a Roger Rabbit costume while on the set, to get into character.
Although the film is set in 1947 Los Angeles, the live action footage & outdoor locations were filmed at Elstree Studios, England & also on Hope Street in LA. The Acme Factory is the Dimco Building which is located in Shepard’s Bush, West London & stands next to the Westfield Shopping Centre. The Dimco Building also doubled for the British Museum in The Mummy Returns (2001).
Other locations included Grays State Theatre in Essex, UK, the Glendale-Hyperion viaduct, LA, & also the Griffith Park Tunnel (also seen in Back to the Future).
I saw in an interview with Bob Hoskins that he had to be careful when he was grabbing Roger Rabbit to keep his fingers together otherwise the animators had to draw between them which took more time
9:18 I feel the need to drop this Bugs Bunny quote: "I know this violates the law of gravity, but ehhh, I never studied law."
Shanelle: "It hit me like a ton of bricks."
Me: "Or maybe like a safe...or a piano?" 😉😄
There is a ton of bricks in a later scene.
If you've ever heard someone knock in the rhythm of "knock ... knock knock knock ... knock ..... knock knock - that's "shave ... and a haircut ... two bits".
"I knew he wasn't killed by a toon"
uhhhh yes he was.
19:52 "I knew his brother wasn't killed by a Toon," she said as a Toon admitted to killing his brother.
5:48, for a kids movie, this sure has a lot of adult themes and references.
Just because it’s animated does not mean it’s for kids.
I saw this in the theater when I was a kid and LOVED it, but didn't totally understand the adult dialogue or the detective plot. It was a big moment for me to see it in the theater last year, because I understood everything for the first time. I felt so grown up.
8:27, for the role of Judge Doom, Tim Curry, David Bowie, Christopher Lee, Peter O'Toole and F. Murray Abraham were considered.
I've heard that Tim Curry was turned down for being too scary, and John Cleese was turned down for not being scary enough.
I love how technical you get in your reactions, actually breaking down shots like the night->day transition when Eddy passes out at his desk.
Fun Fact: This was the only movie that had 2 rival studios cartoon characters together.
That's right. When Disney called up Warner Brothers and asked to borrow their characters for this movie, Warner Brothers said 'okay, but on one condition: Bugs and Daffy get just as much screen time as Mickey and Donald'. that's why the characters are always on screen together.
Eddie: "That lame-brained freeway idea could only have been cooked up by a toon."
Drivers in L.A. today: We believe it!!
It's actually kind of interesting you used the word discrimination about the Toons because this is actually somewhat based on a book called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" and was about the McCarthy trials happening in Hollywood trying to out "communists". In the book, communism is replaced by the toon characters.
Back when Hollywood was actually AGAINST censorship.
I've loved this film since I was a child Thank you SO much for reacting to it! Always look forward to new videos!
My aunt took us to see this when I was a kid. Yes, I was awakened.
Kathleen Turner was a big name during the ‘80s, particularly with the commercial and critical success of Romancing the Stone and its sequel Jewel of the Nile (a franchise that managed to capture women’s interest in the romance novel aspect and men’s and children’s in the adventure movie aspect). She was famous for her deep, sultry voice which, combined with the visuals, defines Jessica Rabbit.
Fun fact,
You know how old disney liked to hide "questionable" content in their films?
There's one in this movie. The scene where jessica is thrown from the cab, you can look up her dress and see that she's... anatomically correct.
Historical note, LA did have one of the best public transportation systems in the early 20th century US. The problem was it was privately owned and operated. So Goodyear tire corporation came along, bought the Redcar train system, dismantled it and stopped construction of the subway system. Thus, everyone was forced to buy cars, and by extension, tires.
Not just Goodyear, if I recall. Wasn't it a collaborative effort with oil companies and others to make L.A. a car city? Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. If so, let me know.
Here's a vid explaining how they made the film (and why we'll never see anything like it again)- a lot of the time they would do two shoots, one with a dummy and one without to establish line of sight, some could be fixed during the animation portion of production:
ua-cam.com/video/NKOum-MftXY/v-deo.html
Ps Yes to your question re: Jessica Rabbit
Fun Facts: Shave and a Haircut dates back as early as 1899 and usually uses the notes "C-G-G-A-G B-C". Two Bits refers to a slang term for twenty-five cents. The jingle was frequently present in many old cartoons and comedy shorts such as Three Stooges films. The most recent time I've seen it was during an episode of The Big Bang Theory wherein Amy Farrah-Fowler was attempting to "cure" Sheldon of his Obsessive-Compulsive need to complete rituals.
Other movies that mixed live action with animation: Song of the South and Mary Poppins.
Bedknobs and broomsticks too
@@kurls81
Damn, shouldn't have forgotten that one!
There was also a very famous dance scene in "Anchors Away" with Gene Kelly and Jerry from "Tom & Jerry". 1945
I am surprised she didn't see or mention the tole this role took on the late, great Bob Hoskins. she mentioned how difficult it is to act alongside of a cartoon co star, reportedly Bob was so stressed during production he was hallucinating some of the cartoons in his real life. A testament to how hard he worked and the professionalism he had.
I love this film so much!! I love how it has all of the childhood characters as cartoons!! Such a good movie, and I love you channel!
thank you!!
I imagine the work that went into this movie... and it motivates me to finish whatever drawing I'm working on.
The “portable hole” was a feature of an old looney tunes cartoon titled “the hole idea”
and in The Beatles animated movie from 1968 'Yellow Submarine'....
@@Slate-writer I must have missed that... I think “Yellow Submarine” is a film that requires you to be on acid in order to understand.
@@americanfreedomlogistics9984 Setup for a perfect punchline: "You just described the entire decade."
When this came out on VHS, there was a big controversy. People would pause the movie at the point where Jessica flies out of the car during the accident. You could see her cartoon "panties" if you pause it at just the right moment. It was a big deal back then. I thought it was stupid.
Meanwhile, there are some R34 artists who made that pic look like NOTHING.