This movie was the first and last time that Disney and Warner Brothers collaborated. They only agreed to it if the characters had equal screen time. Hanna Barbera was invited too, but they said no. All the animation was hand drawn. I loved this movie when I was a kid.
Not to mention Fleischer Studios/Paramount and MGM. This is a real who's who of classic cartoon properties. The contracts must've read like plates of spaghetti.
@@StCerberusEngel Thanks for mentioning that! I forgot that Paramount and MGM were also involved! There was so much talent and yet this film is so underrated. If you closely watch this, it is really a masterclass in traditional animation.
@@wolfen26 Absolutely. I think the moment that got me in particular was when Roger took his hand away from the dusty chair and left finger markings. The insane level of detail is amazing. And Bob Hoskins does a fantastic job at making eye-contact with basically nothing, completely selling the effect.
The scene in the back room of the bar when Eddie walks into the lamp has become a benchmark for dedication to the animators craft. During much of that scene the lamp is swinging casting shadows across the room, and to the detail the animators match the shadows cast on and and from Roger. It was such a painstaking feat that it coined a phrase in the industry "Bump the Lamp" meaning to put maximum effort into the quality of the project to the smallest detail. It is mind-blowing that every single frame of film has a correlating animation cell. The agreement between Disney and WB stipulated to use Donald. Mickey, Daffy and Bugs. They had to have equal screen time. Hence, why they are shown in the same scenes. This movie is a treasure trove of bizarre and interesting facts as to how it was made.
@@deadcatthinks6725 Not just an equal amount of dialogue. They had to have the same amount of screen time, apparently right down to the same number of frames.
7:00 Jessica's the "lucky girl" because toons value humor, not looks. It's why he's a star among toons and she's relegated to singing in a cocktail lounge. She even says later, when Eddie asks what she sees in Roger, "He makes me laugh."
Such a huge achievement of practical effects and animation. In my opinion, no one has done it better since or even approached it. The way the actors keep consistent eyelines is astounding in itself.
It was _also_ a massive achievement in terms of acquiring the rights to put both Disney and Looney Tunes characters in the same movie. That's something that hasn't been done since either. As far as I'm aware, this is the only time Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse interact, or Daffy and Donald Duck. One of the stipulations was that neither could have more screen time than the other. That's partly why those main characters were in the same scenes together.
@@StarkRG Not just Disney and Warner Brothers; for good measure, there are also big name characters in the film from Fleischer Studios (Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, but sadly not Popeye), MGM (Droopy Dog) and Universal (Woody Woodpecker).
Who Framed Roger Rabbit actually coined a term in film called "Bumping the lamp," based on the scene where Roger is jumping around in the hidden room of the bar and Eddie keeps bumping his head on the light fixture that casts a consistent moving shadow on Roger. It means to go above and beyond on details that the audience may not even appreciate or notice.
Imagine being 6 or 7 years old, going to to the theater to watch this and seeing the human director step into frame for the 1st time. It's my 2nd greatest movie going experience just behind being 11 yrs old and the 1st time a dinosaur came on screen in Jurassic Park.
Eddie was played by Bob Hoskins, who was Smee in Hook. He passed away from pneumonia in 2014, and I believe there were some complications due to Parkinson's as well.
The animation was directed NOT by Disney, but a little indie studio in England, Richard Williams Studio. He was an animation wunderkind who had training from some of Disney's "Nine Old Men".. he had done hundreds of commerials, specials, and animared title intros for movies. But he, unlike mid 80s Disney, could animate in practically any style. and didnt bat an eye over all the non-locked down camera work they had to animate over.. back in the day, they used to lock the camera down to keep the persepctice the same on animation / live action hybrids (Marry Poppins). Williams told "just shoot the movie like a real movie, we'll figure out the perspective".
The underlying Cloverleaf plot is actually kind of based on a true story. LA used to have one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the country, along with many other big cities. General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil, and a couple other companies worked together to buy up streetcar companies across the country through secret subsidiaries to get a monopoly, then dismantled them to replace with bus lines, which would use their vehicles and tires and gas and whatnot that the streetcars didn't need. They were found guilty of it in federal court in 1949, but it was too late by then to do anything about it, and they just got a slap on the wrist either way.
This kind of project takes more effort and imagination than modern movies that are just shot in front of a green screen and then just handed off to some nerd behind a computer to finish.
When I was in animation school, one of the key animators from this brought some cells that weren't in the movie. One of them was a cell of Mickey and Bugs that was worth 70,000 at the time. There will NEVER be another film like this!
My sister and I were both in our early 20s when this came out. Neither of us were working at the time and went to see this at a mid-week matinee, where we were the only adults unaccompanied by children. As a result, we were the only ones laughing at several of the jokes, since they went way over the kids’ heads and the moms were all too horrified to laugh.
This Movie was the best when it came to cinematography. My Favorite scene is when Eddy is in his office and the camera pans over to his brothers side of the room. in this one scene they show and do so much without telling you. 1. on eddies brothers desk you see a doll of Betty Boop which implies Eddies brother may have been a fan of hers and that's why he treats her better than other toons. 2. Also on the brothers desk is a photo of Eddie and himself dressed as clowns in a circus, hinting at Eddies goofier side and a future scene. 3. As the camera is panning around, the stage hands had to have made the room shift from night to morning, empty Eddies full bottle of liquor, take off his coat, and place the bottle in eddies hand without making a sound or casting any shadows!
this was so groundbreaking when this came. I would go back and watch the making of it's cool to see how they did all these. Charles Fleischer was one of my favorite voice man who is the voice of Rodger also Gizmo and many other characters from films. The reference to Harvey is in reference to the movie Harvey the rabbit with Jimmy Stewart.
Charles Fleischer was also the old man in "Back to the Future 2" who gave Marty the idea to buy the sports almanac, and he had a recurring role in "Welcome Back, Kotter" as Carvelli, Vinnie Barbarino's nemesis.
This was this first film I remember seeing in the big theater when I was a kid. My aunt and uncle took me when I was 6. I get a lot more of the humor now, but even as a kid I absolutely adored this film. I still do. It’s always a fun watch.
When they say "They don't make them like they used to do"... this is what they are talking about. There's no CGI in this movie;: everything is real acting, drawn animations and a lot of really really involved practical effects to have them get together. It is a good and funny movie in itself... but the technical side makes it a timeless masterpiece.
Fun fact: There are Easter eggs of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in Back to the Future Part 2; a stuffed Roger Rabbit in the window of the store Marty purchased the sports almanac, the guy Marty ran into when he found out that the cubs swept Miami in the World's Series was the voice of Roger Rabbit.
Harvey, a 1944 play about a man & his invisible 6-foot rabbit buddy, was made into a 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart. I think this is my absolute favorite of your reactions!!! That you went into it without any spoilers and were completely blown away in such a wave of childlike wonder was so engaging and heartwarming! I just love it!!! I forget if this was set in 1946 or 1947. The how-they-made-it documentaries about this are fascinating. I'm depressed and sick in bed with Covid. Thank you for this reaction. It really helped cheer me up. Other Christopher Lloyd (Doc) movies include The Addams Family & its sequel, Clue, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. He spent years as Reverend Jim on Taxi. The Eddie Valiant actor also appeared in Shattered and Steven Spielberg's Hook. His girlfriend Dolores starred in Blade Runner. The voice actor who did Roger Rabbit appeared as a drunk in the square in Back to the Future and Part II. The singing voice of Jessica Rabbit was Amy Irving from Carrie and Yentl. Her speaking voice was Kathleen Turner, from Romancing the Stone and War of the Roses with Michael Douglas, Body Heat with William Hurt, and Peggy Sue Got Married with Helen Hunt (from Twister) and Nicolas Cage. She also played Chandler's father on Friends.
@@EricAKATheBelgianGuy Yup. And it's embarrassing that Streisand didn't let Broadway singing stars Irving and Mandy Pantinkin or Nehemiah Persoff have any songs to sing in the movie! Still a great film but that was shamefully narcissistic.
Right movie, wrong character. Charles Fleischer was in Back to the Future 2, but not as the drunk. He was the old man who told Marty he wished he could go back in time and bet on the Cubs, which gave Marty the idea to buy the sports almanac.
Love this movie. It has one of my alltime favorite movie lines. When Jessica Rabbit says "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" Great reaction as always!!!!!
Bob Hoskins is a gem, and this is one of his best roles. The dramatics he brings to such a funny movie (and his incredible ability to keep 'Roger' in his eyeline) and then completely wigs out with a killer 😉 song and dance routine. It's a real shame he has Alzheimers now, but he gave us a great career on film.
Deceased or not, he used his "everyman" look to his advantage. He was known as the "Cockney Cagney," because of his abilities and his accent. His American accent is so convincing here that it's easy to forget he was British.
A real physical rocks glass goes from a person's hand into Rogers and he takes a drink. Just something like that must have been so difficult to achieve.
This was one of my favorite films when I was a kid. I remember during Christmas 1988 there was Roger Rabbit merchandising being sold all over the place. "Roger Rabbit" was so much fun to see in the theater and i saw it three times. Summer 1988 had some great films ("Big" was one of them). Other fun facts: Frank Sinatra did the singing voice of the sword and this film is the only time Donald Duck and Daffy Duck were on screen together and is one of the best scenes. Bob Hoskins, who played Eddie Valiant, did an incredible job in this and should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (and the movie should have received a nomination for Best Picture). It did win a special Oscar for special effects though. Christopher Lloyd also portayed Judge Doom and was VERY scary. This is one of his most memorable roles.
I knew Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit) in Hollywood around this time and I remember him being very excited and going on and on about getting this job doing a voice for a cartoon character in a live action movie. Of course we were all going "Oh really, well that sounds great," but we didn't really get it at the time. He'd do the pppppplease signature schtick, which was his idea. It was so surprising actually seeing the movie after hearing about it for so long and seeing how good it was. I don't know where he went after that because I don't remember ever seeing him again after all the accolades he got.
This was made before computer animation and CGI, so yes, this was done completely with practical effects. There is a short documentary making-of film about how they did it that is interesting.
Fun fact: "whiskey on rocks" used to literally mean putting cold rocks to your whiskey to cool it, like ice cubes, in Scotland. This was before proper ice cubes were available due to technology.
You may find it interesting that this was originally a book. It was called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" by Gary Wolf. It's similar but really different.
in the early 1920s, before the creation of Walt Disney studios, a 21 year old Walt Disney was creating short films where a live action human interacted with animated characters.
To me, this is still one of the greatest crossover movies of all time. So many great characters from different time periods and companies all in one me film
That's all folks!!! Also, totally fun little studio history, but there is a legit reason that both WV & Disney show up for this film. Worth a little research.
Before Bob Hoskins, Bill Murray was heavily considered being cast as Eddie Valiant, but the studio couldn't find him at the time. He didn't find out until years later in an interview on Howard Stern and got bummed out that he missed out on such an amazing opportunity.
1) You never heard of Eddie Rabbitt? He was a big name in country music in the early '80s. 2) This movie was based on a novel, "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" by Gary K. Wolf. Look it up.
Absolutely love this movie! It came out when I was 6, and I've seen it a ton of times. I just watched it not long ago. It definitely holds up, and even looks better than some current movies. There are some movies that speak directly to my childhood. This is definitely one.
this movie was based on the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit. most of the cartoon characters are from Warner Bros and Disney. Disney agreed only if they get equal screen time. Thats why daffy and donald share a scene and bugs and mickey share a scene. The voice of roger rabbit was provided by comedian charles fleischer. He also appeared in back to the future. when filming, charles would wear a rabbit suit as a point of reference for the other actors. director rob zemeckis also directed the back to the future films, and chirstopher lloyd also appeared in the trilogy as Doc Brown.
Some of the production problems were each movie studio did want Daffy or Donald Duck to have more or less screen time from each other so hence the dueling piano skit.
This was mind blowing at the time because of how amazing it looked, the studios coming together, the practical effects to show toons/reality. Great great movie that I'm happy you got to watch, finally, and thank you for sharing.
On top of all the technical masterwork here that was required, its also Disney AND Warner cartoons. Extremely rare to see those 2 companies on the same screen.
To answer your question, "Who's Harvey?" "Harvey" is a 1950 American comedy-drama film based on Mary Chase's 1944 play of the same name. The story centers on a man, Elwood P. Dowd, whose best friend is an invisible a 6 ft 3+1⁄2 in tall white rabbit named Harvey, and the ensuing debacle when the man's sister tries to have him committed to a sanatorium.
To see Warner Bros in the same frame as Disney was mind blowing, Some from the Max Flisher studios as well, Caught the feel of Chinatown. LA in the thirties,
Similar concept is the short-run Fox TV show, Greg The Bunny. It’s a sitcom where puppets co-exist with humans. It’s ridiculously funny. Only 13 episodes but crazy ones.
"Like him in a little car and then they drew on top of it?" Very good. That's exactly what they did. There were early uses of CGI in movies before this, like the Genesis scene in Star Trek 2, but in this case computers were only used to make wireframes for the cartoonists to follow. Mixing animation and live action had been done before, though nowhere near to this level. Back in the early days, Disney made some shorts called Alice's Wonderland (no relation to Alice in Wonderland). Later Disney movies Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks had some animated parts. MGM had the movie Anchors Aweigh where Gene Kelly dances with Jerry Mouse. They really wanted to use Mickey Mouse, but Walt Disney wouldn't give them permission.
In the graphic novel, Roger and Jessica Rabbit watch a documentary which explains that Doom was originally a toon named Baron von Rotten who took up the role of playing the antagonist in movies until suffering a concussion in an accident, from which he awakened believing he was a real villain.
There have been a number of movies over the decades where humans and cartoons interacted. "Song of the South", "Mary Poppins", the Alice shorts from the 30s. The voice actor of Roger Rabbit got a couple cameos in BttF2. In the future, he was the elderly man who put the idea into Marty's mind, of getting rich off of future info. Then back in the past, he was the young man who cleaned and repaired Biff's car for $300. (They were the same character, as a cut scene shows.)
The reason the effects are so good is because it was done by hand, frame by frame, with practical effects. The concept was done again only a few years later with the Space Jam movies, but by this time they were able to use digital computer animation and editing, and compared to this, it sucks.
One thing nobody brings up is that Cloverfield is what they call the circular on and off ramps of a freeway, and the logo for the company is just that. An on and off ramp.
All the special effects are practical. There was no CGI when this was made. They used mechanical props for things like the cab and the breaking plates. Then they hand drew the animation over it.
There were a few instances when they did not use practical effects. The one I know of is for a very short part of the cab ride Eddy is animated because it would have been too dangerous for Bob Hoskins to do it in real life.
Live-action/animated mixed films go back to the 1920s, I think. That concept was nothing new. But this film took to a new level and then some. It’s just so seemless, it’s amazing.
This is actually based on a novel called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit". In the novel the characters are comic strip characters who speak in word bubbles.
Thats the MOST "This is Blind" reaction ever. Most people go in knowing the poster or the genre or cast or some thing. I belive the book for this was Who Censored Rodger Rabbit" and its very different.
Hollywood CA, 1947. $100 then was like $1,305 today. I think the place and year showed up just as it cut to RK Maroons office. Also the Harvey joke was from a movie with the late Jimmy Stewert called Harvey, an Invisible Rabbit that he sees. But the movie came out in 1950, so there's a slight mistake on the timeline, since this is supposed to be 1947.
Perhaps Angelo saw the stage play, which premiered in 1944 (I knew nothing about Harvey other than it was a movie until you brought up the potential anachronism)
16:50 Amazing; you knew Betty Boop and “shave and a haircut” but didn’t appear to know Donald and Daffy Duck. You have a very particular set of skills.
No, I knew Donald and Daffy, just removed that for this edit. You should watch a couple of my full reactions sometime. You'd be amazed all the stuff I cut out. I think I have a couple of public full length stuff on Patreon
10:45 something to keep in mind as foreshadowing. Judge Doom wears a glove when putting the shoe in the dip, also when it spills in the bar later he takes a quick step back to avoid it. Wonder why he would do that? 😉😉
Movies always look better when they're practically done. There was very limited CGI available at the time, and none was used here, even to get the lighting right or measure distances. This is just hand drawn animation and practical effects. I was 6 when WFRR came out and between this and The Little Mermaid, they were literally the first time I looked at girls and went, "hmm. They're not so bad." 🤣. The way they make the live action characters and the cartoons interact is incredible. Robert Zemeckis (who directed Forrest Gump, Romancing the Stone and the Back To The Future Movies, among other great films) did a fantastic job with this. Bob Hoskins is actually British, and he pulls off a decent New York accent - for a movie set in Southern California. I also like that the brought in racial undertones to this movie. The cartoons are basically treated like black people - for comic relief only. The club that Jessica performs at is supposed to mimic The Cotton Club, a real nightclub famous for having black performers - who weren't allowed to enter as spectators. Only entertainment. Some of Roger's lines parallel what black people have gone through. It's so well done. And the best part is that it's 80s PG. Back when that rating meant something. It wasn't like Frozen, where you had maybe one scary scene. We were tough growing up. We watched this and Return To Oz, another 80s movie you should check out. Unlike the Judy Garland original, this starred a real little girl and is much more faithful to the books. It's terrifying if you're a kid. I love it. No CGI either. No shortcuts. But this is an excellent film. One of the best from a technical and storytelling perspective that I've ever seen. The way they "show, don't tell" is amazing. In just a few minutes, with barely any words, you're told most of what you need to know about the characters.
Another great movie I thought was ahead of it's time was Flight of the Navigator. The liquid steps and the way the spaceship would shapeshift was quite a sight.
The cab was a practical effect. It was a car with the driver in the trunk (driving by camera). There was a whole movie extra about it. The other major accomplishment was the bridging of copyright agreements (disney + warner bros).
But they also had several other studios including Droopy Dog from MGM and Poppey was also licensed for the film, but the scene did not make the final cut.
@@AwesomeUSMovies Exactly...such a mind blowing film...you can imagine what it was like for us seeing this in theaters for the first time. Roger Zemekis made this movie in between making Back to the Future part 1 and part 2, and has made so many incredible movies...he really is one of the great film makers of all time. So glad you had such fun with this one. 😁
i saw the making of this film and not only its practical effects by using wires and poles for the guns and other such objects of the environment of trickery for all for the toons, but they are all hand drawn frame by frame. that's right the old fashion way of Disney animation. put over frames of shot by shots of film then drew each characters plus shadow and light, similar to stop motion animation but far more challenging and the most difficult style of animation while being a massive accomplishment.
If you’re interested in the behind the scenes for this movie, Corridor Crew did an episode on it I’m pretty sure. The way they combined the animation and live action would be impressive by today’s standards, let alone for the 80s or whenever this came out.
One of the funny facts about this movie was that they managed to get Disney and Looneytoons characters in the same movie by agreeing to completely equal screen time. That’s why you see so many of the competing characters in scenes together; they wouldn’t have to worry about timing the scenes and matching them if they were together.
The yellow convertible is the same car as the one owned by the 1955 Doc in Back to the Future. The tunnel to toon town is the same tunnel from Back to the Future II 😊
James didn't realize he kept saying, with shock: "With a cartoon??" and "A cartoon!?" in a segregated manner, just like the humans were doing in the movie LOL But, yea I'm certain that was one of the points behind the story and the writers were able to make the audience feel like James did without them even knowing it. Clever.
Bob Hoskins said afterwards that doing this movie left him in a VERY strange place mentally. He spent so much time talking or reacting to people and things that weren't actually there, that it took him a while to get back to normal..
1. Walt Disney combined humans and cartoon characters together back in the 1920s in a series of films called "Alice in Cartoonland". He did it again for the classic movie "Song of the South" in the 1940s. 2. The plot point in this movie regarding Cloverleaf is based on fact. Los Angeles used to have a public transportation system of subways and trolleys called the Red Car Line. It was discovered years after it happened that the automobile companies bought up the Red Cars to dismantle them which would force people to buy automobiles. By the time this was discovered in the 1970s, everyone responsible was dead so there was no one to punish. Since then, a lot of the trolley system has been restored and public transport is back in Los Angeles and Hollywood again.
James: He's a cartoon. Can't he get out of those handcuffs? Us: Only when it's funny.
Harvey is a play (later adapted into a film) about a guy who has an imaginary friend named Harvey who is a very tall rabbit.
Oh... good to know. that's makes more sense now
@@AwesomeUSMovies The movie starred Jimmy Stewart.
@@AwesomeUSMovies My Friend Harvey, with Jimmy Stewart in the lead, a very nice movie.
@CaptBunnykiller I think it's just called "Harvey," if I remember correctly.
@@EricAKATheBelgianGuy You are right. It was translated as My Friend Harvey into other languages. I didn't think of that.
This movie was the first and last time that Disney and Warner Brothers collaborated. They only agreed to it if the characters had equal screen time. Hanna Barbera was invited too, but they said no. All the animation was hand drawn. I loved this movie when I was a kid.
Lots of hard work had been done for sure to make this movie a reality
Not to mention Fleischer Studios/Paramount and MGM. This is a real who's who of classic cartoon properties. The contracts must've read like plates of spaghetti.
@@StCerberusEngel Thanks for mentioning that! I forgot that Paramount and MGM were also involved! There was so much talent and yet this film is so underrated. If you closely watch this, it is really a masterclass in traditional animation.
@@wolfen26 Absolutely. I think the moment that got me in particular was when Roger took his hand away from the dusty chair and left finger markings. The insane level of detail is amazing. And Bob Hoskins does a fantastic job at making eye-contact with basically nothing, completely selling the effect.
I feel like if new people were in charge at Disney and Warner Bros, they would be open to this type of thing again.
The scene in the back room of the bar when Eddie walks into the lamp has become a benchmark for dedication to the animators craft. During much of that scene the lamp is swinging casting shadows across the room, and to the detail the animators match the shadows cast on and and from Roger. It was such a painstaking feat that it coined a phrase in the industry "Bump the Lamp" meaning to put maximum effort into the quality of the project to the smallest detail. It is mind-blowing that every single frame of film has a correlating animation cell. The agreement between Disney and WB stipulated to use Donald. Mickey, Daffy and Bugs. They had to have equal screen time. Hence, why they are shown in the same scenes. This movie is a treasure trove of bizarre and interesting facts as to how it was made.
WOW the amount of detail taken. That's amazing
Mickey and bugs also have an equal amount of dialogue if I remember correctly.
@@deadcatthinks6725 Not just an equal amount of dialogue. They had to have the same amount of screen time, apparently right down to the same number of frames.
7:00 Jessica's the "lucky girl" because toons value humor, not looks. It's why he's a star among toons and she's relegated to singing in a cocktail lounge. She even says later, when Eddie asks what she sees in Roger, "He makes me laugh."
Well put
"The Dip" is a mix of turpentine, acetone and benzine- or, in other words- PAINT THINNER.
Oh that's funny
Oh, that poor shoe. 😢
@Celia Shen Isn't it amazing how sorry you feel for that poor little shoe?! His eyes are so pleading as he whimpers!
@@dggydddy59 And the roiling of the Dip! That shoe haunts my dreams.
"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." is such a hilarious line.
True and I like it
Such a huge achievement of practical effects and animation. In my opinion, no one has done it better since or even approached it. The way the actors keep consistent eyelines is astounding in itself.
It was _also_ a massive achievement in terms of acquiring the rights to put both Disney and Looney Tunes characters in the same movie. That's something that hasn't been done since either. As far as I'm aware, this is the only time Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse interact, or Daffy and Donald Duck. One of the stipulations was that neither could have more screen time than the other. That's partly why those main characters were in the same scenes together.
@@StarkRG Not just Disney and Warner Brothers; for good measure, there are also big name characters in the film from Fleischer Studios (Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, but sadly not Popeye), MGM (Droopy Dog) and Universal (Woody Woodpecker).
Who Framed Roger Rabbit actually coined a term in film called "Bumping the lamp," based on the scene where Roger is jumping around in the hidden room of the bar and Eddie keeps bumping his head on the light fixture that casts a consistent moving shadow on Roger. It means to go above and beyond on details that the audience may not even appreciate or notice.
Imagine being 6 or 7 years old, going to to the theater to watch this and seeing the human director step into frame for the 1st time. It's my 2nd greatest movie going experience just behind being 11 yrs old and the 1st time a dinosaur came on screen in Jurassic Park.
Eddie was played by Bob Hoskins, who was Smee in Hook. He passed away from pneumonia in 2014, and I believe there were some complications due to Parkinson's as well.
There is a singer named Rabbit--Eddie Rabbit. One of his biggest hits was "I Love A Rainy Night."
The animation was directed NOT by Disney, but a little indie studio in England, Richard Williams Studio. He was an animation wunderkind who had training from some of Disney's "Nine Old Men".. he had done hundreds of commerials, specials, and animared title intros for movies. But he, unlike mid 80s Disney, could animate in practically any style.
and didnt bat an eye over all the non-locked down camera work they had to animate over.. back in the day, they used to lock the camera down to keep the persepctice the same on animation / live action hybrids (Marry Poppins). Williams told "just shoot the movie like a real movie, we'll figure out the perspective".
03:26. You can actually see the moment your MIND is BLOWN by the concept of this movie!
Well, it was blown for sure.
I think what they did behind the scenes to make this all work is just as mind blowing.
@@AwesomeUSMovies Blew us all away.
@@0okaminoYep. The behind the scenes vid is incredible. Its available in full on UA-cam.
"Do they take showers?" lol asking the important questions
Eddie Rabbitt was a famous singer. One of his songs was "I Love the Rainy Night" He died in 1998 at 56, from lung cancer.
The underlying Cloverleaf plot is actually kind of based on a true story. LA used to have one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the country, along with many other big cities. General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil, and a couple other companies worked together to buy up streetcar companies across the country through secret subsidiaries to get a monopoly, then dismantled them to replace with bus lines, which would use their vehicles and tires and gas and whatnot that the streetcars didn't need. They were found guilty of it in federal court in 1949, but it was too late by then to do anything about it, and they just got a slap on the wrist either way.
That's crazy
The amount of effort it took to make this is incredibly impressive for the 80s (even now). Love this movie
This kind of project takes more effort and imagination than modern movies that are just shot in front of a green screen and then just handed off to some nerd behind a computer to finish.
@@KrazyKat007 Not sure why you had to use nerd as an negative term there.
@@ItApproaches LOL
Call me old fashioned
The complexity of the practical effects it took to make this movie blows my mind. Seamless, and more impressive Than CGI
Loved it
When I was in animation school, one of the key animators from this brought some cells that weren't in the movie. One of them was a cell of Mickey and Bugs that was worth 70,000 at the time. There will NEVER be another film like this!
Oh yeah, those two combined from different studios. Interesting
My sister and I were both in our early 20s when this came out. Neither of us were working at the time and went to see this at a mid-week matinee, where we were the only adults unaccompanied by children. As a result, we were the only ones laughing at several of the jokes, since they went way over the kids’ heads and the moms were all too horrified to laugh.
This Movie was the best when it came to cinematography. My Favorite scene is when Eddy is in his office and the camera pans over to his brothers side of the room. in this one scene they show and do so much without telling you.
1. on eddies brothers desk you see a doll of Betty Boop which implies Eddies brother may have been a fan of hers and that's why he treats her better than other toons.
2. Also on the brothers desk is a photo of Eddie and himself dressed as clowns in a circus, hinting at Eddies goofier side and a future scene.
3. As the camera is panning around, the stage hands had to have made the room shift from night to morning, empty Eddies full bottle of liquor, take off his coat, and place the bottle in eddies hand without making a sound or casting any shadows!
It's an incredible silent exposition scene. It tells you so much about Eddie and his bro. The prop department really knocked it out of the park.
The combination of animation and live action had been around since at least 1923, but never before at this scale.
Yes! It's been done before, but Roger Rabbit did it the best and has not been topped ever since.
this was so groundbreaking when this came. I would go back and watch the making of it's cool to see how they did all these. Charles Fleischer was one of my favorite voice man who is the voice of Rodger also Gizmo and many other characters from films. The reference to Harvey is in reference to the movie Harvey the rabbit with Jimmy Stewart.
Thanks
If you are talking about the Gremlin Gizmo, he didn't play that one. Gizmo was voiced by Howie Mandel.
The movie Harvey came out after this was set, but the play was already popular.
Charles Fleischer was also the old man in "Back to the Future 2" who gave Marty the idea to buy the sports almanac, and he had a recurring role in "Welcome Back, Kotter" as Carvelli, Vinnie Barbarino's nemesis.
This was this first film I remember seeing in the big theater when I was a kid. My aunt and uncle took me when I was 6. I get a lot more of the humor now, but even as a kid I absolutely adored this film. I still do. It’s always a fun watch.
When they say "They don't make them like they used to do"... this is what they are talking about. There's no CGI in this movie;: everything is real acting, drawn animations and a lot of really really involved practical effects to have them get together.
It is a good and funny movie in itself... but the technical side makes it a timeless masterpiece.
"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."
Oh, all the Halloween costumes...
Fun fact: There are Easter eggs of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in Back to the Future Part 2; a stuffed Roger Rabbit in the window of the store Marty purchased the sports almanac, the guy Marty ran into when he found out that the cubs swept Miami in the World's Series was the voice of Roger Rabbit.
When I watched BTTF 2 in '89, it occurred to me that Marty of 1985 wouldn't know who Roger Rabbit was. Interesting mixing of real time and movie time.
Harvey, a 1944 play about a man & his invisible 6-foot rabbit buddy, was made into a 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart.
I think this is my absolute favorite of your reactions!!! That you went into it without any spoilers and were completely blown away in such a wave of childlike wonder was so engaging and heartwarming! I just love it!!!
I forget if this was set in 1946 or 1947. The how-they-made-it documentaries about this are fascinating.
I'm depressed and sick in bed with Covid. Thank you for this reaction. It really helped cheer me up.
Other Christopher Lloyd (Doc) movies include The Addams Family & its sequel, Clue, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. He spent years as Reverend Jim on Taxi. The Eddie Valiant actor also appeared in Shattered and Steven Spielberg's Hook. His girlfriend Dolores starred in Blade Runner. The voice actor who did Roger Rabbit appeared as a drunk in the square in Back to the Future and Part II. The singing voice of Jessica Rabbit was Amy Irving from Carrie and Yentl. Her speaking voice was Kathleen Turner, from Romancing the Stone and War of the Roses with Michael Douglas, Body Heat with William Hurt, and Peggy Sue Got Married with Helen Hunt (from Twister) and Nicolas Cage. She also played Chandler's father on Friends.
Amy Irving was also married to Steven Spielberg for a few years. He's now married to Kate Capshaw, Willie from Temple of Doom.
@@EricAKATheBelgianGuy Yup. And it's embarrassing that Streisand didn't let Broadway singing stars Irving and Mandy Pantinkin or Nehemiah Persoff have any songs to sing in the movie! Still a great film but that was shamefully narcissistic.
Right movie, wrong character. Charles Fleischer was in Back to the Future 2, but not as the drunk. He was the old man who told Marty he wished he could go back in time and bet on the Cubs, which gave Marty the idea to buy the sports almanac.
@@bobbuethe1477 AND the same character fixed Biff's car in 1955.
Love this movie. It has one of my alltime favorite movie lines. When Jessica Rabbit says "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" Great reaction as always!!!!!
That was a great line
Bob Hoskins is a gem, and this is one of his best roles. The dramatics he brings to such a funny movie (and his incredible ability to keep 'Roger' in his eyeline) and then completely wigs out with a killer 😉 song and dance routine.
It's a real shame he has Alzheimers now, but he gave us a great career on film.
He doesn't have Alzheimer's? He died 9 years ago
Deceased or not, he used his "everyman" look to his advantage. He was known as the "Cockney Cagney," because of his abilities and his accent. His American accent is so convincing here that it's easy to forget he was British.
He is dead by 9 years. He died of pneumonia
You are thinking of Bruce Willis
A real physical rocks glass goes from a person's hand into Rogers and he takes a drink. Just something like that must have been so difficult to achieve.
Agreed
Another terrific work from director Robert Zemeckis. He did Forrest Gump, the Back to the Future trilogy, and Cast Away.
This was one of my favorite films when I was a kid. I remember during Christmas 1988 there was Roger Rabbit merchandising being sold all over the place. "Roger Rabbit" was so much fun to see in the theater and i saw it three times. Summer 1988 had some great films ("Big" was one of them). Other fun facts: Frank Sinatra did the singing voice of the sword and this film is the only time Donald Duck and Daffy Duck were on screen together and is one of the best scenes. Bob Hoskins, who played Eddie Valiant, did an incredible job in this and should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (and the movie should have received a nomination for Best Picture). It did win a special Oscar for special effects though. Christopher Lloyd also portayed Judge Doom and was VERY scary. This is one of his most memorable roles.
This is the last truly animated film ever. With perfect practical effects with no computer or green screen used.
I knew Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit) in Hollywood around this time and I remember him being very excited and going on and on about getting this job doing a voice for a cartoon character in a live action movie. Of course we were all going "Oh really, well that sounds great," but we didn't really get it at the time. He'd do the pppppplease signature schtick, which was his idea. It was so surprising actually seeing the movie after hearing about it for so long and seeing how good it was. I don't know where he went after that because I don't remember ever seeing him again after all the accolades he got.
This was made before computer animation and CGI, so yes, this was done completely with practical effects. There is a short documentary making-of film about how they did it that is interesting.
I'll watch it
This movie is an absolute masterpiece. Peerless. They can't ever make this movie again.
What a great, fun reaction! It was a real treat to see your delight at this marvelous film!
Glad you enjoyed it!
9:10
That shot is pure gold. In a generally impressive film, it's an extra step above.
There’s a making of on youtube that’s really interesting showing how they shot the live action.
Will watch for sure
You never heard of Eddie Rabbit . I love a rainy night.
No sorry
@@AwesomeUSMovies He's a country music singer mainly popular in early 80's. Probably most popular song was I love a rainy night.
This was a ground breaking movie when it first came out and most people were just as blown away as you were.
Fun fact: "whiskey on rocks" used to literally mean putting cold rocks to your whiskey to cool it, like ice cubes, in Scotland. This was before proper ice cubes were available due to technology.
"Harvey" is a film, with James Stewart, who has a friend that is a giant invisible rabbit.
"I am so confused about so many things!" - don't worry, we all were :D
Happy to hear it
Harvey is an old film about a guy who sees an invisible rabbit. That’s why he made the joke
Got it thanks
You may find it interesting that this was originally a book. It was called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" by Gary Wolf. It's similar but really different.
I'll have to read it
All of the ingredients in Dip are paint thinners.
in the early 1920s, before the creation of Walt Disney studios, a 21 year old Walt Disney was creating short films where a live action human interacted with animated characters.
To me, this is still one of the greatest crossover movies of all time. So many great characters from different time periods and companies all in one me film
I bet the lawyers had fun putting those contracts together.
That's all folks!!!
Also, totally fun little studio history, but there is a legit reason that both WV & Disney show up for this film. Worth a little research.
Before Bob Hoskins, Bill Murray was heavily considered being cast as Eddie Valiant, but the studio couldn't find him at the time. He didn't find out until years later in an interview on Howard Stern and got bummed out that he missed out on such an amazing opportunity.
1) You never heard of Eddie Rabbitt? He was a big name in country music in the early '80s.
2) This movie was based on a novel, "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" by Gary K. Wolf. Look it up.
Classic, this is one of the most funniest movies I have grown up with and I still love it to this very day.
"The rabbit cacked him last night." -- "This [Death Star] is the ultimate power in the universe." same guy
Absolutely love this movie! It came out when I was 6, and I've seen it a ton of times. I just watched it not long ago. It definitely holds up, and even looks better than some current movies. There are some movies that speak directly to my childhood. This is definitely one.
this movie was based on the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit. most of the cartoon characters are from Warner Bros and Disney. Disney agreed only if they get equal screen time. Thats why daffy and donald share a scene and bugs and mickey share a scene.
The voice of roger rabbit was provided by comedian charles fleischer. He also appeared in back to the future. when filming, charles would wear a rabbit suit as a point of reference for the other actors.
director rob zemeckis also directed the back to the future films, and chirstopher lloyd also appeared in the trilogy as Doc Brown.
I'll have to read it
This was my all time favorite movie when I was a little kid. My mom said I would get up rewind the VHS tape And just watch it over and over again.
Some of the production problems were each movie studio did want Daffy or Donald Duck to have more or less screen time from each other so hence the dueling piano skit.
This movie has the best _Behind the Scenes_ in movie history.
I'll watch it
@@AwesomeUSMovies
There's plenty of them, not necessarily called "behind the scenes", you'll see when searching.
This was mind blowing at the time because of how amazing it looked, the studios coming together, the practical effects to show toons/reality. Great great movie that I'm happy you got to watch, finally, and thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
On top of all the technical masterwork here that was required, its also Disney AND Warner cartoons. Extremely rare to see those 2 companies on the same screen.
To answer your question, "Who's Harvey?" "Harvey" is a 1950 American comedy-drama film based on Mary Chase's 1944 play of the same name. The story centers on a man, Elwood P. Dowd, whose best friend is an invisible a 6 ft 3+1⁄2 in tall white rabbit named Harvey, and the ensuing debacle when the man's sister tries to have him committed to a sanatorium.
To see Warner Bros in the same frame as Disney was mind blowing, Some from the Max Flisher studios as well, Caught the feel of Chinatown. LA in the thirties,
Similar concept is the short-run Fox TV show, Greg The Bunny. It’s a sitcom where puppets co-exist with humans. It’s ridiculously funny. Only 13 episodes but crazy ones.
"Like him in a little car and then they drew on top of it?" Very good. That's exactly what they did.
There were early uses of CGI in movies before this, like the Genesis scene in Star Trek 2, but in this case computers were only used to make wireframes for the cartoonists to follow.
Mixing animation and live action had been done before, though nowhere near to this level. Back in the early days, Disney made some shorts called Alice's Wonderland (no relation to Alice in Wonderland). Later Disney movies Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks had some animated parts. MGM had the movie Anchors Aweigh where Gene Kelly dances with Jerry Mouse. They really wanted to use Mickey Mouse, but Walt Disney wouldn't give them permission.
Loved it
This movie and it’s special effects was so amazing! Great movie, great reaction!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed
In the graphic novel, Roger and Jessica Rabbit watch a documentary which explains that Doom was originally a toon named Baron von Rotten who took up the role of playing the antagonist in movies until suffering a concussion in an accident, from which he awakened believing he was a real villain.
There have been a number of movies over the decades where humans and cartoons interacted. "Song of the South", "Mary Poppins", the Alice shorts from the 30s.
The voice actor of Roger Rabbit got a couple cameos in BttF2. In the future, he was the elderly man who put the idea into Marty's mind, of getting rich off of future info. Then back in the past, he was the young man who cleaned and repaired Biff's car for $300. (They were the same character, as a cut scene shows.)
That's fun
@@AwesomeUSMoviesthe waiters penguins are from " Mary Poppins "
The reason the effects are so good is because it was done by hand, frame by frame, with practical effects. The concept was done again only a few years later with the Space Jam movies, but by this time they were able to use digital computer animation and editing, and compared to this, it sucks.
One thing nobody brings up is that Cloverfield is what they call the circular on and off ramps of a freeway, and the logo for the company is just that. An on and off ramp.
One of the single best movies ever, particularly in craft.
All the special effects are practical. There was no CGI when this was made. They used mechanical props for things like the cab and the breaking plates. Then they hand drew the animation over it.
There were a few instances when they did not use practical effects. The one I know of is for a very short part of the cab ride Eddy is animated because it would have been too dangerous for Bob Hoskins to do it in real life.
Docs first work was on TV .He played Rev.Jim, or Jim aignatowski on Taxi.......
Live-action/animated mixed films go back to the 1920s, I think. That concept was nothing new. But this film took to a new level and then some. It’s just so seemless, it’s amazing.
This is actually based on a novel called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit". In the novel the characters are comic strip characters who speak in word bubbles.
I'll have to read it
@@AwesomeUSMovies You may have to do some searching as it's unfortunately out of print.
Thats the MOST "This is Blind" reaction ever. Most people go in knowing the poster or the genre or cast or some thing.
I belive the book for this was Who Censored Rodger Rabbit" and its very different.
❤ Another childhood favorite ❤
Hollywood CA, 1947. $100 then was like $1,305 today. I think the place and year showed up just as it cut to RK Maroons office. Also the Harvey joke was from a movie with the late Jimmy Stewert called Harvey, an Invisible Rabbit that he sees. But the movie came out in 1950, so there's a slight mistake on the timeline, since this is supposed to be 1947.
Perhaps Angelo saw the stage play, which premiered in 1944 (I knew nothing about Harvey other than it was a movie until you brought up the potential anachronism)
@@surlycanadian Yes, I forgot the movie was based on a play from 1944. My bad.
16:50 Amazing; you knew Betty Boop and “shave and a haircut” but didn’t appear to know Donald and Daffy Duck. You have a very particular set of skills.
No, I knew Donald and Daffy, just removed that for this edit. You should watch a couple of my full reactions sometime. You'd be amazed all the stuff I cut out. I think I have a couple of public full length stuff on Patreon
10:45 something to keep in mind as foreshadowing. Judge Doom wears a glove when putting the shoe in the dip, also when it spills in the bar later he takes a quick step back to avoid it. Wonder why he would do that? 😉😉
Actually the very first frame of the film tells you what year it is set in: the copyright of the Roger Rabbit short subject is MCMXLVII.
It's ALL practical effects and hand-drawn animation. This is all pre-CGI. You gotta watch the behind the scenes clips, it's bananas.
Will do for sure
Tunnel to toontown was also used in Wargames, Throw Mama From The Train and Back To The Future II
Movies always look better when they're practically done. There was very limited CGI available at the time, and none was used here, even to get the lighting right or measure distances. This is just hand drawn animation and practical effects. I was 6 when WFRR came out and between this and The Little Mermaid, they were literally the first time I looked at girls and went, "hmm. They're not so bad." 🤣.
The way they make the live action characters and the cartoons interact is incredible. Robert Zemeckis (who directed Forrest Gump, Romancing the Stone and the Back To The Future Movies, among other great films) did a fantastic job with this.
Bob Hoskins is actually British, and he pulls off a decent New York accent - for a movie set in Southern California. I also like that the brought in racial undertones to this movie. The cartoons are basically treated like black people - for comic relief only.
The club that Jessica performs at is supposed to mimic The Cotton Club, a real nightclub famous for having black performers - who weren't allowed to enter as spectators. Only entertainment. Some of Roger's lines parallel what black people have gone through.
It's so well done. And the best part is that it's 80s PG. Back when that rating meant something. It wasn't like Frozen, where you had maybe one scary scene. We were tough growing up. We watched this and Return To Oz, another 80s movie you should check out. Unlike the Judy Garland original, this starred a real little girl and is much more faithful to the books. It's terrifying if you're a kid. I love it. No CGI either. No shortcuts.
But this is an excellent film. One of the best from a technical and storytelling perspective that I've ever seen. The way they "show, don't tell" is amazing. In just a few minutes, with barely any words, you're told most of what you need to know about the characters.
I LOVE practical effects. Love Love
Another great movie I thought was ahead of it's time was Flight of the Navigator. The liquid steps and the way the spaceship would shapeshift was quite a sight.
It's actually Bob Hoskins. Well respected dramatic actor.
@@dggydddy59fixed. Damn iPhone autocorrect 😂
‘Chinatown’ for kids
The cab was a practical effect. It was a car with the driver in the trunk (driving by camera). There was a whole movie extra about it.
The other major accomplishment was the bridging of copyright agreements (disney + warner bros).
But they also had several other studios including Droopy Dog from MGM and Poppey was also licensed for the film, but the scene did not make the final cut.
What a classic and amazing film...James is gonna LOVE this one! Such a banger! 💯👍
I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it
@@AwesomeUSMovies Exactly...such a mind blowing film...you can imagine what it was like for us seeing this in theaters for the first time. Roger Zemekis made this movie in between making Back to the Future part 1 and part 2, and has made so many incredible movies...he really is one of the great film makers of all time. So glad you had such fun with this one. 😁
i saw the making of this film and not only its practical effects by using wires and poles for the guns and other such objects of the environment of trickery for all for the toons, but they are all hand drawn frame by frame. that's right the old fashion way of Disney animation. put over frames of shot by shots of film then drew each characters plus shadow and light, similar to stop motion animation but far more challenging and the most difficult style of animation while being a massive accomplishment.
Will watch the "behind the scenes" for sure
yes... it is ALL practical. every frame was hand drawn over all of the rigs used.
Love it
08:45
That's the "toonforce" at work, yeah?
If you’re interested in the behind the scenes for this movie, Corridor Crew did an episode on it I’m pretty sure. The way they combined the animation and live action would be impressive by today’s standards, let alone for the 80s or whenever this came out.
One of the funny facts about this movie was that they managed to get Disney and Looneytoons characters in the same movie by agreeing to completely equal screen time. That’s why you see so many of the competing characters in scenes together; they wouldn’t have to worry about timing the scenes and matching them if they were together.
The yellow convertible is the same car as the one owned by the 1955 Doc in Back to the Future. The tunnel to toon town is the same tunnel from Back to the Future II 😊
Really? The same car?
@@AwesomeUSMovies according to the dvd commentary- yes!
Droopy was in the elevator. A fun animated movie with alot of adult themes of which nothing will likely ever come close again.
James didn't realize he kept saying, with shock: "With a cartoon??" and "A cartoon!?" in a segregated manner, just like the humans were doing in the movie LOL But, yea I'm certain that was one of the points behind the story and the writers were able to make the audience feel like James did without them even knowing it. Clever.
Bob Hoskins said afterwards that doing this movie left him in a VERY strange place mentally. He spent so much time talking or reacting to people and things that weren't actually there, that it took him a while to get back to normal..
This is on my personal top 20 list. Christopher Loyd as a villain, very unique performance for him.
It was very suprising
1. Walt Disney combined humans and cartoon characters together back in the 1920s in a series of films called "Alice in Cartoonland". He did it again for the classic movie "Song of the South" in the 1940s.
2. The plot point in this movie regarding Cloverleaf is based on fact. Los Angeles used to have a public transportation system of subways and trolleys called the Red Car Line. It was discovered years after it happened that the automobile companies bought up the Red Cars to dismantle them which would force people to buy automobiles. By the time this was discovered in the 1970s, everyone responsible was dead so there was no one to punish. Since then, a lot of the trolley system has been restored and public transport is back in Los Angeles and Hollywood again.
Very interesting thanks
Bob Hoskins is a terrific actor!
I was a kid when this came out in th drive through theaters back in the 80s