I Always Think of a Funny Movie Like Home Alone or Roger Rabbit

The real joy is in scenes like this where you see Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny together for the first (and only) time.

This is one of those movies that I remembered as being much better than it actually is. When it was released in 1988 it was a sensation that I and seemingly just about everybody else loved. Watching it today though, apart from the interesting premise and the novelty of seeing so many famous cartoon characters together on the screen, I was overall disappointed and it completely failed to live up to my memory.

The plot is a cross between Chinatown and a Loony Toons cartoon with the gimmick of the movie being that cartoon characters are real and are known as Toons. Bob Hoskins plays Eddie Valiant, a Private Eye in 1947 Hollywood whose partner/brother was murdered by a Toon. Eddie is hired by R.K. Maroon, the head of Maroon Studios, to spy on Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon's biggest star Roger Rabbit, whom R.K. suspects is cheating on Roger and distracting him from his performances. Like the hard-boiled detective stories of the 1940s that it is emulating the mystery to the movie begins from that simple beginning but quickly becomes much more complex.

The real joy of the movie is in the Toons. Spielberg was executive-producer of the movie and he was able to obtain the rights to almost every animated character from the Golden-Age of Animation (with the notable exceptions of Popeye and Tom and Jerry). Seeing the different Toons together creates some of the best moments in the movie. Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse appear together, as do Daffy and Donald Duck. A monochromatic Betty Boop has a funny cameo, her career went downhill when cartoons went to color. If you watch the background scenes you will see dozens of famous cartoon characters that you will recognize from Disney, Warner Bros. and others.

I only wish the Toons had been the main characters. I wanted to see more of them, but instead Hoskins has the lead. Hoskin is a great character actor, but he's not the most charismatic of men. Along with Hoskins of course you have Roger Rabbit, who is funny, but is again second-fiddle to Hoskins. The sexy Jessica Rabbit is perhaps the most iconic character from the movie, but her part is very small. Another original cartoon character is Baby Herman. His part is tiny, but he makes the most of his few scenes.

What surprised me most while watching this for the first time in years is just how much it wasn't funny. A great many references in the movie are aimed at adults, but too much of the humor is aimed at kids and involves far too much slapstick. I know it's in reference to the slapstick in the old cartoons of the era, but it fails to live up to the originality in so many of those old cartoons.

I think one of the big reasons for this movie's success at the time was the amazement at seeing not only so many old favorite cartoon characters but also at seeing the amazing technical skill the filmmakers employed in bringing this movie to life. Now of course, it would be child's play for a skilled team of computer animators to accomplish the same effects. I do have to say though that the movie does still look good. The greatest technical achievement in the movie is the way the animation interacts with reality. The Toons don't just appear on the screen next to live actors, they actively interact in a convincing (most of the time) manner.

It's funny how time can change your opinion of a movie. Before re-watching this I would have sworn it would get 4 stars from me. I guess I'd forgotten just how much it was aimed at kids.

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Source: http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/who-framed-roger-rabbit.html

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