Misplaced Pages

#936063

104-507: Chilly Willy was inspired by mystery writer Stuart Palmer , according to Scott MacGillivray's book Castle Films : A Hobbyist's Guide . Palmer used the Lantz studio as a background for his novel Cold Poison , in which the cartoon star was a penguin character, and Lantz adopted the penguin idea for the screen. The character Pablo the Penguin from the 1945 Disney film The Three Caballeros was

208-477: A Parkinson's disease diagnosis a year earlier, and died from pneumonia in 2014. Marshall confirmed that the film would be a prequel, similar to earlier drafts, and that the writing was almost complete. During an interview at the premiere of his film Flight , Zemeckis stated that the sequel was still possible, despite Hoskins' absence, and the script for the sequel was sent to Disney for approval from studio executives. In February 2013, Gary K. Wolf, writer of

312-464: A dog named Smedley (voiced by Daws Butler ). Smedley has a large mouth and sharp-pointed teeth (which he shows off when yawning), but is never shown viciously trying to bite Chilly or anyone else with them. There were times, however, when Chilly and Smedley got along, as they did in Vicious Viking and Fractured Friendship , but Chilly never referred to Smedley by name. Most times that Chilly

416-482: A bar tended by his girlfriend, Dolores. Jessica tells Eddie that Maroon threatened Roger's career unless she posed for the compromising photos. Meanwhile, Dolores's research uncovers that Cloverleaf Industries recently bought the city's Pacific Electric railway system and will purchase Toontown at midnight unless Acme's will is found. Doom and the Toon Patrol find Roger, but he and Eddie escape with help from Benny,

520-962: A considerable amount of time in the Siskel & Ebert episode in which they reviewed the film analyzing its painstaking filmmaking. In evaluating their top ten films of the year, Siskel ranked it number two while Ebert ranked it as number eight. Janet Maslin of The New York Times commented that this is "a film whose best moments are so novel, so deliriously funny and so crazily unexpected that they truly must be seen to be believed." Desson Thomson of The Washington Post considered Roger Rabbit to be "a definitive collaboration of pure talent. Zemeckis had Walt Disney Pictures' enthusiastic backing, producer Steven Spielberg's pull, Warner Bros.'s blessing, Canadian animator Richard Williams' ink and paint, Mel Blanc 's voice; Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman 's witty, frenetic screenplay; George Lucas ' Industrial Light and Magic, and Bob Hoskins' comical performance as

624-663: A depressed alcoholic following Teddy's murder by an unknown toon five years earlier. Maroon Cartoon Studios owner R.K. Maroon, upset about the recent poor performance of his toon star Roger Rabbit , hires Eddie to investigate rumors that Roger's glamorous toon wife, Jessica , is having an affair with Marvin Acme, owner of both the Acme Corporation and Toontown, the animated metropolis in which toons reside. After watching Jessica perform at The Ink and Paint Club, Eddie secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake . He shows

728-399: A new script for the project, and the animated characters would be in traditional two-dimensional, while the rest would be in motion capture . In 2010, Bob Hoskins had agreed to sign on for a sequel, but expressed scepticism about the use of "performance capture" in the film. Zemeckis said that the sequel would remain hand-drawn animated and live-action sequences will be filmed, just like in

832-546: A perfect opportunity to produce a blockbuster . Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were hired to write the script, penning two drafts. Robert Zemeckis offered his services as director in 1982, but Disney declined as his two previous films ( I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars ) had been box-office bombs . Between 1981 and 1983 Disney developed test footage with Darrell Van Citters as animation director, Paul Reubens voicing Roger Rabbit, Peter Renaday as Eddie Valiant, and Russi Taylor as Jessica Rabbit. The project

936-645: A rabbit during the test, so the camera would go down the fire escape and the boxes would fall when a wire was pulled. 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. Filming began on November 2, 1986, and lasted for seven and a half months at Elstree Studios, with an additional month in Los Angeles and at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for blue screen effects of Toontown. The Dimco Buildings in London were dressed as

1040-490: A sequel, arguing that public tastes had changed since the 1990s with the rise of computer animation. "There was something very special about that time when animation was not as much in the forefront as it is now." In December 2007, Marshall stated that he was still "open" to the idea, and in April 2009, Zemeckis revealed he was still interested. According to a 2009 MTV News story, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were writing

1144-495: A spinster schoolteacher who was an amateur sleuth—something of an American version of Agatha Christie 's Miss Marple , although considerably more comic and caustic. He later admitted that he modeled Hildegarde after his former high school teacher, a Miss Fern Hakett. The casting of Oliver for the role was a coincidence, as Palmer had been influenced by her performance in the Broadway production of Show Boat when creating

SECTION 10

#1732790586937

1248-513: A stunt goes wrong and the cartoon 'baby' stalks off the set and lights a cigar and tells the human director to go to hell, we know we're in a new and special universe." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune praised the film's "dazzling, jaw-dropping opening four-minute sequence"; he noted that the sequence alone took nearly nine months to animate. Siskel gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four. Ebert and his colleague Siskel spent

1352-423: A style similar to his Elroy Jetson characterization. The character always speaks in the comic book stories based on the character. Also in the comic book stories, Chilly had two nephews named Ping and Pong, similar to how Woody Woodpecker is uncle to twins Knothead and Splinter. When the Lantz cartoons were packaged for television in 1957 as The Woody Woodpecker Show , Chilly Willy was a featured attraction on

1456-418: A toon taxi cab. Sheltering in a local movie theater , Eddie sees a newsreel of Maroon selling his studio to Cloverleaf. While Eddie goes to the studio to interrogate Maroon, Jessica abducts Roger. Maroon denies involvement in Acme's murder, admitting he intended to blackmail Acme into selling his company as otherwise Cloverleaf would not buy the studio. Maroon is assassinated and Eddie spots Jessica fleeing

1560-536: A writer for Time , said, "The opening scene upstages the movie that emerges from it". Corliss was mainly annoyed by the homages to the Golden Age of American animation . Chuck Jones made a rather scathing attack on the film in his book Chuck Jones Conversations . Among his complaints, Jones accused Zemeckis of robbing Richard Williams of any creative input and ruining the piano duel that both Williams and he storyboarded. The critical and commercial success of

1664-472: Is the sole shareholder of Cloverleaf and plans to erase Toontown with a Dip-spraying machine so he can build a freeway in its place, and decommission the railway system to force people to use it. When Roger unsuccessfully attempts to save Jessica, the couple is tied onto a hook in front of the machine's sprayer. Eddie distracts the weasels by performing a comedic vaudeville act full of pratfalls, causing them to die of laughter before he kicks their leader into

1768-516: Is an innovative and entertaining film that features a groundbreaking mix of live action and animation, with a touching and original story to boot." Aggregator Metacritic has calculated a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Who Framed Roger Rabbit was placed on 43 critics' top ten lists, third to only The Thin Blue Line and Bull Durham in 1988. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave

1872-461: Is currently wending its way through Disney. In November 2016, while promoting his film Allied in England, Zemeckis stated that the sequel "moves the story of Roger and Jessica Rabbit into the next few years of period film, moving on from film noir to the world of the 1950s". He also stated that the sequel would feature a "digital Bob Hoskins", as Eddie Valiant would return in "ghost form". While

1976-543: Is finally reunited with his mother and father, Bugs Bunny . Mauldin later retitled his script Who Discovered Roger Rabbit . Spielberg left the project when deciding he could not satirize Nazis after directing Schindler's List . Eisner commissioned a rewrite in 1997 with Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver . Although they kept Roger's search for his mother, Stoner and Oliver replaced the WWII subplot with Roger's inadvertent rise to stardom on Broadway and Hollywood. Disney

2080-486: The Polar Bear (voiced by Daws Butler ) and Gooney the "Gooney Bird" Albatross (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Joe E. Brown ). Maxie has appeared with Chilly more than Gooney has. There have been only two cartoons in which all three characters have appeared together: Gooney's Goofy Landings (where Chilly and Maxie try to perfect Gooney's landings) and Airlift a la Carte (where Chilly, Maxie, and Gooney go to

2184-529: The film rights for the story in 1981. Price and Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought in executive producer Steven Spielberg and his production company, Amblin Entertainment . Zemeckis was brought on to direct, and Canadian animator Richard Williams was hired to supervise the animation sequences. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators. While filming,

SECTION 20

#1732790586937

2288-649: The film score , performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) under the direction of Silvestri. Zemeckis joked that "the British [musicians] could not keep up with Silvestri's jazz tempo". The performances of the music themes written for Jessica Rabbit were entirely improvised by a jazz combo performing with the LSO. The work of American composer Carl Stalling heavily influenced Silvestri's work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit . The film's soundtrack

2392-533: The second-highest-grossing film of 1988 , behind Rain Man . It brought a renewed interest in the golden age of American animation , spearheading modern American animation and the Disney Renaissance . It won three Academy Awards for Best Film Editing , Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects and received a Special Achievement Academy Award for Williams' animation direction. In 2016,

2496-490: The "Dip", a chemical concoction of acetone , benzene , and turpentine which is capable of destroying the otherwise invulnerable toons. Roger's toon co-star, Baby Herman, suggests to Eddie that Acme's missing will —which supposedly bequeaths Toontown to the toons—may have been the killer's true motive. Eddie returns to his office and finds Roger waiting. Roger insists he has been framed and Eddie reluctantly agrees to help after finding evidence of Acme's will; he hides Roger in

2600-520: The "Vista Series" line in a two-disc collection with many extra features including a documentary, Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit ; a deleted scene in which a pig's head is "tooned" onto Eddie's; the three Roger Rabbit shorts, Tummy Trouble , Roller Coaster Rabbit , and Trail Mix-Up ; as well as a booklet and interactive games. The only short on the 2003 VHS release was Tummy Trouble . The 2003 DVD release presents

2704-481: The 30th anniversary of Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Zemeckis reiterated in an interview with Yahoo! Movies that though the sequel's script is "wonderful", Disney is still unlikely to ever produce it, and he does not see the possibility of producing it as an original film for the streaming service Disney+ , as he feels that it does not make any sense as there is no " Princess " in it. In November 2024, while promoting his latest film Here , Zemeckis again said that one of

2808-579: The 482nd Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army. Palmer served for one year as president of the Mystery Writers of America . Who Framed Roger Rabbit Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman . It is loosely based on the 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf . The film stars Bob Hoskins , Christopher Lloyd , Stubby Kaye , and Joanna Cassidy , along with

2912-506: The 60th anniversary of Mickey Mouse . In 1991, Walt Disney Imagineering began to develop Mickey's Toontown for Disneyland , based on the Toontown that appeared in the film. The attraction also features a ride called Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin . Three theatrical animated shorts were also produced: Tummy Trouble was shown before Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ; Roller Coaster Rabbit

3016-531: The Blackboard (1932), Murder on Wheels (1932), The Puzzle of the Pepper Tree (1934), Four Lost Ladies (1949), and Cold Poison (1954), set in the thinly disguised Walter Lantz animation studio. The short-story collection People vs. Withers and Malone (1963) was a collaboration with Craig Rice , in which Hildegarde Withers was teamed with Rice's hard-drinking lawyer detective J.J. Malone; one of

3120-578: The Cab was first conceived to be a Volkswagen Beetle before being changed to a taxi cab. Ideas originally conceived for the story also included a sequence set at Marvin Acme's funeral, whose attendees included Eddie, Foghorn Leghorn , Mickey Mouse , Minnie Mouse , Tom and Jerry , Heckle and Jeckle , Chip n' Dale , Felix the Cat , Herman and Katnip , Yakky Doodle , Mighty Mouse , Superman , Popeye , Olive Oyl , Bluto , Clarabelle Cow , Horace Horsecollar ,

3224-528: The Cab, Psycho, and Greasy. Lou Hirsch, who voiced Baby Herman, was the original choice for Benny the Cab but was replaced by Fleischer. Price and Seaman were brought aboard to continue writing the script once Spielberg and Zemeckis were hired. For inspiration, the two writers studied the work of Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, especially Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. The Cloverleaf streetcar subplot

Chilly Willy - Misplaced Pages Continue

3328-483: The Cat Productions , Turner Entertainment , and Universal Pictures / Walter Lantz Productions to "lend" their characters to appear in the film with (in some cases) stipulations on how those characters were portrayed; for example, Disney's Donald Duck and Warner Bros.' Daffy Duck appear as equally talented dueling pianists, and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny also share a scene. Apart from the agreement, and some of

3432-453: The Dip. Doom is flattened by a steamroller while fighting with Eddie, but he survives, revealing he is actually a disguised toon and Teddy's murderer. Struggling against Doom's toon abilities, Eddie empties the machine's Dip supply, spraying and dissolving Doom to death. The machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a passenger train . As police and toons gather at

3536-612: The Hildegarde Withers series, Stuart wrote two novels about newspaperman-turned-PI Howard Rook, Unhappy Hooligan (1956) and Rook Takes Knight (1968). He also wrote a handful of science fiction and fantasy stories published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Fantastic Universe . Palmer also had a career as a Hollywood screenwriter. In 1936, he penned his first screenplay and would go on to write several others, most of them for B movies . He scripted

3640-659: The Marked Man", was published in Australian Women's Weekly ; the pastiche takes the detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson to the seaside town of Penzance in Cornwall , where they investigate the strange warnings given to Allen Pendarvis and a subsequent attempt on his life. "The two pastiches, one serious and one comic, were written while Palmer was marooned at an army post in Oklahoma, where he

3744-570: The Seven Dwarfs (1937). Originally seven weasels were to mimic the dwarfs complement, but eventually two of them, Slimey and Sleazy, were written out of the script. Further references included The Ink and Paint Club resembling the Harlem Cotton Club , while Zemeckis compared Judge Doom's invention of the Dip to eliminate all the toons to Hitler 's Final Solution . Doom was originally the hunter who killed Bambi 's mother. Benny

3848-475: The Seven Dwarfs, Baby Huey , and Casper the Friendly Ghost in cameo appearances . This scene was cut for pacing reasons at the storyboard stage. Before finally agreeing on Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the film's title, working titles included Murder in Toontown , Toons , Dead Toons Don't Pay Bills , The Toontown Trial , Trouble in Toontown , and Eddie Goes to Toontown . Williams admitted he

3952-474: 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 . For example, a test was shot at ILM where an actor playing the detective would climb down a fire escape and the rabbit is supposed to follow and he knocks down some stacked boxes. Naturally, there would not be

4056-405: The animation was done using cels and optical compositing . First, the animators and layout artists were given black-and-white printouts of the live-action scenes (known as "photostats"), and they placed their animation paper on top of them. The artists then drew the animated characters in relationship to the live-action footage. Due to Zemeckis' dynamic camera moves, the animators had to confront

4160-428: The budget escalating to over $ 50 million, Disney moved forward on production because they were enthusiastic to work with Spielberg. 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

4264-497: The burliest, shaggiest private eye." Gene Shalit on the Today Show also praised the film, calling it "one of the most extraordinary movies ever made". Filmsite.org called it "a technically-marvelous film" and a "landmark" that resulted from "unprecedented cooperation" between Warner Bros. and Disney. On CNN 's 2019 miniseries The Movies , Tom Hanks called it the "most complicated movie ever made." Richard Corliss ,

Chilly Willy - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-464: The case for further proceedings. In a March 2005 hearing, Wolf estimated he was owed $ 7 million. Disney's attorneys not only disputed the claim but also said Wolf owed Disney $ 500,000–$ 1 million because of an accounting error discovered in preparing for the lawsuit. Wolf won the decision in 2005, receiving between $ 180,000 and $ 400,000 in damages. Spielberg discussed a sequel in 1989 with J. J. Abrams as writer and Zemeckis as producer. Abrams' outline

4472-406: The challenge of ensuring the characters were not "slipping and slipping all over the place." Ensuring this did not happen and that the characters looked real, Zemeckis and Spielberg met for about an hour and a half and came up with an idea: "If the rabbit sits down in an old chair, dust comes up. He should always be touching something real." After the rough animation was complete, it was run through

4576-486: The character. The film was a hit and Oliver starred in two more Withers films, but she left RKO in 1935. Helen Broderick and ZaSu Pitts played Withers in another three films. A made-for-TV movie, A Very Missing Person , aired in 1972, starring Eve Arden as Withers. This first novel inspired Palmer to collect pictures and statues of penguins and create a personal trademark featuring one of these birds." Palmer wrote fourteen Hildegarde Withers novels, including Murder on

4680-462: The director went on to state that the script is "terrific" and the film would still use hand-drawn animation, Zemeckis thinks that the chances of Disney green-lighting the sequel are "slim". As he explained more in detail, "The current corporate Disney culture has no interest in Roger, and they certainly don't like Jessica at all". In December 2018, while promoting his film Welcome to Marwen and given

4784-499: The fictional Acme Factory . The entrance of Desilu Studios in Los Angeles served as the fictional Maroon Cartoon Studio lot. Post-production lasted for 14 months. ILM had already used CGI and digital compositing in a few movies, such as the stained glass knight scene in Young Sherlock Holmes , but the computers were still not powerful enough to make a complicated movie like Who Framed Roger Rabbit , so all

4888-509: The film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, calling it "sheer, enchanted entertainment from the first frame to the last-- a joyous, giddy, goofy celebration of the kind of fun you can have with a movie camera." He writes that the opening cartoon is "a masterpiece; I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard at an animated short. But then when

4992-490: The film in Full Screen (1.33:1) on Disc 1 and Widescreen (1.85:1) on Disc 2. On March 12, 2013, Disney released the film on Blu-ray and DVD combo pack special edition for the film's 25th anniversary. The film was also digitally restored for the release; frame-by-frame digital restoration was done by Prasad Studios removing dirt, tears, scratches, and other defects. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released

5096-418: The film on Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 7, 2021. Who Framed Roger Rabbit received near-universal acclaim from critics, making Business Insider ' s "best comedy movies of all time, according to critics" list. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 96% based on 76 reviews, and an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, " Who Framed Roger Rabbit

5200-487: The film rekindled an interest in the Golden Age of American animation, and in addition to sparking the Silver Age of American animation and the Disney Renaissance , it has also gained a cult following. In November 1988, a few months after the film's release, Roger Rabbit made his guest appearance in the live-action and animated television special broadcast on NBC called Mickey's 60th Birthday in which to celebrate

5304-590: The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1947 Los Angeles, animated cartoon characters, or " toons ", co-exist with humans, often employing their skills to entertain as film stars. Private detective Eddie Valiant , once a staunch ally of the toons alongside his brother and co-worker Teddy, has become

SECTION 50

#1732790586937

5408-415: The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Roger Rabbit served as inspiration for various live-action/animation films in the following decades including Cool World , Space Jam , Tom & Jerry , Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers , and Once Upon a Studio . With

5512-423: The film was too risqué with adult themes and sexual references. Eisner and Zemeckis disagreed over various elements of it but since Zemeckis had final cut privilege , he refused to make alterations. Roy E. Disney, head of Walt Disney Feature Animation along with studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg , felt it was appropriate to release the film under the studio's adult-orientated Touchstone Pictures banner instead of

5616-533: The film's LaserDisc release, Variety first reported in March 1994 that observers uncovered several scenes of antics from the animators that supposedly featured brief nudity of Jessica Rabbit. While undetectable when played at the usual rate of 24 film frames per second, the LaserDisc player allowed the viewer to advance frame-by-frame to uncover these visuals. Whether or not they were actually intended to depict

5720-500: The film, they would help distribute his unfinished film The Thief and the Cobbler . Supervising animators included Van Citters, Dale Baer , Michael Peraza , Joe Ranft , Tom Sito , James Baxter , David Bowers , Andreas Deja , Mike Gabriel , Chris Jenkins , Phil Nibbelink , Nik Ranieri , Simon Wells , and Bruce W. Smith ; Williams and associate producer Don Hahn spearheaded the animation production. The animation production

5824-543: The final film. The producers were unable to acquire the rights to use Popeye , Tom and Jerry , Little Lulu , Casper , or the Terrytoons characters for appearances from their respective owners (King Features, Turner, Western Publishing , Harvey Comics, and Viacom ). Terry Gilliam was offered the chance to direct, but he found the project too technically challenging. ("Pure laziness on my part," he later admitted, "I completely regret that decision.") Robert Zemeckis

5928-483: The first Chilly Willy cartoon, simply titled Chilly Willy , in 1953. The initial version of Chilly Willy resembled Woody Woodpecker, except with flippers and black feathers, but he was redesigned in to his more familiar form in subsequent cartoons. Tex Avery revived the character for two of his shorts, I'm Cold (1954) and the Academy Award nominated The Legend of Rockabye Point (1955). After Avery left

6032-627: The first three Bulldog Drummond films for Paramount and later entries in Columbia's Lone Wolf and RKO's The Falcon series. In 1954, Palmer appeared as a contestant on Groucho Marx 's TV show You Bet Your Life . "The Adventure of the Remarkable Worm" was a humorous Sherlock Holmes pastiche that was published in Ellery Queen 's The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1944. In 1950 another pastiche, "The Adventure of

6136-546: The flagship Walt Disney Pictures banner. The film opened in the United States on June 22, 1988, grossing $ 11,226,239 in 1,045 theaters during its opening weekend; it was in first place at the US box office. It was Disney's biggest opening weekend ever at the time of its release. It went on to gross $ 154,112,492 in the United States and Canada and $ 197,387,508 internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $ 351,500,000. At

6240-476: The illusion of them affected by the set lighting. Finally, the lighting effects were optically composited on to the cartoon characters, who were, in turn, composited into the live-action footage. One of the most difficult effects in the film was Jessica's dress in the nightclub scene because it had to flash sequins , an effect accomplished by filtering light through a plastic bag scratched with steel wool . Regular Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri composed

6344-435: The inspiration for Chilly Willy. Paul J. Smith initially based Chilly's design on a separate penguin character from Lantz' 1945 cartoon Sliphorn King of Polaroo , but would later be redesigned by Tex Avery in his second appearance, I'm Cold in 1954. Chilly Willy appeared in 50 theatrical short subjects produced by Lantz from 1953 to 1972, most of which involve his attempts to stay warm, and often meeting opposition from

SECTION 60

#1732790586937

6448-404: The normal process of traditional animation until the cels were shot on the rostrum camera with no background. Williams came up with the idea of making the cartoon characters “2.5-dimensional”, and the animated footage was sent to ILM for compositing, where technicians animated three lighting layers (shadows, highlights, and tone mattes) separately, to give the characters a sense of depth and create

6552-433: The nudity of the character remains unknown. Many retailers said that within minutes of the LaserDisc debut, their entire inventory was sold out. The run was fueled by media reports about the controversy, including stories on CNN and various newspapers. Another frequently debated scene includes one in which Baby Herman extends his middle finger as he passes under a woman's dress and re-emerges with drool on his lip. In

6656-409: The original 1988 album on vinyl on September 17, 2021. The film features performances of " Hungarian Rhapsody " ( Tony Anselmo and Mel Blanc ), " Why Don't You Do Right? " ( Amy Irving ), " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down " ( Charles Fleischer ), and " Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! " (Toon Chorus). Michael Eisner , then- CEO , and Roy E. Disney , who was the vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company , felt

6760-468: The original film, but the lighting effects on the cartoon characters and some of the props that the toons handle will be done digitally. Also in 2010, Hahn, who was the film's original associate producer, confirmed the sequel's development in an interview with Empire . He stated, "Yeah, I couldn't possibly comment. I deny completely, but yeah... if you're a fan, pretty soon you're going to be very, very, very happy." Hoskins retired from acting in 2012 after

6864-400: The original novel, said Erik Von Wodtke and he were working on a development proposal for an animated Disney buddy comedy starring Mickey Mouse and Roger Rabbit called The Stooge , based on the 1952 film of the same name . The proposed film is set in a prequel, taking place five years before Who Framed Roger Rabbit and part of the story is about how Roger met Jessica. Wolf has stated the film

6968-488: The original voice artists reprising their roles, Warner Bros. and the various other companies were not involved in the production of Roger Rabbit . Executives at Warner Bros. were displeased by animators using the Daffy design by Bob Clampett and demanded they use the design by Chuck Jones ; in response Zemeckis had separate artists animate Daffy using Jones' design to satisfy Warner Bros., in order to have Clampett's design in

7072-487: The part. The role was eventually given to Charles Fleischer . Before filming, Fleischer was asked to come up with a speech impediment for Roger. He gave Roger a lisp and the stammering catchphrase "P-p-p-please!" as a tribute to all the other famous cartoon characters with speech impediments, which was inspired by Huntz Hall 's Sach Jones in The Bowery Boys . He had invented the "cheek flutter" while performing

7176-406: The pictures to Roger, who becomes distraught and flees, refusing to believe Jessica was unfaithful. The next morning, Acme is found murdered and evidence at the scene implicates Roger as a suspect. Eddie meets Judge Doom , the sinister human judge of Toontown—having bribed the electorate to gain their votes—and his five weasel minions, the Toon Patrol. Doom confirms he plans to execute Roger using

7280-477: The process meeting Jessica Krupnick (his future wife), a struggling Hollywood actress. While Roger and Ritchie are enlisting in the Army, Jessica is kidnapped and forced to make pro- Nazi German broadcasts. Roger and Ritchie must save her by going into Nazi-occupied Europe accompanied by several other Toons in their Army platoon. After their triumph, Roger and Ritchie are given a Hollywood Boulevard parade, and Roger

7384-409: The production budget rapidly expanded, and the shooting schedule ran longer than expected. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner in the United States on June 22, 1988. The film received critical acclaim for its visuals, humor, writing, performances, and groundbreaking combination of live-action and animation. It grossed over $ 351 million worldwide, becoming

7488-597: The role. Christopher Lloyd was cast because he previously worked with Zemeckis and Spielberg on Back to the Future . He compared his part as Doom to his previous role as the Klingon commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , both overly evil characters which he considered "fun to play". He avoided blinking his eyes while on camera to portray the character. Fleischer also voiced Benny

7592-438: The role. Ultimately, Bob Hoskins was chosen by Spielberg because of his acting skill and because Spielberg believed he had a hopeful demeanor and he looked like he belonged in that era. Paul Reubens originally auditioned for the role of Roger Rabbit and even provided his voice in an early 1983 screen test, but lost out. Eddie Deezen , who had worked with Zemeckis previously, also auditioned to play Roger, but did not get

7696-427: The scene where Daffy Duck and Donald Duck are dueling on pianos, some heard Donald call Daffy a "goddamn stupid nigger", rather than the scripted and recorded line "doggone stubborn little". Gary K. Wolf, author of the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? , filed a lawsuit in 2001 against The Walt Disney Company. He claimed he was owed royalties based on the value of "gross receipts" and merchandising sales. In 2002,

7800-465: The scene, Eddie realizes that Acme's will was written on the blank paper in temporarily invisible ink , confirming the toons inherit Toontown. Having regained his sense of humor, Eddie happily enters Toontown alongside Dolores, Roger, Jessica, and the toons. Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights to Gary K. Wolf 's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? shortly after its publication in 1981. Ron W. Miller , then president of Disney, saw it as

7904-466: The scene. Assuming she is the assailant, he reluctantly follows her into Toontown, choosing to discard the last of his alcohol. After saving Eddie from being shot by Doom, Jessica reveals her actions were to ensure Roger's safety and it was Doom who killed Acme and Maroon. Acme gave his will to Jessica for safety but, when she examined it, the paper was blank. Doom and the Toon Patrol capture Jessica and Eddie, bringing them to Acme's factory. Doom reveals he

8008-788: The show, and has remained such in all later versions of the Woody Woodpecker Show package. In the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Chilly Willy is mentioned by Eddie's acquaintance Angelo. Chilly Willy is featured in The New Woody Woodpecker Show where he has no dialogue. Like the shorts, Chilly has gone up against Smedley. Later episodes introduce Sgt. Hogwash (voiced by Blake Clark ) and Major Bull (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson ) who operate in an Antarctic military base that Chilly tends to trespass in. The Legend of Rockabye Point

8112-491: The store owned by Smedley). In some episodes, Chilly Willy also deals with a hunter named Colonel Pot Shot (voiced by Daws Butler ) whom Smedley has been shown to work for in some episodes. Pot Shot would give orders in a calm controlled voice, and then would explode in rage when he told Smedley what would happen should he fail in his objective. Also, two episodes had Chilly Willy outsmarting Wally Walrus when Chilly Willy comes across his fishing projects. Paul Smith directed

8216-660: The stories, "Once Upon A Train, or The Loco Motive," was the basis for the movie Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950). Hildegarde Withers Makes the Scene (1969) was completed by Fletcher Flora upon Palmer's death and published posthumously. Palmer also featured Withers in dozens of short stories that were published in newspapers and mystery magazines; many of these were collected in The Riddles of Hildegarde Withers (1947), The Monkey Murder (1950), and Hildegarde Withers: Uncollected Riddles ( Crippen & Landru , 2002). Outside

8320-496: The studio, Alex Lovy assumed as director, starting by directing Hot and Cold Penguin . Chilly was mute in most of his 1950s cartoons and early 1960s cartoons, although he was voiced by Sara Berner in the initial entry. The next time he spoke was in The Woody Woodpecker Show Halloween special Spook-A-Nanny in 1964, with Daws Butler providing Chilly's voice until the end of the series in

8424-471: The time of release, it was the 20th-highest-grossing film of all time. It was also the second-highest-grossing film of 1988, behind only Rain Man . In the United Kingdom, the film also set a record opening for a Disney film. The film was first released on VHS on October 12, 1989, and on DVD on September 28, 1999. On March 25, 2003, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released it as a part of

8528-501: The time would have still made it the most expensive animated film ever produced. Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg argued that the hybrid of live-action and animation would "save" Walt Disney Feature Animation . Spielberg's contract included an extensive amount of creative control and a large percentage of the box-office profits. Disney kept all merchandising rights. Spielberg convinced Warner Bros. , Fleischer Studios , Harvey Comics , King Features Syndicate , Felix

8632-408: The toons were comic-strip characters rather than movie stars. During the writing process, Price and Seaman were unsure of whom to include as the villain in the plot. They wrote scripts that had either Jessica Rabbit or Baby Herman as the villain, but they made their final decision with the newly created character Judge Doom. Doom was supposed to have an animated vulture sit on his shoulder, but this

8736-508: The trial court in the case ruled that these only referred to actual cash receipts Disney collected and denied Wolf's claim. In its January 2004 ruling, the California Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that expert testimony introduced by Wolf regarding the customary use of "gross receipts" in the entertainment business could support a broader reading of the term. The ruling vacated the trial court's order in favor of Disney and remanded

8840-450: The uncredited voice of Jessica Rabbit , Roger Rabbit's wife. Tim Curry auditioned for the role of Judge Doom, but was rejected because the producers found him too terrifying. Christopher Lee was also considered for the role, but turned it down. John Cleese also expressed interest for the role, but was deemed not scary enough. Peter O'Toole , F. Murray Abraham , Roddy McDowall , Eddie Deezen , and Sting were also considered for

8944-558: The voice of B.B. in Deadly Friend . His portrayal of Roger was also inspired by Screwy Squirrel . To facilitate Hoskins' performance, Fleischer dressed in a Roger Rabbit costume and "stood in" behind camera for most scenes. Williams explained Roger was a combination of " Tex Avery 's cashew nut-shaped head, the swatch of red hair... like Droopy 's, Goofy 's overalls, Porky Pig 's bow tie, Mickey Mouse 's gloves, and Bugs Bunny -like cheeks and ears." Kathleen Turner provided

9048-434: The voices of Charles Fleischer and an uncredited Kathleen Turner . Combining live-action and animation , the film is set in an alternate history Hollywood in 1947, where humans and cartoon characters (referred to as "toons") co-exist. Its plot follows Eddie Valiant , a private investigator with a grudge against toons, who must help exonerate Roger Rabbit , a toon framed for murder . Walt Disney Pictures purchased

9152-582: Was "openly disdainful of the Disney bureaucracy " and refused to work in Los Angeles. Accommodating Williams and his animators, production moved to England where a studio, Walt Disney Animation UK (subsuming Richard Williams Animation), was created for this purpose; located at The Forum, 74–80 Camden Street, in Camden Town, London , while the live-action production was based at Elstree Studios . Disney and Spielberg also told Williams that in return for doing

9256-678: Was Spielberg's original choice to play Eddie Valiant, but his price was too high. Chevy Chase was the second choice, but he was not interested. Bill Murray was also considered for the role, but due to his idiosyncratic method of receiving offers for roles, Murray missed out on it. Eddie Murphy reportedly turned down the role as he misunderstood the concept of toons and humans co-existing; he later regretted this decision. Robin Williams , Robert Redford , Jack Nicholson , Sylvester Stallone , Edward James Olmos , Wallace Shawn , Ed Harris , Charles Grodin and Don Lane were also considered for

9360-491: Was a frequent contributor (sometimes using the pen name Theodore Orchards) to Ghost Stories magazine, writing short stories, essays, and a serialized novel, The Gargoyle's Throat. Palmer tried his hand at writing a murder mystery with The Penguin Pool Murder , published in 1931 and filmed the following year by RKO Radio Pictures . Character actress Edna May Oliver starred as Palmer's heroine, Hildegarde Withers ,

9464-476: Was a mystery novelist and screenwriter . He was most famous for creating the character Hildegarde Withers . In addition, he used the pen names Theodore Orchards and Jay Stewart . for some of his works. Palmer was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin in 1905. He was reportedly descended from some of the earliest English colonists and held a variety of odd jobs before turning to fiction." From 1928 to 1931, Palmer

9568-410: Was also featured early on, dubbed "A Classic Chilly Cartoon". Chilly Willy is a supporting character in the 2018 Woody Woodpecker animated series, voiced by Brad Norman and Dee Bradley Baker . Chilly Willy makes a cameo appearance in the 2024 film Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp as a wood sculpture Woody makes. Stuart Palmer (author) Stuart Palmer (June 21, 1905 – February 4, 1968)

9672-551: Was deleted due to the technical challenges this posed. Doom would also have a suitcase of 12 small, animated kangaroos that act as a jury , by having their joeys pop out of their pouches, each with letters, when put together would spell YOU ARE GUILTY. This was also cut for budget and technical reasons. The Toon Patrol (Stupid, Smart Ass, Greasy, Wheezy, and Psycho) satirizes the Seven Dwarfs (Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey), who appeared in Snow White and

9776-430: Was eventually abandoned. Nat Mauldin was hired to write a prequel titled Roger Rabbit: The Toon Platoon , set in 1941 to 1943. Similar to the previous film, Toon Platoon featured many cameo appearances by characters from The Golden Age of American Animation . It began with Roger Rabbit's early years, living on a farm in the midwestern United States. With human Ritchie Davenport, Roger travels west to seek his mother, in

9880-505: Was hired to direct in 1985, based on the success of Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future . Disney executives were continuing to suggest Darrell Van Citters direct the animation, but Spielberg and Zemeckis decided against it. Richard Williams was eventually hired to direct the animation. Zemeckis wanted the film to exhibit "Disney's high quality of animation, Warner Bros.' characterization, and Tex Avery humor." Harrison Ford

9984-592: Was impressed and Alan Menken was hired to write five songs for the film and offered his services as executive producer. One of the songs, "This Only Happens in the Movies", was recorded in 2008 on the debut album of Broadway actress Kerry Butler . Eric Goldberg was set to be the new animation director, and began to redesign Roger's new character appearance. Spielberg became busy establishing DreamWorks , while Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy decided to remain as producers. Test footage for Who Discovered Roger Rabbit

10088-425: Was in opposition with Smedley, it wound up with the two of them being friends at the end. Chilly was more of a nuisance to Smedley than an enemy, often showing up where Smedley is working, usually for some mean employer. Many times, the notion of a plot was extremely weak, appearing to be a random collection of loosely related gags as opposed to a coherent story. Two of Chilly's friends in the later cartoons were Maxie

10192-623: Was inspired by Chinatown . Price and Seaman said that "the Red Car plot, suburb expansion, urban and political corruption really did happen," Price stated. "In Los Angeles, during the 1940s, car and tire companies teamed up against the Pacific Electric Railway system and bought them out of business. Where the freeway runs in Los Angeles is where the Red Car used to be." In Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? ,

10296-426: Was originally released by Buena Vista Records on June 22, 1988, and reissued on CD on April 16, 2002. On January 23, 2018, Intrada Records released a three-CD set with the complete score, alternates, and a remastered version of the original 1988 album, plus music from three Roger Rabbit short films , composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton and James Horner . Mondo Records and Walt Disney Records reissued

10400-418: Was revamped in 1985 by Michael Eisner , the then-new CEO of Disney. Amblin Entertainment , which consisted of Steven Spielberg , Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy , were approached to produce Who Framed Roger Rabbit alongside Disney. The original budget was projected at $ 50 million, which Disney felt was too expensive. The film was finally green-lit when the budget decreased to $ 30 million, which at

10504-453: Was serving as an instructor...." Stuart Palmer also wrote "The Mystery of David Lang" for Fate Magazine. It wasn't until long after Palmer's death that the affidavits, testifying to the truth of the story and signed by David Lang's daughter and the local justice of the peace, were discovered to be in Palmer's own handwriting (including the signatures). During WW2, Palmer was a Lieutenant in

10608-483: Was shot sometime in 1998 at the Disney animation unit in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; the results were a mix of CGI, traditional animation, and live-action that did not please Disney. A second test had the toons completely converted to CGI , but this was dropped as the film's projected budget would escalate past $ 100 million. Eisner felt it was best to cancel the film. In March 2003, producer Don Hahn doubted

10712-617: Was shown before Dick Tracy ; and Trail Mix-Up was shown before A Far Off Place . The film also inspired a short-lived comic book and video game spin-offs , including two PC games , the Japanese version of The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle (which features Roger instead of Bugs), a 1989 game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System , and a 1991 game released on the Game Boy . In December 2016,

10816-431: Was split between Walt Disney Animation UK and a specialized unit in Los Angeles, set up by Walt Disney Feature Animation and supervised by Baer. The production budget continued to escalate, while the shooting schedule ran longer than expected. When the budget reached $ 40 million, Disney CEO Michael Eisner seriously considered shutting down production, but studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg talked him out of it. Despite

#936063