Misplaced Pages

#644355

127-459: 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 the voices of Charles Fleischer and an uncredited Kathleen Turner . Combining live-action and animation ,

254-474: 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

381-482: 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,

508-510: A brief scuffle inside the bar, the Judge orders the weasels to capture Roger and Eddie Valiant. When Eddie learns that studio head R.K. Maroon is connected to the plot to frame Roger, Eddie interrogates him, but Maroon pleads that he is "a dead man" if he confesses. Just as Maroon is about to do so, he is killed by an unseen assailant who nearly shoots Eddie as well. Upon chasing the assailant to Toontown, Eddie catches Jessica Rabbit , thinking she

635-958: 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

762-488: A freeway on a planned unproduced sequel of Chinatown entitled Cloverleaf , which would be the name of Judge Doom's company in the film. Doom was supposed to have an animated vulture sit on his shoulder, but this was deleted due to the technical challenges this posed. Doom would also have a suitcase of twelve small toon kangaroos that act as a jury , by having their joeys pop out of their pouches, each with letters, which when put together would spell "You are guilty". This

889-420: 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 the original film, but

1016-542: 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

1143-642: 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

1270-588: 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, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by

1397-487: 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

SECTION 10

#1732772314645

1524-510: 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

1651-469: 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

1778-534: 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

1905-472: 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

2032-513: 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

2159-460: 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

2286-539: 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

2413-529: Is interrupted by Doom. The two men then square off, dueling with various Acme props. During the fight, Judge Doom is run over by a steamroller but does not die as expected, being flattened into a flimsy paper-thin shape and revealing him to be a toon wearing an assortment of fake props to disguise himself. Doom reinflates himself at an oxygen tank revealing his red toon eyes and his high-pitched voice to Eddie, who recognizes Doom as an escaped bank robber from Toontown long ago, thus explaining how Doom managed to buy

2540-567: Is part of what makes those films so appealing. So it's fun and a bit of sweet revenge to be the villain — the fun, dark part of the movie. Also, Judge Doom turns out to be a toon, so I don't think you can get too upset with a toon — since they're entertaining and fun. Turpentine , acetone and benzene combined form Judge Doom's fictional liquid that he refers to as "the Dip" that kills toons and which ultimately kills himself. In real life they are paint thinners . Jenna Stoeber of Polygon felt that

2667-406: Is revealed to be a sabre in disguise, for use in emergency situations. This appearance is reminiscent of agents of the real-life Gestapo , the secret police of Nazi Germany . Doom employs his toon weasel henchmen, the Toon Patrol, to assist him in hunting down Roger Rabbit for the murder of Marvin Acme. When Judge Doom is introduced, Lt. Santino confides to Eddie Valiant that Doom bought

SECTION 20

#1732772314645

2794-468: Is the murderer, but Jessica reveals that Judge Doom was the one who killed Acme and Maroon. At the film's climax, Doom traps Eddie, Jessica, and Roger in the Acme Factory to explain his scheme to destroy Toontown using a giant, mobile vat of Dip linked to a high-pressure water cannon , and then build a freeway in its place. Doom then plans to retire from being a judge and control all the profits from

2921-406: Is totally without mirth or redeeming qualities and passes capital punishment on Toons who break the law, placing them in a chemical vat of turpentine , acetone and benzene which he dubs "the Dip" to kill them permanently. Doom wears a black ensemble which includes a caped overcoat, fedora , gloves, and rimless yellow-tinted glasses; he also carries a pocket watch , as well as a cane which

3048-466: The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang . Aly Semigran of Nerdist Industries ranked Doom as one of cinema's scariest old people. The debut of his character where he murdered the shoe using the Dip was commonly cited as one of the scenes that made him terrifying. Along with the film's climactic plot twist of him being flattened by a steamroller and the reveal as a toon with

3175-718: The Klingon commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , both being overly evil characters which he considered being "fun to play". Scenes like the Evil Queen as the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi are labeled as examples of scary childhood moments for Lloyd. Because of that, Lloyd admitted that the tragic shoe scene was his favorite scene to perform within

3302-547: 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 a depressed alcoholic following Teddy's murder by an unknown toon five years earlier. Maroon Cartoon Studios owner R.K. Maroon, upset about

3429-478: The National Football League 's Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Tom Brady , was compared on Twitter as looking like Judge Doom (along with other fictional villains) in a fashion outfit of his when attending the 2021 Kentucky Derby . The noted comparison resulted in viral phenomenon jokes in regards to Brady being the character. In August 2023, it was announced that Judge Doom would appear as

3556-647: 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

3683-490: 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

3810-533: The "Toon Patrol", the weasel henchmen from Who Framed Roger Rabbit , revive the villain using old model drawings and cartoon cels after watching the documentary for inspiration. When revived, Doom plans to avenge himself of Roger Rabbit by ruining his professional life. He does this by disguising himself as CB Maroon and being responsible for slandering the newspaper of the character. Eddie Valiant traces this scheme to CB Maroon. Doom reveals his grand scheme to acquire and close down Maroon Cartoons entirely, and then kill

3937-520: 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

Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Misplaced Pages Continue

4064-480: 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

4191-453: The 60th Greatest Villain of All Time. Other lists include Digital Spy placing him as one of the most “batshit” film villains of all time, Fandango placing him number one on their list of "the most nefarious live-action Disney villains" and Livingly Media 's Zimbio placing Doom as one of the scariest non-horror film villains. The character is usually ranked along with characters such as Large Marge from Pee-wee's Big Adventure and

4318-505: 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

4445-578: 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 ,

4572-527: 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

4699-483: 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

4826-738: The Dip is often referenced as an allusion to the death of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz . Film critic Jay Botar of the Orlando Sentinel acknowledged it as the greatest meltdown since the Wicked Witch of the West. Christopher Lloyd 's portrayal of Judge Doom has received overall positive reception with some authors comparing his role as a "brilliant" or "scary" villain. Wizard magazine rated Doom as

4953-441: The Dip was a scary part of many childhoods. She opined "the Dip is just paint thinner, able to instantly dissolve a painted Toon into nothingness. For a child, that is a fundamental threat". She added, "the horror of the Dip is uniquely adolescent, threatening to obliterate all of a child’s favorite creatures" and further described it for that reason as "pure terror". Film director, Robert Zemeckis , compared Judge Doom's invention of

5080-479: The Dip, that intended to eliminate all toons, to Adolf Hitler 's Final Solution . It's possible that Judge Doom hides as a human , because Toons have zero power in his world, making him sort of a fake Übermensch , craving power and authority According to film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum , the filmmakers originally intended to name the Dip the Final Solution. Judge Doom's demise where he melts from

5207-404: 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

Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Misplaced Pages Continue

5334-683: The Roger Rabbit lineup. Judge Doom's scheme is ultimately based on the development of the existing Southern California freeways . The film is set in 1947 where Judge Doom plans to destroy Toontown over building a freeway and buy off the Pacific Electric railway to dismantle it. According to him it will boost automotive businesses. The motivation is a nod to a conspiracy theory that the many companies conspired to push an automobile future for Greater Los Angeles which ultimately helped bring down Pacific Electric . The scheme within

5461-506: 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

5588-472: 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

5715-484: The action board game Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Dip Flip . In the game, one player plays Judge Doom to dip as many toons as they can while another player plays Eddie Valiant trying to save the toons. A Funko action figure of Judge Doom with his animated eyes along with him holding the anthropomorphic shoe that he dips in Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released by The Walt Disney Company as part of

5842-472: 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

5969-403: 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

6096-427: 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

6223-493: 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 ,

6350-529: The burning red eyes and high squeaky voice was commonly ranked as the scariest of scenes for "kids films" as well. His reveal as a toon character was placed as one of the most traumatizing reveals for kids from the 1980s by BuzzFeed . Rolling Stone placed it as one of the top twelve of scariest moments in a "kids" film. Neal Justin of the Star Tribune jokingly described Judge Doom as making Freddy Krueger "look like Fred Rogers " in reference with

6477-461: 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

SECTION 50

#1732772314645

6604-460: The case of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its 2019 sequel . Judge Doom Judge Doom is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , portrayed by Christopher Lloyd . He is depicted as the much-feared, cruel, and evil judge of Toontown, who later in the film is revealed as the mastermind behind the framing of the titular character and

6731-403: 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

6858-455: The citizens of Toontown. Judge Doom appears in the graphic novel Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom , which takes place after the film and establishes his origin. 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

6985-461: 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

7112-509: The election as judge of Toontown. Doom threatens to act as executioner to Roger Rabbit with a mixture of turpentine, acetone, and benzene he dubs "the Dip". Doom showcases the chemical's purpose by killing a toon shoe in front of Eddie. Roger realizes he is in trouble with Doom after him, and begs Eddie to hide him. Later, at the Terminal Bar, Doom uses the " Shave and a Haircut " trick to lure Roger out, then prepares to execute him. After

7239-496: 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

7366-508: 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

7493-404: The film and in a graphic novel sequel explaining his backstory and revival. Merchandise of the character was also sold. Judge Doom has had many comparisons with characters from other fictional media, and his motives and actions have drawn parallels with real-world historical events. Christopher Lloyd's role as Judge Doom has been praised as a film villain, with the character appearing as one of

7620-491: The film has been cited as a metaphor behind the history of automobiles and the economy of the technological age by various authors such as James Howard Kunstler in the book The Geography of Nowhere . Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune compared Judge Doom's evil scheme to the plot of Chinatown , as did film critic Emily St. James , who added L.A. Confidential to her mix of comparisons as well. Christopher Lloyd likened his part as Doom to his previous role as

7747-486: 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

SECTION 60

#1732772314645

7874-402: 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 the film rights for the story in 1981. Price and Seaman wrote two drafts of

8001-416: 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

8128-485: 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

8255-411: 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

8382-421: 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

8509-533: 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

8636-426: The film, calling it payback from the original Disney films that he was "traumatized" or terrified of. Lloyd added: Doom was such a dark character. I've had so many people come up to me over the years to tell me that when they were kids that movie scared the hell out of them — really kind of terrified them. But I remember as a kid watching those original Walt Disney animated films that terrified me, and I think that

8763-499: 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

8890-540: 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

9017-542: 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

9144-445: The greatest film villains of all time by Wizard magazine and appearing in other related film villain media lists. The character and his plot twist reveal as a toon are commonly rated as some of the scariest moments in a family-oriented non-horror film. The character has been widely acknowledged in popular culture, being referenced in a song, a documentary and a 2021 viral Twitter joke regarding NFL player Tom Brady . During

9271-473: 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

9398-593: The judicial election and the trolley network. Eddie also recognizes Doom as the toon who murdered his brother, Teddy Valiant, by dropping a piano on his head. Doom attempts to use his toon abilities to finish off Eddie, but the latter defeats him by dissolving Doom to death in his own Dip concoction. A crowd of various toons then surround the remnants of his disguise and wonder what kind of toon he was. The toons seem to agree that they do not need to know and decide to live happily ever after when Marvin Acme's will suddenly appears in Roger's possession, granting full ownership to

9525-443: 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

9652-424: The murder of protagonist Eddie Valiant 's brother. Judge Doom is an original character from the script of the film created by screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman . Many actors, such as Tim Curry and Christopher Lee , were considered for the role before Lloyd was cast as the character. Judge Doom later appeared in Who Framed Roger Rabbit media, becoming the final boss of video game adaptations of

9779-461: The new road system. Doom also reveals that he is the sole shareholder of Cloverleaf Industries, and confesses that he bought the trolley network for the sole purpose of putting it out of production. He then orders Jessica and Roger to be tied up and raised into the air via skyhook to be sprayed by the Dip cannon. Valiant distracts the weasels using hilarious antics to make them laugh themselves to death, then attempts to rescue Roger and Jessica when he

9906-452: The next take and all that. It was cool. I just like to find little things that make him even eviler, and that was that. Lloyd used the black-colored spy in Mad magazine's comic strip Spy vs. Spy as a rough guide of what the character would look like during development. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Doom is the much-feared Judge of Toontown. Despite presiding over a city of Toons, Doom

10033-404: 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

10160-428: 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

10287-409: 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

10414-400: 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

10541-488: 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

10668-483: 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

10795-406: 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

10922-477: 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

11049-467: The rabbit. The weasel henchmen then capture Valiant and he is thrown in a vault revealing the real CB Maroon, who was being kept out of the way until the sale went through. Roger and Jessica eventually free both Valiant and Maroon. Despite this, the heroes found they were too late to stop Doom from acquiring Maroon Cartoons. Panicking, Valiant pulled a gun on Doom which was believed to be a water gun at first but turns out to be Dip which melts both Doom (and

11176-659: The reasons Disney will never produce the script, "as good as it is", is that Disney finds Jessica Rabbit "too hot", citing that they dressed her in a trench coat in the Disneyland attraction Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin . Zemeckis said that the original film was made at the right time. Fantasy comedy The subgenre rose in the nineteenth century. Elements of fantasy comedy can be found in such nineteenth century works as some of Hans Christian Andersen 's fairy tales, Charles Dickens ' "Christmas Books", and Lewis Carroll 's Alice books. The first writer to specialize in

11303-472: 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

11430-437: The role and also avoided blinking his eyes while on camera to perfectly portray the character. According to Lloyd: "I just felt a toon doesn't have to blink their eyes to remoisten their eyeballs. They're not human, so I just felt Judge Doom should never blink. It makes him even more ominous, scarier if he's just looking like that. It wasn't really difficult, I'd just keep my eyes open as long as I could, try to time it out with

11557-550: The role. Christopher Lee was also considered for the role, but Lee turned it down. Several other actors were also considered for the role of Judge Doom, including John Cleese , Roddy McDowall , Eddie Deezen , and Sting . Christopher Lloyd was cast because he previously worked with Robert Zemeckis and Amblin Entertainment on Back to the Future in his most famous role as Emmett Brown . Lloyd shaved his hair for

11684-464: 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

11811-434: 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

11938-424: 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,

12065-465: 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

12192-466: 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

12319-432: 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, the production budget rapidly expanded, and

12446-490: 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 the second-highest-grossing film of 1988 , behind Rain Man . It brought

12573-429: The squeaky voice reveal. YouTuber Nostalgia Critic placed the toon reveal scene as number three of his "Top 11 Scariest Nostalgic Moments". The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle indirectly references Doom's biological weapon, the Dip. After Fearless Leader says there has never been a way to kill a toon before, The Mole says, "what about in the movie Roger Rabbit?". The Fearless Leader responds by saying that

12700-596: The subgenre was " F. Anstey " in novels such as Vice Versa (1882), where magic disrupts Victorian society with humorous results. Anstey's work was popular enough to inspire several imitations, including E. Nesbit 's light-hearted children's fantasies, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) and The Story of the Amulet (1906). The United States had several writers of fantasy comedy, including James Branch Cabell , whose satirical fantasy Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice (1919)

12827-573: The television series I Dream of Jeannie , Kröd Mändoon . Examples on radio are the BBC 's Hordes of the Things and ElvenQuest . Fantasy comedy films can either be parodies ( Monty Python and the Holy Grail ), comedies with fantastical elements ( Being John Malkovich , Barbie ) or animated ( Shrek ). It has also been used with fantasy as the primary genre and comedy as the secondary, as in

12954-467: 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

13081-499: 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

13208-407: 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

13335-508: 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

13462-446: 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

13589-554: 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

13716-409: The weasels) once again. Judge Doom appears as the final boss in the 1988 video game adaption , the 1989 video game adaption , and the 1991 video game adaption of Who Framed Roger Rabbit within the franchise of the same name . LJN released film merchandise of the character with the pet vulture that was scrapped during production. Doom and Eddie Valiant were both playable characters in

13843-577: The works by Christopher Moore . There are also comic-strips/graphic novels in the humorous fantasy genre, including Chuck Whelon 's Pewfell series and the webcomics 8-Bit Theater and The Order of the Stick . Other authors of the genre in modern times include C.K. McDonnell , Jasper Fforde , Neil Gaiman , Robert Rankin , John Brosnan , Craig Shaw Gardner , David Lee Stone and Esther Freisner , as well as countless independent authors. The subgenre has also been represented in television , such as in

13970-401: The writing process in summer 1986, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were unsure of whom to include as the villain in the plot of Who Framed Roger Rabbit . 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. Price and Seaman based the scheme of Judge Doom of destroying Toontown for

14097-579: 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

14224-673: 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

14351-516: Was a real villain. Von Rotten thus began his criminal career by robbing the First National Bank of Toontown, followed by killing Theodore 'Teddy' Valiant by dropping a piano on his head, and then spreading the stolen money all over the town in order to buy the election for Judge of Toontown, where he then assumed the new name of Judge Doom. The spin-off graphic novel also reveals that three cartoon weasels who happen to be connected with

14478-603: Was also cut. Doom was originally intended in the script to be revealed as the offscreen anonymous hunter who killed Bambi 's mother (referred to as "man" in Bambi and also named as such by the American Film Institute ) but everyone at Disney rejected the idea. Tim Curry originally auditioned for the role of Judge Doom in August, 1986, but while during his audition, the producers found him too terrifying for

14605-664: Was comic. Pratt and de Camp were among several contributors to Unknown Worlds , a pulp magazine which emphasized fantasy with a comedic element. The work of Fritz Leiber also appeared in Unknown Worlds , including his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, a jocose take on the sword and sorcery subgenre. In more modern times, Terry Pratchett 's Discworld books, Piers Anthony 's Xanth books, Robert Asprin 's MythAdventures of Skeeve and Aahz books, and Tom Holt 's books provide good examples, as do many of

14732-492: 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

14859-452: Was different. Rappers MC Lars and Kool Keith wrote a song about Roger Rabbit and Judge Doom on Lars's 2015 album, The Zombie Dinosaur LP , called "the Dip". Lars cited Doom as a favorite villain of his. Christopher Lloyd guest starred on and gave insight into his character on an episode of the Disney+ original documentary series Prop Culture . In May 2021, the quarterback of

14986-428: 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

15113-503: 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

15240-589: 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

15367-621: 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? ,

15494-424: 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

15621-417: 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

15748-482: 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

15875-614: 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,

16002-429: 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

16129-875: Was the subject of an unsuccessful prosecution for obscenity. Another American writer in a similar vein was Thorne Smith , whose works (such as Topper and The Night Life of the Gods ) were popular and influential, and often adapted for film and television. Humorous fantasies narrated in a "gentleman's club" setting are common; they include John Kendrick Bangs ' A Houseboat on the Styx (1895), Lord Dunsany 's " Jorkens " stories, and Maurice Richardson 's The Exploits of Englebrecht (1950). According to Lin Carter , T. H. White 's works exemplify fantasy comedy, L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt 's Harold Shea stories are early exemplars. The overwhelming bulk of de Camp's fantasy

#644355