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We’ve never run the numbers explicitly but there can’t be quite as many animated movies based on novels compared to any other genre. Which is why we thought it perfect to tackle Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
A movie well loved and known for many things. For being one of the very few moments wherein Warner Brothers characters appear onscreen with Disney characters. A landmark in blending live action and animation. A movie considered so risky that Disney didn’t want to put their mark on it and instead released it under the Touchstone label. Because back then Disney wasn’t attempting to court an older audience.
Which is why it was quite a shock to find out it was based on a novel. Even more so to find out that the differences between them reach the point that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a Chinese knockoff novel. Roger is an animated brown rabbit more realistic than in the movie. He’s a comic strip character rather than a film star. We go through the most glaring changes and just how we feel about them both
Wow, hearing this comparison certainly fights the usual “the book was better” position. But there were so many changes it’s almost not even the same story, so it could be considered a bit apples-and-oranges.
I also have watched this movie A BUNCH. And mostly when I was a preteen/young teen, like after it came to VHS, despite the more mature themes (thanks, parental mistakes!). I still remember watching it with friends and being like “Oh my gosh, they just said ‘ass!’ ” I just rewatched it within the last year or so, and wow, it’s still pretty damn good. I also remember not being as cognizant of the Cloverleaf/Red Car buyout plot as a youngun. But watching it as an adult, I definitely absorbed WAY more of Eddie’s general struggles (loss, depression, alcoholism, etc.) which as a kid I was just like, “Oh, he’s sad and hates toons because of how his brother died, and he drinks and is grumpy.”
Oh, I second a Cool World ep of Popcorn Pulse. That movie was a real weird trip.
Yeah, seeing it as an adult vs. a kid makes it even better in my opinion since you really do pick up on so much more. One of those that truly makes a great family film.
is just sitting around collecting dust over at Disney. Robert Zemeckis is one of the most inventive and imaginative filmmakers of our time and, while some of his recent efforts haven’t quite delivered, that takes nothing away from what the man has managed to accomplish in his long career. One of his crowning achievements is 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? which, despite being very successful, has never been given a sequel. But if Disney wanted it to happen, they apparently have a perfectly good script just lying there.
Issue may lie more with getting Disney and Warner Brothers to agree on a sequel. Also, Bob Hoskins is gone and he was so good as Eddie.