Who Framed Roger Rabbit **** (1988, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Stubby Kaye) – Classic Movie Review 4,557

Live actors join the cartoon world of Toon Town as warm and jovial performances by Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd provide the human dimension for Robert Zemeckis’s exuberant and technically perfect 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. 

Live performing actors join the cartoon world of Toon Town as warm and jovial performances by Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant), Christopher Lloyd (Judge Doom) and Joanna Cassidy (Dolores) provide the live human dimension for director Robert Zemeckis’s exuberant and technically perfect Touchstone/Amblin 1988 blockbuster film Who Framed Roger Rabbit from Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg.

Hugely entertaining though the movie is, above all it was a great technical achievement in its day. The film won three Oscars including Best Visual Effects (Richard Williams, Ken Ralston, Ed Jones, George Gibbs), Best Film Editing (Arthur Schmidt) and Best Sound Effects Editing (Charles L Campbell, Louis L Edemann), and also won a Special Achievement Award for terrific animator Richard Williams ‘for animation direction and creation of the cartoon characters’.

The screen overflows with all the delightful old Loony Tunes favourites, along with new stars such as Roger and Jessica Rabbit, who are obviously close relatives of Bugs Bunny. In the 1947 set, Forties-style comedy-thriller plot, Toon star Roger is suspected of killing a practical joker named Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), so a private eye called Eddie Valiant (Hoskins) is brought in to find the real killer. The film’s opening ten minutes are a knockout, and, even if the story eventually runs out of steam, there is always something on screen to delight the eye or please the ear.

Charles Fleischer (voices of Roger Rabbit / Benny The Cab / Greasy / Psycho), Kathleen Turner (voice of Jessica Rabbit), Lou Hirsch (voice of Baby Herman), Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop) and Mel Blanc (voices of Daffy Duck / Tweety Bird / Bugs Bunny / Sylvester /Porky Pig) provide the voices of the main cartoon characters. Richard LeParmentier, Alan Tilvern, Joel Silver, Paul Springer, Richard Ridings, Edwin Craig, Lindsay Holiday and Mike Edmonds also appear in live action. Betsy Brantley is Jessica’s Performance Model.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is directed by Robert Zemeckis, runs 104 minutes, is made by Touchstone Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Silver Screen Partners III, is distributed  by Buena Vista Pictures (1988) (US) and Warner Bros (1988) (UK), is written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S Seaman, shot by Dean Cundey, produced by Robert Watts and Frank Marshall, scored by Alan Silvestri and designed by Elliot Scott.

Slight cuts are possible for family viewing on TV.

It is one of the most high profile international film appearances of beloved Brit star Bob Hoskins, who died on 29 April 2014, aged 71. His notable films also include The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986), Mermaids (1990), Super Mario Bros (1993), Brazil (1985), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995), Enemy at the Gates (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), A Christmas Carol (2009), Made in Dagenham (2010), and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).

June Foray provides the voices of Wheezy / Lena Hyena. The legendary voice actress died on 26 July 2017, aged 99. She also provides the voice of Lucifer in Disney’s animation Cinderella (1950) and the voice of Grandmother Fa in Disney’s Mulan (1998), among her more than 300 film and TV credits.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,557

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Brit star Bob Hoskins died on 29 April 2014, aged 71.