Twenty one years ago Robert Zemeckis did the impossible. He created a world where all cartoon characters lived together regardless of which studios they ‘worked’ for, and set the riotous chaos of ToonTown alongside the human Hollywood and in treating these characters as actors in their own cartoon films and having them interact seamlessly with the live action smashed the fourth wall with a charm and expertise that should have heralded a new phase in animation features.
It was a truly wonderful film, with Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant and Christopher Lloyd as the epically spooky Judge Doom acting up a storm with their cartoon compatriots the arrogant Baby Herman, Benny the fearless cab and, of course, ToonTown’s own odd couple, Jessica and Roger Rabbit.
The writing was witty and self referential without ever becoming parodic, the Toons themselves were so well rounded they fitted in perfectly with the established characters, some of the most famous of the 20th century, and the concept of the cartoon and human worlds co-existing is stunningly original yet it seemed so obvious in its execution here. Nothing has come close, on a technical and imaginative level, to matching this film.
That may be about to change however, as MTV have spoken with director Robert Zemeckis about the oft proposed follow up to Roger Rabbit, and he has revealed that the original writers are back on board with developing another film. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman are developing the script, of which little else is known. The writer of Who Censored Roger Rabbit, Gary Wolf, did pen another Roger Rabbit story, Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit but it is not known if this will play any part of the new film.
It is a wonderful world Zemeckis and the writers created, and I would revisit it in a heartbeat – its chaos and silly sense of delight and fun, as well as a comprehensive understanding of the world of cartoons is a joy.
I would love to see this done as it was twenty one years ago, practical effects – no CG, and certainy not motion capture…
Click here to read the MTV post and watch Zemeckis talk up the film.
