Roger Rabbit (Disney)
 |
- For the 1988 film, see Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Roger Rabbit is a fictional character and anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in the book, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf, which was loosely adapted into the academy award winning film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mixing both live action and animation to create a believable "toon" universe Disney studios set up an animation studio in Camden Town, London, whilst the live action was shot at Elstree film studios. Both the animation and live action were then composited by ILM fx studios in LA. In the book, Roger is a sidekick in a popular comic strip called "Baby Herman," his murder is being investigated by a Detective named Eddie Valiant and a slowly evaporating stunt doppelganger of himself that he created hours before being shot. In the film version, he is re-envisioned as a 1940's character in animated cartoons and a resident of the fictional Los Angeles enclave, Toontown. He is framed for a murder and seeks out Valiant to help clear his name. In the film, the voice of Roger is performed by comedian Charles Fleischer, who was known for electing to wear an actual rabbit costume on the set to get into the role. One of his famous traits is his voice, "P-b-b-b-b-bleeeease!". He is a white clownish rabbit with a gap between his front teeth, a voice that resonates of Huntz Hall in "The Bowery Boys", a blue Porky Pig-like bowtie with yellow polka dots, a red-haired Bugs Bunny-like head with blue eyes, a pink nose and round-tipped ears, red Goofy-like pants with a green patch behind and yellow Mickey Mouse-like gloves.
Roger also starred in a comic book series from April 1990 to September 1991 and a spin-off series called Roger Rabbit's Toontown, published from June to October 1991, which featured Roger in the first story and supporting characters like Jessica Rabbit (Roger's voluptuous humanoid wife), Baby Herman (his co-star in Maroon Cartoons), Benny the Cab (Roger's taxicab friend), and The Weasels (Roger's enemies).
Attempted Sequel/Series
- Disney and Amblin Entertainment attempted to resurrect Roger for a sequel. However, a preliminary budget was deemed too large and the film never got past the script stage. Several 3D CGI tests and a 3D CGI rendering of Roger were completed, however, despite the fact that no actual footage was actually shot or completed. However, Frank Marshall, the director of animation from the first film, told MTV in late 2007 that he plans to bring the Roger sequel back in the works[citation needed].
- Roger Rabbit was originally going to be the star of the animated series now known as Bonkers. However, because of copyright conflicts between Amblin and Disney, the show was forced to create original characters.
Popularity
- Roger made his footprints and handprints with his signature phrase "P-p-p-p-lease" in front of the Chinese theatre at Disney-MGM Studios on its opening day along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy.
- Roger is also the inspiration for a popular dance move in the early 1990s, called "the Roger Rabbit" due to the floppy movements of the Disney/Amblin character.
- Roger Rabbit is a popular character at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland (both of which contain identical versions of the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin attraction, with Roger appearing at the latter park as a meetable character), but is hardly ever heard of at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.