I wonder… If you were in Walt Disney World with your children and you said "ooh, look, it's Roger Rabbit!" how would they respond? Back up, let's clarify that this is totally hypothetical, since the chances of you actually seeing Roger Rabbit in costume anymore is extremely rare. In my hypothetical world, children would obviously today respond, "who?"
Roger Rabbit made his debut in 1988 in Disney and Amblin's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Following the films critical and financial success, Roger Rabbit appeared in a few animated shorts which usually also starred Baby Herman (you know, the baby with the low voice and smokes cigars). But, apart from his movie, short cartoons, and other small appearances, Roger Rabbit has been one of Disney low-key toon-celebrities. But why? His movie was a hit and it made him big enough to be one of Disney's most iconic characters of that time.
Following the original movie, Disney and Steven Spielberg (co-founder of Amblin) had planned a prequel titled Roger Rabbit: The Toon Platoon. In the movie, we meet Roger as he searches for his mother. He meets his future wife, Jessica, and she is kidnapped and forced to make pro-Nazi broadcasts in Germany. Roger and his human companion would then travel to Nazi-occupied Europe to save her. They'd save her and Roger would finally be reunited with his mother and his father, Bugs Bunny…. somehow. Sadly, this movie would've gone direct-to-video.
After this failed, they changed the title to Who Discovered Roger Rabbit? and had it tossed around for rewrites. Spielberg dropped out after "deciding he could not satirize Nazis after directing Schindler's List." In 1998 (shortly after the release of Space Jam, conveniently), test footage for 'Who Discovered' was shot at a Disney animation unit in Disney World. This test footage was a combination of live-action, animation, and CGI that Disney did not care for. A second test featured the Toons completely in CGI. When the estimated budget escalated $100 million, then-CEO Michael Eisner cancelled production. What I don't understand is the first film had a budget of $70 million ten years earlier and became a record-breaking production budget at the time. It was also a financial success. You'd think they'd splurge a little on the sequel if they knew it would be a sure-fire hit.
It seemed as though all hope for Roger Rabbit 2 was lost. But then…
In 2007, producer of the original, Frank Marshall, said he was "open" to the idea of a sequel and in 2009, original director Robert Zemeckis said he was still interested. Then in 2010, original associate producer Don Hahn confirmed the sequel's production. Yay. According to Wikipedia (yes, I at times trust Wiki), a new script is being developed and the movie will be shot traditionally like the original using only 2D animation. Bob Hoskins claims he's too old to return. I say, whatever. Cameo?
Well, now it's 2011 and still no word. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2" does have it's own page on IMDb.com which is slightly promising, but so did Jurassic Park 4 and it no longer has one.
My personal belief is that sequels that come out long after the original, tend to make a big impression. Examples, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (I stand by that), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Terminator 2, 3, & 4, SCRE4M, Tron: Legacy, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Toy Story 3, etc. Whether or not you actually care for any of those movies doesn't matter. You cannot deny that, at the time of their release, the studios made a BIG spectacle of their release.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, I really want a second Roger Rabbit film to be made. The original was a classic Disney film and still is for me. It was based off the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf set in the 1940s and featured traditional animation on top of live-action. It's not the typical cookie-cutter Disney movie and that's what I like about it. Disney, let's get this done!
No comments:
Post a Comment