“Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is one of my all-time favorite films, and this opinion was one equally shared by all the attendees at the panel today. Our very own Bryan Young and Jeff Michael Vice along with Michaella Bell were on hand to discuss how “Roger Rabbit” is actually one of the best noir films of all time — one that should rightfully join the ranks of “Double Indemnity”, “The Maltese Falcon” and other classics from the 40s and 50s.
Bryan discussed how the film follows through with the genre tropes (such as the “femme fatale” and the “flawed hero”) in ways that most people don’t notice due to the fact it’s so easily dismissed as a kids movie. Sure there are a lot of funny moments with the animated characters (that was completely groundbreaking for film back then), but with the overarching murder plot, the growth of all the characters (including Roger), and the jokes and themes that pass over kids’ heads, it is firmly set in a darker film genre than just standard family faire. The fact of the matter is that the movie has to be taken completely seriously in order for any of it to work, and Zemeckis pulled this off beautifully. The world of “Roger Rabbit” is one where toons actually exist, and work alongside humans who may view them with distrust or as strange creatures, but definitely not as something absurd or unrealistic.
Jeff also brought up how unheard of it was for a film like “Roger Rabbit” to include characters from so many franchises and licenses, and that it’s something we might never see again. The fact that we got Daffy and Donald Duck on dueling pianos and Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse sharing the same screen was astounding. We also benefited from a smartly written script and excellent directing, as other films (“Cool World” anyone?) tried to pull this off years later, and it came nowhere close to the quality presented in “Roger Rabbit”.
It was around this point that the discussion was interrupted as Charles Fleischer, Roger Rabbit himself, made and appearance and joined the panelists up on stage.
From here on out, the panel became more of a Q&A with Mr. Fleischer, with Bryan, Jeff and others throwing in comments and suggestions, and the panel became more-or-less of a three rings circus — enjoyable, but rowdy as hell.
Mr. Fleischer was more than willing to banter and trade barbs with the audience (“Come see me at my booth later, so I can bitch slap you”), but was definitely there to have fun and provide us with some neat insight into the movie we all know and love.
Here are some excerpts:
On the prospects of a sequel: “Of course I would love to do it, but that’s all they are, just rumors.”
On creating the voice of Roger: “After I got the job, they told me I had to come up with a speech impediment since all great toons have speech impediments, and I thought ‘Wow, I finally get a great job, and I’m gonna lose it because I talk regular.'”
His favorite part of the movie: “The beginning, the middle and the end.”
On working with Mel Blanc: “He didn’t like being on camera very much, and his voice was altered. They had to speed up his voice to make it sound like that.”
You really need to hear the whole thing for yourself, so if you’ll look below, you’ll find a link to the audio recording of the whole panel and interview. It was definitely the high point of my first day at FanX, and I really think you’ll find a lot to enjoy and be entertained by.
https://bigshinyrobot.com/wp-content/podcasts/fanx2014/WhoFramedRogerRabbitPanel.mp3