KEY CREW BEHIND THE STAR: Gary Wolf (creator), Steven Spielberg (producer), Robert Zemeckis (director), Richard Williams (animation director), Charles Fleischer (voice)

CAREER HIGH: WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? (1988) - His debut where he sometimes got to be more than a supporting character.

When Roger Rabbit tore across movie screens in 1988 he created one of the biggest commotions in animation since Mickey Mouse worked a steamboat. This most modern Cartoon Superstar is the epitome of an Eighties superstar - instant success, instant gratification and instant immortality.

Roger is one of the few animated superstars to come from a feature film. Most other superstars achieved fame in short cartoons or TV series. Though many features contain well loved characters, few have ever attained much of a life outside of their feature. However Roger Rabbit seemed to burst forth from his big screen debut into a completely separate life form.

Roger is visually a somewhat typical white rabbit cartoon character. He sports a big red nose, and a shuck of red hair on top of his head. His normal dress is a pair of baggy red pants, with suspenders that button in the front, yellow gloves and a polka dot bow tie.

A grab bag of characteristics, the animated Roger has little real personality of his own. He features the traits of many great cartoon characters: there's a bit of Goofy, a dash of Screwy Squirrel, some of the Mad Hare from Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a touch of Bugs Bunny and probably a drop of dozens of other key cartoon characters.

Richard Williams, animation director on WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? has stated, "The Rabbit is a Frankenstein job. A bit from this, a bit from that." The character had to look familiar enough so that audiences would think they'd seen him before. "So it's a series of cliches pushed into new forms."

This mixture of personalities has made Roger a bit of a split personality. In different situations and with different characters he acts quite differently. It is impossible to really guess how he may act. He may be brash and coherent or a bumbling clown. His wit could be quick or slow. There may be compassion or coldness. There is no consistency in his behavior

Unlike many of his fellow toons, Roger does not act like a star in his films. Any cartoon superstar worth his weight in cels is always in command of his film. He may face a dangerous adversary. Things may even look dark at times. However, the character always maintains a certain calm and control of the action. Whether it's Bugs' "What's Up, Doc," or Donald's "Oh, yeah?" or Heckle (or Jeckle) stating "hello, ol' bean," these toon superstars are in charge of their destiny. Roger is not.

Roger is more of a reactionary character than a toon of action, similar to an Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam. These characters must always react and defend themselves from the onslaught of Bugs. In Roger's films, he is not controlling the events, merely trying to survive them. One might classify him as a second banana who made it big, another typical aspect of the Eighties live action superstar.

What has given Roger his superstar status is this mish mash of toon elements. Roger is almost an "Everytoon." He encompasses all the things that adults remember and love about cartoons. He is violent, yet somewhat cute. He is fast moving, yet full of expression. He creates numerous disasters, but wants to help. It's as if some giant computer threw all the cartoon characters in the world into a database to create the ultimate toon... and succeeded.

WHO CREATED ROGER RABBIT? One way in which Roger is similar to many Cartoon Superstars is that a number of different creators contributed to his development. However Roger is somewhat unique in that he was inspired by a character in a book.

Who Censored Roger Rabbit, written by Gary Wolf, was published in 1981. Wolf's book was meant to be a surreal spoof of the hard-boiled detective novel, a mixture of Raymond Chandler, Lewis Carroll and Warner Brothers. Roger Rabbit was a six-foot tall rabbit (a height which included his 18-inch ears) who worked for the DeGreasy Brothers. He wore a baggy pair of shorts held up by brightly colored suspenders. His white stomach, nose, toes and palms on a light brown body made him resemble someone who had just walked face first into a freshly painted wall.

Within the first fourth of the book, he is killed. However, earlier that evening he mentally created a duplicate to go out and buy some red suspenders. Toons could create these doppelgangers to perform the dangerous stunts in cartoons. Roger put a large jolt of mental energy into his duplicate so that it will last awhile before it falls apart. The book then becomes a race against time as detective Eddie Valiant and the Roger duplicate try to find out who shot Roger and why, clear Roger of charges in Rocco DeGreasy's murder, and figure out how Jessica fits in to the scheme.

Roger was more a comic strip character than an animated star, although he was still a foil to Baby Herman. When toons talked, dialog balloons physically appeared over their head with the words spelled out, and these balloons eventually disintegrated, leaving fine dust. The motivations and personalities of the major characters like Roger, Jessica and Baby Herman are significantly different than the final feature film versions.

In 1981, the Walt Disney studio optioned the book and put it into production. The talent behind this first attempt was Tom Wilhite, (then) currently head of production, Marc Stirdivant, a studio producer; and Darrell Van Citters, one of Disney's top animation directors. All three were key in developing much of the early Roger material, along with a new member, character designer Mike Giaimo.

This team worked on the project for a few years. It was mentioned as an "upcoming" feature for several years in the Disney company stock holders report. The title changed slightly as the years progressed. Titles mentioned included WHO CENSORED ROGER RABBIT?, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? and simply, ROGER RABBIT. (It was allegedly reported that Disney management felt "censored" was too strong a word and held negative connotations.) As the Eighties moved forward, the Disney studio went through several rough years as executives came and went and various financiers tried to buy the company.

When the dust settled in 1984, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells were now in the driver's seat. Work on Roger had continued under Van Citters, now working on the special project SPORTS GOOFY (which would never see its intended theatrical release). However, the film was no longer an active project.

SPIELBERG STEPS IN

Eisner tried to interest outside talent in various co- productions. One such "talent" was Stephen Spielberg. Looking over a list of properties, Spielberg eyed Roger and requested the film. Suddenly Spielberg was more involved with the feature than Disney. Disney had still planned to do the animation, but Spielberg's Amblin' Productions would be handling the majority of work. (This marriage of studios also makes Roger one of the few Cartoon Superstars to be "joint" property, a situation that greatly influences where and how Roger is allowed to perform.)

For a director, Spielberg chose Robert Zemeckis, who had just finished work on his BACK TO THE FUTURE. As fate often works, Zemeckis had been offered the director's job in 1982 by Wilhite. At the time he turned it down feeling the Disney studio wasn't willing to put the necessary money behind the project. However the new management and Spielberg indicated they now were.

Another one of Spielberg's decisions was that he didn't think the Disney staff of classical animators could meet the frantic needs of Roger. A search began for an animation director. This activity took some time as they looked at any animation director who had done live action and animation. They talked with such talents as diverse as Don Bluth (AN AMERICAN TAIL) and Phil Roman (Garfield commercials). There was even some discussion of setting up a new animation studio in Northern California under the direction of Lucasfilms, which was already set to do the special effects work.

Finally, all parties agreed upon the award winning director Richard Williams. Known for his many classic commercials in Europe and the U.S., Williams had also directed the RAGGEDY ANN AND ANDY (1977) feature. Disney set up Williams in a new studio in London called Disney Animation, Ltd.

Unlike the first team working on the film, Williams was not a major factor in developing the feature. He was only involved with producing the animation. He told Zemeckis, "I am your pencil," and proceeded to follow the live action director's lead.

Production began on the live action sequences in 1987. The live cast included Bob Hoskins, Joanna Cassidy, Christopher Lloyd and Stubby Kaye. Also on hand was the man behind the rabbit, Charles Fleischer. Fleischer, a stand up comic and TV sitcom actor was chosen for the voice of Roger.

Zemeckis and his team of effects men utilized many techniques to enhance the appearance of animated characters reacting with live actors. These included everything from elaborate mechanical puppets to human stand ins. Once this shooting was complete, Williams began to work on his "special effect."

Zemeckis, who thought his work was now done, discovered he would be spending more time watching over the animation. "What I realized," recalled Zemeckis, "was that animators are like actors, and they shouldn't be expected to be directors."

THE ANIMATION OF ROGER RABBIT

Williams' crew worked for six months on the production utilizing animators from around the world. Such talents as James Baxter, Al Gaivoto, Russell Hall (the key artist behind Jessica), Phil Nibbelink, David Spafford and Simon Wells were part of Williams large staff of animators. Williams spent most of his time directing, but did do some animation for the opening Maroon Cartoon. The other artists spent their time animating over the various props, devices, and people. (Some of the shadows of those items can still be seen in the final film.) However, as the deadline neared, it became apparent that the London studio could not handle all the work.

To assist production, Disney hired the Baer Animation Studio, headed up by former Disney animator Dale Baer. The small studio had done a number of animated films for the Disney organization in the past. Baer quickly expanded his staff to include such top animators as Mark Kausler (who had worked with Spielberg, Zemeckis and Williams on storyboards for the film) and Matt O'Callahan and background artists Ron Dias and Michael Humphries. This U.S. crew was responsible for 11 minutes of animation in the feature. This included the entire Toon Town section and the chase with Benny the Cab. They also pitched in and picked up odd scenes throughout the film.

Finally, the 56 minutes of animation were done and Lucasfilm began work on integrating the live action, the animation and computerized shadowing. During the final moments of editing a number of sequences were cut, including one where Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is given a "toon" pig head. This one cut required a few seconds of new animation to be completed only weeks before the debut of the film!

ROGER ARRIVES! WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? opened with one of the fastest, most violent animated sequences in film history; a cartoon called WHAT'S COOKIN'?. The cartoon was more similar to an MGM Tom and Jerry or Warner Brothers cartoon than the traditional Disney efforts. Roger, in his attempt to babysit Baby Herman, was treated to more danger and destruction than in a dozen other cartoons. An entire kitchen became a deadly battlefield. After this breath-taking display of animation, the film suddenly shifted. The animation camera pulled back to find that the cartoon was being shot on a live sound stage. Cartoon characters were real and worked at movie studios just like any live action star.

Taking place in 1947, the film told the story of Roger who is framed for the murder of Marvin Acme, the gag king. Roger goes to detective Eddie Valient (Bob Hoskins) who reluctantly gets mixed up in the mystery that involves the Los Angeles Red Car, more murder, Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), freeways, seductive toons (Roger's wife!), and the destruction of Toon Town (where all toons live).

Much of the story doesn't ring true, and there are a number of historical slips. However the film offers a variety of astounding effects sequences, lively animation (sometimes over animated), and general fun. Considering the mixed history of the film, it's no wonder that many Disney studio executives felt the feature was turning into another HOWARD THE DUCK up until the premiere.

Originally budgeted at around $12 million in the early Eighties, the film finally came in with a cost estimated at over $40 million. However, unlike some top dollar films of the Eighties, every dollar seemed visible in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? Reviews were generally mixed but positive. They were astounded by the technology, but found story and character deficiencies. Audiences fell in love with the feature. The film toppled almost every Disney financial record. ROGER broke theater records around the world. It became the top grossing film that year (over $150 million in the U.S. alone) and one of the top money making features of all time.

The feature received a number of prominent nominations. The Golden Globes nominated it for Best Picture and Best Actor (Hoskins). The script was nominated for best script based on material from another medium by the Writers Guild of America. The Directors Guild nominated Zemeckis for best director. Even Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger, was nominated for best supporting male by the American Comedy Awards. Though it didn't win any of these awards, this was a sign of how well received the film was in the professional community.

However Roger did better at the Oscars. Nominated in a number of categories, it went on to win three Oscars for its technical work. Additionally, an Honorary Oscar for special achievement went to Richard Williams for the "creation" of Roger Rabbit. This makes Roger the second "Oscar winning Rabbit," an honor he shares with Bugs Bunny. (Originally, Roger was scheduled to appear at the Oscar ceremony via animation but was unable to do so due to last minute production problems.)

A NEW STAR IS BORN

Disney, seeing the kind of impact the film was having instantly began promoting the "star" of the film as their newest superstar. The Roger Rabbit costume character began to appear at every major Disney event. He was immediately added to the then in production Mickey Mouse 60th birthday special (1988). Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger, became Disney's newest corporate voice.

The feature had given high exposure to the lost form of the animated short film. Disney decided to try cashing in by producing a series of shorts starring Roger. For this, the studio created a new shorts division within their animation studio. The director chosen for the first new Disney short in almost 30 years was one of their newer talents, Rob Minkoff.

Minkoff and crew began work on the first short, TUMMY TROUBLE in late 1988. The final product was released with the live action HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS in 1989. Once again, Roger was connected with a critically acclaimed, top grossing feature film. Only this time he wasn't part of the film.

TUMMY TROUBLE is largely a remake of the first Maroon Cartoon WHAT'S COOKIN'? (which was never completed in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? due to Roger always blowing his lines). Once again Roger is baby sitting Baby Herman, only this time Roger is somewhat responsible for the predicaments when he hands the baby a rattle. Herman quickly swallows the toy and Roger rushes the tyke to a hospital. True to form, Roger becomes the target for confused doctors, sharp objects and mechanical devices.

Critics were much less impressed with Roger's second outing. His first appearance was meant to remind adults about violent, free wheeling cartoons of the Forties. This second short was a violent, free wheeling cartoon aimed at young children. (A short like TUMMY TROUBLE would never have been allowed on Saturday morning TV.) Animators on the film became angered in 1990 when the short failed to get nominated for an Oscar. However, Disney and Minkoff had already nearly finished the next short, ROLLER COASTER RABBIT.

ROLLER COASTER RABBIT was released in June 1990 with the feature film DICK TRACY. Roger is once again reluctantly assigned to babysit Baby Herman. This time it is at an amusement park and Baby Herman's quest for a red balloon puts Roger in a variety of perils. One memorable incident involves an anatomically suggestive gag involving a bull. The main action takes place on a roller coaster and the sequence is a combination of drawn and computer animation. The story structure is similar to the two previous Maroon Cartoons.

ROGER ON TV!

Though still young in his career, Roger has not missed out on some TV exposure. His enormous success in theaters was followed by a number of TV appearances. These were largely done to keep his face before the public.

In September of 1988 CBS aired ROGER RABBIT AND THE SECRETS OF TOONTOWN. The one-hour special was hosted by Joanna Cassidy, Eddie's girlfriend Dolores, in the feature. It showed how several of the special effects were done, including how the animation was used to cover up the props. There was no new animation done for the show, but Fleischer did some new voice overs to footage from the feature.

His next appearance was on an episode of the Disney TV show which celebrated Mickey's 60th birthday (1988). Roger had a cameo as a bumbling stage hand. Also featured in cameo was Charles Fleischer. In the show, Mickey disappears and a harried Roger tries to help locate the missing mouse. Roger also became part of the opening credits to NBC's WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY.

CO-STARS

In WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? Roger has the opportunity to co- star with some of the biggest names in cartoons: Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Donald Duck, Droopy and more. However, in his regular life, Roger really only has two key co-stars: Jessica and Baby Herman.

Jessica Rabbit, his wife, is one of the sexiest human cartoon characters ever to slink across the screen. She isn't bad, as she declares in the feature, "I'm just drawn that way." Her sultry voice (Kathleen Turner) can coo to her "bunny" or deliver a double entendre with equal ease. In the short subjects she is mainly seen as window dressing, appearing briefly to maintain the relationship. She loves Roger because, "He makes me laugh."

Baby Herman (voice by Lou Hirsch) on screen is an adorable little tyke who baby talks his way to everyone's heart. In reality, he is a cigar smoking, dirty middle age man. In the feature, he is seen much harsher than in the shorts. However, in much of the merchandise, he is often treated as if he were a real baby. (At times almost as if he were Jessica's and Roger's child!) Disney began developing a prime time pilot around Herman as a possible series for 1991.

OUT OF TOON TOWN

Roger, like many new properties and stars received the full backing of licensed merchandise. Roger was available on just about every conceivable item. In 1989, the movie was released on videotape at the sell-through price of $22.95. It sold over 7.9 million copies, a gross of nearly $182 million!

He appeared in several special comic book projects. One was a graphic novel from Marvel comics which told of "The Resurrection of [Judge] Doom." Another offered the story of TUMMY TROUBLE via frame blow-ups from the film! With the start- up of Disney's own line of comic books, Roger was given his own title starting in the Spring of 1990.

The costume character has become one of the most visible at the Disney theme parks. He stars in most of the stage shows as well as appearing in the TV ads for the parks. When Disneyland celebrated their 35th anniversary, Roger was one of only a half dozen characters chosen to be the model for gigantic parade balloons. A new Roger Rabbit ride is planned for the Disney-MGM Studios.

Roger also broke ground by being one of the first animated features to be the subject of an art auction. In June of 1989 Disney held a special auction at Sotheby's in New York. (The gallery is famous for its auctions of classic animation art from the golden era of animation that often set new records in value.) The sale brought in over $1.65 million. One piece, alone brought a bid of $46,000.

SUPERSTAR QUALITY

Roger's ability to immediately cross the line between children and adults has made him unique to most superstars. Few people today "grew up" with Roger Rabbit. But his multiple personalities give a familiarity that few cartoon characters have achieved.

As the ideal toon, Roger will remain the focus of laughter, enjoyment and collectors for a long time. Roger may have been innocent of the murder of Marvin Acme but he definitely killed 'em in the theaters.

CREATOR QUOTES

"The big question was always who would do the animation." - Robert Zemeckis

"Unlike most films, ROGER must be viewed several times to really comprehend all that's going on." - Charles Fleischer

"We violated every rule that these stupid animators developed for working with live action" - Richard Williams

"See you in the funny papers" - Roger Rabbit in Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

"Essentially, Bob [Hoskins] and I had to create an entirely new style of acting on ROGER." - Charles Fleischer

"You see that he's a well meaning disaster, and you like him." - Richard Williams

"He couldn't cope with being a celebrity. He turned moody, conceited, belligerent. So I left him..." - Jessica Rabbit in Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

"I believe we are the only company that could and would do this." - Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of Disney Studios

"All cartoon characters have speech impediments." - Richard Williams

"I can't imagine any one wanting to star Roger in anything. Believe me, the rabbit has absolutely no talent. None." - Jessica Rabbit in Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

"I really don't know how to do just a voice. I have to find the character; know about who he, she or in the case of Roger, it is." - Charles Fleischer