The Who Framed Roger Rabbit Influence

Last weekend, I think it was late on a Saturday or Sunday night, I decided to watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit that I had stored up on the DVR. There has been a bit of uptick in the interest of the movie now that it hit its 25th Anniversary and over the years I have probably seen the Robert Zemeckis film probably 6 - 8 times, The live action film that prominently features multiple cartoon characters is nothing short of genius in creative film making. This was Zemeckis at his best as his Forrest Gump has not seemed to have held over time the way Roger Rabbit (and Back to the Future) have.

The film was enormously important for Disney. Disney animation in the late 80's had gone down the tubes and few people seemed to care about the weak animated efforts Disney put out during that time. The glory days of Disney Animation were long gone. But Disney thought they had something with Roger Rabbit and they proved to be right with the help of producer Steven Spielberg who was brought into the project. Because of some internal conflicts, much of the animation was done in England and the film went way, way over budget. But once the film was released, it was gold and a huge critical and commercial hit..

With Roy Disney leading the way and new success infused into Disney Animation, Roger Rabbit paved the way for the next Disney renaissance in animated films. The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast were all made because of the success of Roger Rabbit and the return of great Disney animation.

Now it is true, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is not pure Disney as many people know it. It was a murder mystery about an alcoholic detective that featured a swearing cigar smoking baby and female animated lead that had no issue in exposing her long curvy lines. I won't post them here but there are animated scenes in Roger Rabbit that would be considered a very hard R rated if you looked at the frozen stills. In the movie, the provocative scenes of Jessica Rabbit go by so quickly in animation that questionable scenes are invisible to the naked eye. You can see them if you dig into Google a bit. Since Roger Rabbit wasn't even close to G rating, it was released through a Disney's Touchstone Pictures (and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment).

We all now about ToonTown in Disneyland and how it came to be after the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in the early 90's. As colorful and whimsical ToonTown looks and really captures the visual aspect of the film, I'm one of those guys who rather see the space be put to better use. With the exception of the great Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin ride, the rest of ToonTown is more style over substance. There's just not that much there.

What surprised me the most after watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit is how much Buena Vista Street and Hollywood Land now reflect scenes from that movie. Some or the areas in the Disney California Adventure entrance are almost spot on with the movie which isn't really mentioned in Disney Blogs and websites very often. So it's not just ToonTown the carries the Roger Rabbit influence. Watch the movie and take a walk from the DCA entrance to the Tower of Terror. You will see the L.A. street scenes of the 30's that pop right out of the movie. Again, Disney's attention to detail is nothing short of amazing.

As I was watching the movie last weekend my father-in-law got up out of bed and came into the living room to watch the movie with me.  After about 5 minutes of viewing Roger Rabbit he blurted out "What the hell is this garbage...." It must be a generational thing. Despite his objecting, I kept on watching and we eventually got to a shirtless Bob Hoskins. "My god, that's the hairiest man I ever saw." He might be right about that.

The Day Mickey Mouse Burst My Bubble

Mickey Mouse's House - ToonTown - DIsneyland

I may have brought this up before in this blog, can't really recall, but since today is my birthday and I'm getting older, repeating myself sort of comes with the territory. Anyway, this little tidbit is about a trip I made to Disneyland back in 2006. I flew down with my sister and two of my nieces along two of their small children for a weekend get-away. Even though it was a very quick trip, flying down early Saturday morning and returning Sunday evening, it was something we needed to do after a particularly hard month for the extended family. 

And we had a great time during our short visit. You can get a lot done in Disneyland in a short amount of time if you really put your mind to it. And one of the things we did was take the kids to Mickey's House in ToonTown. Even if you are an adult, its something everyone should do simply because the place is whimsical, delightful, and quite charming. Its also much larger than you think. 

Getting Mickey's Autograph

I'm sure I've mentioned this before as well, but I am not really a "Disney character" kind of guy but then again, I'm XX years old and not 6 years old. And I will admit that Disney characters walking or standing around really add to the overall atmosphere of the park, but down deep, I can kind of take or leave them. I remember one year where it seems that every time I turned around, I was looking at the Mad Hatter. He was everywhere. Ever since that day I associate the Mad Hatter with the word "annoying".

Anyway, Mickey Mouse is the king character of the place so you have to give him his due, at least I thought he was king. So there we all were in Mickey's house, meandering through the various rooms, waiting for the kids to meet up with Mickey himself. My great niece had her official Disneyland autograph book along with one of those giant pencils and the tuxedo clad Mickey was only too happy to sign it along with allowing us a chance to take a few photos (or have an official Disney $$$ photo taken).

After all was said and done and we were on our out, I looked at Mickey's autograph and was immediately somewhat stunned at the lovely flowing cursive penmanship of the great mouse. "Wait a minute" I thought. "No guy writes like that - ever" "Mickey Mouse underneath was really a girl". Wow! For an old Disneyland guy like me, that was quite a discovery. Another bubble just got burst. So came the realization that in order to play the role of Micky Mouse (or Donald or Goofy or Chip or xxxx) in Disneyland, you don't necessarily need to be of the same gender. The most important job requirement is apparently - whoever you are - you just need to fit the costume.

Another picture from Mickey's House - Nothing to do with Mickey
I just like it because I often wear the same expression in Disneyland

A Closer Look At - Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin

Well, yesterday marked the twenty fourth anniversary of the release of the Robert Zemeckis Touchstone / Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I remember seeing it at the theaters with my nephew and and still remember it as being one of my favorite experiences seeing a movie in a theater. It would have to be if I remember seeing something 24 years ago. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great movie. It hasn't carried itself well over time with now dated technology but for the period it was made, it was really something to see blending live action characters and story with classic animated characters.

The movie was a huge success, so much of a success that Disney decided to build a whole land based on ToonTown, the alternate universe town where cartoon characters actually live - all of them. And on the surface of it, ToonTown at Disneyland looks amazing and for the most part is a delight for children with its never ending stream of interactive gags and props along with an always present supply of classic walk around Disney characters. We can excuse the fact that Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a movie that small children should probably not see with it being a murder mystery with a gumshoe detective with a drinking problem, a cigar smoking cantankerous baby, and a voluptuous animated female lead with an "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" sultry attitude. But ToonTown, the home of Mickey Mouse in Disneyland, continues to delight its many visitors. Adults without kids may be bored because beyond the colorful building facades, there just isn't much there. Except. The cornerstone of ToonTown is the great dark ride Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin which comes right out of the movie. It may be Disneyland's best traditional dark ride filled with colorful scenes you pass by in your interactive taxi cab ride vehicle which you can actually spin. Over the years, I've dropped the spinning part. Sometimes you spend so much time, effort, and concentration spinning the darn thing that you miss some of the story going on around you. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin also has one of Disneyland's best queue lines filled with jokes and puns. You need the entertainment value as the line for the ride can get pretty long. It also has a fast pass option. The one drawback of a great ride like RRCS being in ToonTown is the place opens later and closes earlier than the rest of Disneyland so the ride's operating hours are shorter. The ride itself is contained in a huge show building that is outside of the Disneyland park limits. This isn't a Fantasyland dark ride which ends in a minute or two. RRCS has a bit more length to it - not mention that on hot days, it is nice and cool in there.

Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland because it drips with creativity, imagination, and color. You could take ToonTown out tomorrow (like they did in WDW) and I wouldn't care but leave the Cartoon Spin behind (and Mickey's House too, that's pretty cool).

For me, it's a great D-Ticket attraction. Here is a Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin ride through from the Disneyland HD videographer Asianjma123. Enjoy your spin....

  

A Closer Look At - Mickey's House

If you think Mickey's House in ToonTown is just a place to take your kids for a meet and greet with the mouse himself, guess again. Mickey's House is a Disney delight for young and old, charmingly themed, colorful, whimsical, interesting, and brilliantly imagineered. Indeed, adult visitors to the park have little use for ToonTown EXCEPT the great Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin dark ride and Mickey's House. An adult Disneyland guest that visits the parks frequently doesn't need to stop by Mick's place on every visit but every once in awhile, it is a real treat reminding you what it is to be young again and remembering that "it all started with a mouse".

At the end of the self-paced house tour, providing he isn't out and about somewhere else in Disneyland (supposedly characters are not allowed to be in two places at the same time in the park so schedules are rigidly set up and computerized) Mickey's House provides the best photo opportunity for the classic Mickey Mouse photograph with both an official Disneyland photo (available for purchase of course) or just take your own. Mickey will also sign autograph books. It's funny, he signed the autograph books for my great niece and nephew. I looked at the autograph, that was girl's handwriting for sure. It should also be pointed out that Minnie's House is right next door. It is considerably smaller that Mickeys.

Again, thanks to Asianjma123 and his fantastic YouTube videos, you too can take take a walk through Mickey's House. Have fun.