 We're at a point in time where every company, every movie studio wants to have an extended universe featuring a rich tapestry of characters from all the different properties they own. Now when it comes to video games, Fortnite pretty much trounces everyone. They buy out licenses left and right to use different content, different characters in their game, but when it comes to cinema, a movie accomplished just way back in 1988. And that film is Who Framed Roger Rabbit? I'm randomly talking about this movie today because Emmanuel Santiago over on Patreon at patreon.com slash adamdasmovies requested it. And since he's a top tier Patreon, one of the perks he gets is the ability to demand I watch and review something of his pleasure. So thank you Emmanuel for being an awesome Patreon member. Let's talk about Who Framed Roger Rabbit. As I stated, the film came out in 1988, was directed by Robert Zemeckis. Robert Zemeckis, Robert, why does that name sound familiar? I don't know. Could be because he directed one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time, back to the future. Maybe you know him from Forrest Gump, or Castaway, or the live action Pinocchio. Oh that was, that's not a good example. He has gone downhill lately, I'll say that, but man the guy was a legend back in the day. With Who Framed Roger Rabbit, just being one of his many amazing hits. I've seen it probably four or five times. I just showed my kids it recently. They both liked it too. And I'm incredibly fascinated that we somehow got Warner Brothers and Disney characters in the same picture. It just will never happen again. The fact that it happened at all is incredible. Steven Spielberg's to thank for that. I looked it up. I did some research, but I encourage you to, if you're really interested, there's tons of videos and tons of articles about how this went down with Amblin Entertainment and Disney. Anyway, the film takes place in Old Hollywood in 1947, where humans and cartoons coexist. Cartoons are just known as tunes in this for shorthand. And I have to say, the way this movie blends live action and animation is still top tier. I just rewatched it. It looks fantastic. The way the lighting and shadow bounces off these characters, how they're seamlessly interwoven into sequences. You compare this to something modern like the new Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers crap show that was on Disney Plus. It's night and day. You can tell there was artistry and craft put into every single frame of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, especially that one upskirt frame we get of Jessica Rabbit later in the movie. Yeah, when I was a kid, I would take the VHS tape. VHS tape. Wow. That's depressing. I would meticulously go frame by frame through that scene where she's flipping out of the car and spinning around in her dress. And yeah, it was there. It was there. As crazy as the merging of characters was, the plot is even more insane. I think this is a movie catered to all ages. I mean, you have Dumbo flying around, you have Mickey and Bugs in here. Yet the film is very dark. It's a whodunit murder mystery where Roger Rabbit is framed for killing the head of Acne Corporation by dropping a freaking safe on his head. The late Bob Hoskins takes lead here as Eddie Valiant, a washed out cop turned private eye. He has to figure out if Roger is actually responsible for this or who the real culprit is. This takes him to the seedy underbelly of Hollywood where we get some fantastic sequences like the piano duel between Daphne and Donald Duck, my favorite moment of the picture. We have these two animated characters going off on the piano. Things are exploding. There's penguins walking around with trays of drinks. The penguins are animated. The trays are real. It's so good how they set this stuff up. Eddie Valiant is incredibly no-nonsense. He's rough and tumble. He hates toons because brother was killed by one. He's gonna be teaming up with Roger Rabbit, who's incredibly off the wall insane. He's obnoxious. He's annoying. He's an old school cartoon character to a T, like Woody Woodpecker combined with bonkers, combined with Daphne Duck. Like it's like the worst of all these characters wrapped into one. And Charles Fleischer, who voices the rabbit, knocks it out of the park here. I just rewatched this movie and I still couldn't believe what I was seeing. How is this movie made? There's a freaking talking baby who smokes and sounds like he just got done with two tours in Iraq. He's swearing. He's looking up women's dresses. He's incredibly crass. Love the character. Then you have freaking Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit, dear God. This is a character that turned me into a man overnight. I think I was 10 when I saw this film. I grew up real quick that day. Kathleen Turner provides that lovely baritone voice while Amy Irving did the actual singing number. Honestly, how was this movie made? I remember going to Disney World when I was a kid and there was a giant cutout statue of Jessica Rabbit. I have a photo of my dad standing next to her arm around her, thumbs up. I can't think of anything more lame and awesome at the same time. Jessica Rabbit is a dream come true for men all over the place and probably some lesbians out there. It's a beautiful character and one that would go on to be inspired by fake bodies on TikTok to this day. Last and not least is the always amazing Christopher Lloyd as the villain. We got fester in this movie, people. We have Doc in this movie. And again, this is where I sit back and scratch my head thinking, who is this movie for? The plot is so complex for a child to comprehend. Roger Rabbit's framed for killing Acme because there's photos that came out of Acme playing Patty Cake with his wife, Jessica. Jessica's being unfaithful. Roger's jealous. So obviously, he's going to drop some hurt on the guy, right? Wrong. It turns out Christopher Lloyd's character, Judge Doom, that doesn't set off a red flag or seven. I don't know what would, he and his Toon Goon set this whole thing up. But why do this? Why set this in motion? Well, it's obvious. It's because he wanted to set up a new highway system that ran through Toontown, stripping that thing out completely where he could put gas stations and fast food restaurants, things of that nature. And he needed Acme out of the picture so that he could become a major player. Dude's a creepy ass dude. When he takes off his costume and we find out he's a Toon himself with creepy red eyes and a freaky ass unnatural voice, that's super high pitch. It sounds like Fred from YouTube back in the day. Remember Fred? Remember VHS and Fred? Oh my god, what is happening in my life? There's just so much to appreciate here, from the practical effects being married so seamlessly with that animation, to the brilliant introduction to the movie where it looks like one of those old school Looney Toons episodes. We see Roger Rabbit starring in his hit show trying to keep a baby alive. It has a very Tom and Jerry style of feel to it. And this 2D, 3D hybrid animation they use is beautiful. You could have done a whole movie like this and I would have been all in. But then when they pull back the curtain and we see the birds around his head and the director come out and yell at him because they're supposed to be stars, it's so freaking awesome. Then Roger Rabbit just walks right off the set. Like they were filming in front of a live studio audience. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. There's a fully animated Toontown that Eddie visits. We have this LA noir style to everything. It's set in an interesting era of Hollywood with great production design, costumes, everything is working in this. The movie is wholly creative. I love every moment of it. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was an instant classic when it came out. Holy unique. Everyone should see this movie if they haven't. It might not even be something you enjoy, but it's something you'll appreciate. And that's what it's all about here. It's about making movies that are different, that stand out, that withstand the test of time. And after just rewatching this film, I can safely say it does. Thanks again to Emmanuel Santiago for recommending this movie. If you want to recommend one, please head over to Patreon.com AdamDoesMovies, become that top tier member. It's not that much money. You could only do it for one month if you want. I think it's 30 bucks. 30 bucks gets you a full review of a film. Not a bad deal, I think. If you really like what I'm doing and you don't have that much mula on hand, there's also a dollar tier, a five dollar, and that gives you access to 300 plus exclusive videos from my second channel that are private. They're only for Patreons and YouTube join members. Anyway, thanks for watching. What do you think of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Leave a comment below. Let me know. Like the video if you had a good time. Check me out on different platforms like Twitch.tv slash AdamDoesMovies. I'm also on TikTok. I have a merch store. I'm around. There's a link tree in the description. And hopefully, I'll see you around. Man, I'm honestly surprised Who Framed Roger Rabbit hasn't been ruined with the sequel. I know he was in the Chip and Dale movie, but oh my god. Imagine what Disney Plus would do to dishonor that movie. They would just ruin it so badly. Hopefully Zemeckis can keep that from happening like he has been with Back to the Future. They haven't touched that movie because Robert Zemeckis refuses. And I appreciate the man for that.