"It's
the story of a man, a woman, and a rabbit in a triangle of trouble."-- the tagline for the film.
Eddie Valiant
Created by Gary
K. Wolf (1941 --)
"It's
the story of a man, a woman, and a rabbit in a triangle of trouble."And now for something completely different:
In Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, the 1981 novel (my copy calls it a "cult classic" though I wouldn't go that far), we meet EDDIE VALIANT, your typical 1940's-era garden variety P.I., a down-and-out ex-cop with a drinking problem and a sad story.
But writer Gary Wolf gave Eddie and his world a little spin: in this Los Angeles, cartoon and comic strip characters ("toons") live side-by-side with humans. In this surreal romp, toons walk the streets, word balloons spouting from their mouths, drinking booze from bottles marked XXX, getting stuffed into trombones, run over by steamrollers and all those other fun things toons do.
In the novel, Eddie is hired by comic strip second bannana Roger Rabbit to find out why his employers, the DeGreasy Brothers, a sleazy owners of a cartoon syndicate, have reneged on a promise to give Roger his own strip. It's all more than a little disorienting, and as I pointed out, frustratingly inconsistent at times. It's still a hell of an idea, but definitely not for everyone.
In One Hundred and One Knights (1985), Baker and Neitzel said,
"This strange and surreal novel is neither satire nor parody. Exactly what it really is is a good question. If you can accept this nonsensical casting and go along with your critical senses numbed and in suspended animation, maybe you can overcome your disorientation long enough to finish it. For Wolf's sake, we hope some readers find it funny. Apparently some did because recent word has it that disney productions has purchased the film rights and intends to film it. Such courage is admirable."
They forgot profitable, because the eventual film, Who Framed Rogar Rabbit, released in 1988, starring Bob Hoskins as Eddie, and the voice of Charles Fleischer as Roger, was a huge critical and commercial success. Rarely has a film so completely overshadowed the source material.
While Wolf's vision on paper was at times clunky, inconsistent and hard to picture, the film smashes right through those limitations by showing, not telling. Though Wolf's vision was certainly original, it took big bucks (Speilberg! Disney!) and the state-of-the-art magic of Hollywood to make it all come true. Spielberg managed to streamline Wolf's vision, getting rid of those annoying word balloons (too gimmicky by half) replacing them, in an inspired bit of big name clout, with the ultimate collection of classic cartoon stars, from a slew of studios (including Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Fleischer and Universal). They're all here: Betty Boop, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy Dog, and all the rest. Imagine! Mickey and Bugs Bunny together in the same scene! Daffy Duck and Donald Duck quacking away indecipherably, playing a piano duet that soon becomes an arms race. Droopy manning an elevator! A tired, over-the-hill Betty Boop serving up drinks. For anyone who grew up watching cartoons, it's pure heaven to see all these old favourites again.
And the originals are just as good. Roger is a stuttering, sputtering, hyperactive, accident-prone mess. His co-star in cartoons is the pint-sized, diaper-wearing, foul-mouthed, cigar-chomping Baby Herman, and then there's the anotamically over-correct Jessica Rabbit. She should be ridiculous, but she's possibly the sexiest woman ever to over-stuff a dress. you know that cliche about legs up to here? Hers go further.
And boy, do they all these characters look good. As Leonard Maltin points out, this is an "incredible blend of live-action and animation" that allows us to "believe that Roger and his cartoon colleagues actually exist."
For years there were rumours that the publication of a sequel, Who Ordered Delancy Duck?, was imminent, but it took until 1991 and the film's success for the sequel, Who P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit, to finally appear. And the book definitely takes note of the movie's success and clever use of name-dropping. In the sequel, Eddie is hired by Roger to find out whether Clark Gable's beaten him out for the lead in Gone With the Wind (Baby Herman's also in contention for the role) and by Gable, who wants Eddie to find out who's been planting tabloid stories that say he's gay.
And did I mention Jessica?
THE EVIDENCE
UNDER OATH
NOVELS
FILM
Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Bless you, Mr. Powell, for reminding me that sometimes an exploding cigar is just an exploding cigar.
