A discussion on Roger Rabbit 2/The Stooge

Even when they were making Who Framed Roger Rabbit, they were thinking of ideas for a second film. The biggest idea was to explain the whole idea that Roger became famous in the 30's and when he met and married Jessica. The first idea was Who Discovered Roger Rabbit. The plot was that Eddie Valiant and Roger were trying to uncover more of our favorite rabbit's past, with it also being a musical. One song was later recorded by the original singing voice for Jessica, Amy Irving.





The other idea was a movie called Toon Platoon. It was a story that happened before the first movie, or prequel. The story goes that Roger's mother left him on the doorstep of a human couple in Kansas. He never knew he was a Toon until they told him once he turned 18. Other plotlines include meeting Jessica, Jessica getting kidnapped by Nazis and becoming the Toon version of Tokyo Rose and an assasination attempt on Franklin Roosevelt. It was written by Animaniacs writers Sherri Stoner and Diana Oliver.

BUT.... there was footage that is now very well known of a CG test for Roger.



 Now, we hear talk of a remake of the Martin and Lewis film The Stooge, which I have high and low expectations for. It will bring back Roger, which is the high expectations..... now time to hear the LOW expectations.

In February of 2013, Disney shut down the 2D animation department of the studio, instead going with nothing but CG animation from now on. In fact, rumor has it that Pixar got the rights to do The Stooge. Now you may be thinking: "This might ruin our hopes for any new 2D material that we can own!" Well, yes. But let's not forget that even Toontown can shine brighter with a bit of hope.

New Roger Rabbit posters!

Good news everyone!
Our good friend Gary Wolf has revealed some new concept art for The Stooge and new Roger Rabbit shorts. Movieweb.com has posted four new posters made by Douglas Sirois.
Along with the posters you'll also find a brief interview Movieweb did with Gary Wolf where he spills some more details. The movie will be set in Disneyland and will feature none other than Walt Disney and Orson Welles, brought back to life with motion-capture.

First draft drawings of “Roger Rabbit”

Sometimes I wander into eBay just for looking all the neat stuff related to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” that’s on sale or auction. Usually I find the very same stuff that we know already (plush dolls, exclusive figurines and statues, pins, posters and rare collectibles) but once in a while I find something that really gets my interest. The above drawings are one of those things.

As you already know, movie rights for “Who Censored Roger Rabbit” were bought by Disney back in 1981 and there were plans to film a blockbuster feature based in the novel, until the project lost some steam and was shelved –only to be rescued in 1985, fully revamped and backed up by Steven Spielberg and Michael Eisner. The drawings on the following eBay auction are supposedly some of the first drafts of the main characters from the still heavily-based-on-novel project:

1988 (sic) Original First Draft Drawings of Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Although they’re actually photocopies and the seller is wrong on the year they were probably sketched, those drawings are actually great and help us to get the whole idea of how several of the characters we know did look back in the early stages of pre-production.

If you plan to get them, better hurry! =)

Richard LeParmentier (Lt. Santino and Admiral Motti) dies at 66 years old

As reported by Daily Mail Online, Richard LeParmentier (who Roger Rabbit fans know as the Lt. Santino, and Star Wars fans know as Admiral Motti) passed away yesterday. He was only 66 years old, and the circumstances about his death are still unknown.

Farewell, Mr. LeParmentier. May your soul rest in peace.

Thanks to our own Daniel Kimbrell for the tip.

Roger Rabbit cast and crew interview

I found this video over at Oscars.org where several of the cast and crew were interviewed for the film's 25th anniversary.
 

Roger Rabbit back at Disneyland!

Remember that post in which we speculated about Roger Rabbit being back at the Disney parks?

Well, speculate no more: HE IS INDEED BACK!!

Disney Echo shared a couple of pics in which the Roger Rabbit costumed character makes his comeback to Disneyland (click on the links for the pictures). It’s maybe for a limited time, but it’s nice to see good old Roger back again =)

The Who Framed Roger Rabbit Bluray release

Daniel here.


I preordered the Blu-ray for Roger Rabbit in February, hoping for bigger things in store, not just the definition, but new things. I was hoping for everything to be sunnier in Toontown, hoping that with the movie back on store shelves, it would bring new fans. I still hope that.

But, there's some bits that you should know. If you want to know the special features besides the Hi-def versions of the three Roger Rabbit shorts, there's also the Before and After of Toontown feature, a thing explaining the Toon-stand ins, a commentary recorded years ago, and a few other things also from the 15th anniversary DVD set. Basically, the only difference is that it's in a better quality, the shorts were restored, and they put new menus and a loading screen with Roger's bowtie spinning.

And if you have both the 15th anniversary DVD set and the Blu-ray DVD pack, you basically have the same thing. The DVD for the Blu-ray is the first disc of the 15th anniversary set repackaged without the film reel look.

I have not lost faith in this set. Because of it I saw a few things I didn't notice before. Like, when Eddie Valiant is in the elevator, and it's speeding up, in one shot you can see an outline of The Road Runner, and a few seconds later you can see an outline of Wile E. Coyote.


With news of The Stooge, I hope they will do more with the characters of Roger and Jessica. But right now, it looks a little bit lessened.