Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Zemeckis is pulling the rabbit out of the hat?

Oh my God, OH MY GOD!! And I thought I wouldn’t find any exciting news about Roger Rabbit tonight:

AWN - Zemeckis Thinking About Roger Rabbit 2

Yes folks, you read right: Robert Zemeckis (director of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Back To The Future” trilogy) is giving a very serious thought at “Roger Rabbit 2”!! At first I thought it was one of the usual rumors that we’re very used to, but then I saw the following video on MTV Videos… Zemeckis in person is wondering about how current technical achievements could bring Roger Rabbit back from his retirement, in a brand new story not related to the previous prequel attempts:

A funny part is when the interviewer begs Zemeckis: “please, do it now”. And I’m very agree with him: p-p-p-p-p-p-p-please Zemeckis, DO IT NOW!!

More from “Almendra”

Tonight I found another video from the peruvian kids show “Almendra”, in which Roger Rabbit and Mickey Mouse are doing serious mischief in the set, although Roger is prominently featured. You don’t need to understand what is happening, since it’s clearly visible that Roger had a lot of fun with that small bucket, soaking everyone that got in his way XD

Undoubtedly, Roger stole the show that day =3

Monday, April 27, 2009

Roger Rabbit Pinata

In Mexico pinatas are a very old and beloved tradition, and they are present in every children’s birthday party. When “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was premiered in Mexico under the name “Quién Engañó a Roger Rabbit”, it was an instant hit and was played in cinemas for at least half year (from July to December 1988). Many products from the movie were sold at that time, mainly stickers, keychains, clothing and novelty items (there were some toys and plush dolls, but they were imported illegally to our country by small contrabandists known as “fayuqueros”). Of course, there were a lot of unofficial products, and one of them were pinatas for children parties; here is a picture that one of my friends sent me some time ago, in which he’s about to smack a Roger Rabbit pinata:

Here’s a closeup, in which you can appreciate it better:

In some way, it’s sad that there were children smacking and destroying those poor Roger Rabbit pinatas in their parties. But when you are a children, you don’t really care about beating your favorite character: you care about the candy inside the pinata XD

Roger looked nice, hope he made a lot of children happy that day =3

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Hopes are not dead yet

Lately I’ve written my blog entries in a sad, hopeless mood. You know as well as I how difficult is being a Roger Rabbit fan, when almost no one cares about him. I’ve been thinking about that the entire week, and even I was in a very emotional mood last night, since I felt pretty alone (although I know you’re with me in this, Ayaka-imouto-chan and Alexander) and I have a lot of things to share about the rabbit, but sometimes seems that there is no place for us.

Today, a close friend of mine sold me a new Roger Rabbit doll for my collection. He’s a cutie, but his hair is cut to the half and he doesn’t speaks anymore. I decided to keep Roger with me, holding him in my right arm (just like in my own photographs), and take a stroll with him and my friend.

I really was amazed about how many children recognized him and shouted: “Look, it’s Roger Rabbit!!” And I’m talking about several children from 6 to 9 years old, that knew about Roger Rabbit even when his own movie is 20 years old!!

That experience brought me two things: a very much needed smile, and a great feeling of hope. Not just a small light, but a really huge thing. If those kids know about Roger is because they have enjoyed his movie, laughed with him and fell in love with him. And since the reruns of the movie are constant and persistent, at least in Mexico and Latin America, probably more children will know about “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and its lovable characters.

So, fellas, hopes are not dead yet. Sorry for making you feel sad about Roger Rabbit; he surely want us to smile, and for that reason, from this right moment I’ll be smiling :)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Un lindo día

I found this video today at Youtube. It seems that it’s from a peruvian vintage kids show named “Almendra” (after its hostess, Almendra Gomelsky), and probably was broadcasted between 1994-1996. She’s singing what appears to be the opening song from the show, and while she sings Roger Rabbit and Mickey Mouse costumed characters dance and jump along with her. Just look at Roger, he’s all cheerful and bouncing with joy from side to side!!

There are a lot of Roger close-ups, so I strongly recommend you to watch this video (even if you don’t speak spanish); hope this remind us the time when Roger Rabbit was as great as Mickey Mouse… Times that are sadly gone forever.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Feelin’ sad for Roger

Today I was searching for some new info related to Roger Rabbit, and then I stumbled upon this blog, with some scans from the ticket of the world premiere of “Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin” (the wacky, spinning attraction based on Roger’s movie) on Mickey’s Toontown.

Then I read a comment that got my nerves:

Did Disney really think Roger Rabbit was going to be the next Mickey Mouse? The movie was good, but, something about it seemed uninspired to me. I think that uninspired feeling translated right into Toontown and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

WHAT’S THE FRIGGIN’ DEAL WITH THIS GUY??

I mean, Roger was in fact BIGGER than Mickey Mouse in the late 80’s and early 90’s. He was prominently featured in Mickey’s 60th anniversary TV special, even he had a huge role in Walt Disney’s World 20th. anniversary. People had to watch movies like “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”, “Dick Tracy” and “A Far-Off Place” just for having the privilege of enjoy the latest Roger Rabbit animated shorts. HE WAS EVERYWHERE, and Disney knew it.

What happened with Roger, then? The story is well known: Steven Spielberg (Amblin) and Michael Eisner (Disney) got issues about the choice of the movies that would need the boost of a Roger Rabbit animated short (ultimately, Disney won) and Spielberg wasn’t agree with some stuff about merchandising, royalties and usage of the characters from the movie. At that point, Roger was losing momentum and, instead of settling down all those issues, Spielberg and Eisner abandoned Roger and forgot about him. There were several attempts for bringing Roger back, but they were also too expensive for making a quick profit (fortunately, we didn’t have to suffer a lame Roger Rabbit “cheapquel”, I mean, a cheap straight-to-video release). Add to the mix the lawsuit between Disney and Gary Wolf (the real creator of Roger Rabbit, his friends and the Toontown concept) for unpaid royalties and the final result is one of the biggest messes in Hollywood’s history. For short: as of today, Roger Rabbit is lost in legal limbo.

How do I feel about this, being a big Roger Rabbit fan? Well… Most of the time I think how things would be if Roger had enough support for surviving the 90’s. I mean: Bonkers’ cartoon was supposed to be Roger Rabbit’s debut on saturday morning shows, and there was a great script for filming a prequel of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” that was discarded in favor of a softer, more “Broadway-themed” script (that also was discarded as well). Big plans for launching a zany, sweet and lovable rabbit to the stars and beyond, that got ruined by corporate issues.

I’m sad about this. Sad and disappointed. All we can get of Roger Rabbit and his pals today are those uninspired pins, some shirts with Jessica Rabbit on them, those incredibly expensive resin figures, and the occasional re-runs of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” on TV. That’s not enough for me and for many of us that love the rabbit. He deserves more than this. He deserves a second chance. Even some little kids know about Roger and love him, despite the fact they can’t have dolls in the shape of the rabbit for playing with him.

Maybe the world don’t need Roger Rabbit anymore.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Honey Bunny


Honey Bunny - Custom by ~bunnyfriend on deviantART

P-p-p-p-please, take a look to my most recent work of restoration!! It involves a very beaten Roger Rabbit doll, some skills… And a lot of love and kisses (literally) X3

Just click on the image or the link below the image =D

Walking Bimbo Bear

Today I bought a very, very rare walking Bimbo bear. As you might remember from a former entry, Bimbo (the most known brand of bakeries in Latin America) gave several years ago a lot of cute plush bears as purchase gifts, and past January I got a plush bear in excellent condition.

This time, I got one of the holy grails in mexican collecting circles: the most sought of all Bimbo bears, the walking one. Unfortunately I couldn’t get him walking (I replaced the batteries and his mechanism still works, but maybe some piece is broken and he can’t walk or swing his hands), but still he has all his tags and despite the lack of his bread loaf under his arm, this bear is complete and in pristine condition.

Incredibly I got him for just $5 pesos!! (less than 40 dollar cents) Now that’s what I call a great deal =D

Look at his size, compared to my another Bimbo bear:

P.S. Yup: that’s my PC monitor in the background, displaying Roger Rabbit =3

IMMA BACK GUISE

Well… I decided to came back and rescue “Toontown Antics” from oblivion, and I must say: that feels soooooooooooo good =3

Maybe this little journal is not the most read of the whole internets. Maybe there aren’t enough Roger Rabbit fans out there. Maybe I collect stuff or talk about things you don’t have interest on. But I’ll try to do my best for improving this blog and giving you the best from me. After all, all of us need a place for laughs, and “Toontown Antics” is that place for me.

P-p-p-p-p-p-please, tell me what do you want to read in this blog, and I’ll hear your requests; after all, I have very long and floppy ears =D