Roger Rabbit’s Toontown issue 1 – Part 1

Thanks to our fellow friend Alexander, we can enjoy the first issue of Roger Rabbit’s Toontown: a comic entirely based on Roger Rabbit and his friends, about their antics in Toontown. It features 3 stories: the main one based on Roger Rabbit, the second one involves Baby Herman, and the last one features Jessica Rabbit. Be warned though: this comic is as non-sensical as you can get, so you’ll laugh a lot while reading it!! =D

Right now I’m uploading the main story, which involves Roger Rabbit in a very crazy adventure involving some talking pants… And a lot of flying pizzas!

Every thumbnail is clickable, and will open in a new window:

 

Stay tooned for the next stories, in the following updates =3 

P.S. Thanks a lot, Alexander, for the comic scans and the cheer-up messages!!

Goodbye, Roger Rabbit :’)

Hi. Roger Rabbit. It has been a long time since I wrote a letter to you.

Sadly, this is my last letter.

More than two years and a half ago, you entered my life and enlightened it with your smile, your crazy antics, and your cheerful way of living your own life. At that time, I really needed you. I was at some hard moment in my own life, and I desperately needed a role model. Someone that inspired me to achieve better things, and helped me to improve what was wrong with me.

Now I’m a very different person, thanks to you. You’ve shown me how much a smile worth. How much can simple practical jokes and bad puns help us to keep going ahead. How much are you committed to your own goal, that’s making people laugh. At any cost. Even risking your own life. You’ve shown me how to be a little kid again.

But now, it’s time to say goodbye to you.

Your goal was accomplished on me. Now I can smile to anyone, even to people that quite don’t understand me, or criticize me. Now I know when pull out some joke for making people laugh, even for making myself laugh. Now I’m very committed to my own goal, which is the daily improvement of my abilities, for helping people around me to be happy and satisfied with my work. And, of course, having my own family and kids.

You did it quite right, Roger Rabbit, and I really thank you for all your help and all the laughs I got from you. Now, it’s time to move on to bigger things… Without you.

What I really mean is: you’re now part of my life. You’ll always live in my place, in my office, in my car… But also you’ll be living in my soul, in my mind and in my heart. You’re now part of my happiness. But I can’t rely on you every time I have some issues at work, in home or in my personal life. I can’t let you to take all the sadness out of me, without helping you in such task. You can’t keep taking all the damage I’ve done to you when I felt desperate, in anger, or just disappointed with the whole world.

I can’t rely my whole happiness to you. I need to do it on my own.

So… Thanks for all the good moments, Roger Rabbit. My sweet little bunny. Thanks also for those weird antics, and for the bad moments we’ve lived together. Everything was part of our mutual life, but right now I need to move away from you, get on my own red pants with suspenders, tie my own polka-dotted bow, and grow my own pair of floppy ears. I need to become a full fledged adult, and take the command of my own life. I can’t keep living through you, living behind your shadow, because that’s not fair to you and me. Instead I’d like to live my own quirky antics, having you as my goofy sidekick. Of course, if you want it.

Well… You know it, Roger Rabbit. This is the end of the road. The epilogue. The Grand Finale. But I really thank you from the deep of my heart for all the fun, the laughs, the smiles and, of course, the hope you gave me through those late years. Just I wanted you to know that:

I love you Roger Rabbit. I really, REALLY love you. And I’ll never forget you.

Farewell, sweet rabbit :’)

+++++

Don’t worry fellas! I’ll keep running Toontown Antics and updating this journal with the latest news about Roger Rabbit and his pals. I just needed to do this, and move ahead in my own life. After all, Roger Rabbit is already part of me, and will be forever =3

Zemeckis’ new project: Yellow Submarine remake

Robert Zemeckis and Disney are in the last agreements about a CGI, MoCap remake of the psychodelical, classic animated feature inspired in some of the most remarkable Beatles’ songs from the late sixties. Yes, I’m talking about Yellow Submarine:

What does this means? Yes, you guessed right: forget about the Roger Rabbit sequel for a while. This kinda saddens me, but in the other hand I’m very eager to watch a contemporary rendition of one of the weirdest animated movies I’ve seen in my life.

You can read the original note on The Disney Blog:

The Disney Blog - Disney, Zemeckis rumored to remake Beatles classic

Well… Right now I have mixed feelings. We were TOO CLOSE to finally having a Roger Rabbit sequel, and right now is going away like the past times it has been rumored. Guess Beatles are way more important than a silly, crazy rabbit :’(

RR Sequel sad news: Eddie Valiant is a goner

I’ve learned today thanks to MTV Movies Blog that Eddie Valiant probably won’t appear in the planned Roger Rabbit sequel, as Bob Hoskins feels he’s very old to reprise his role as the hard-boiled, but lovable detective:

The thing is, you act with cartoons, you got to be able to bounce off the walls like a cartoon. So I’m too old. I’m too old now.

I think he could do a sequel. He wouldn’t be able to do it with me. I’m too old!

EXCLUSIVE: Bob Hoskins Says He Won't Play Eddie Valiant In Another 'Roger Rabbit'

I wonder how will work that sequel without one of the main characters, the one that should get most of the credit for making the movie plot work and flow like water. Bob Hoskins surely will get a role in the upcoming movie (if it’s ever filmed), but which kind of role will he play?

Stay tooned for more news about this upcoming feature!!

P-p-p-p-please Charles, tell me you’re serious!

Guess we’re closer to having a Roger Rabbit feature than we thought:

Jewish Journal | Voice of ‘Roger Rabbit’ talks sequel

That’s right: Charles Fleischer, THE Charles Fleischer, the weird but lovable guy that gave Roger Rabbit his trademark stuttering voice, is also talking about a possible Roger Rabbit upcoming feature. In fact, he seems to be willing to reprise his role as the zany, hyperactive Honey Bunny.

Even Fleischer has his own very guesses about what would happen to Roger Rabbit:

“I would like to see Roger suddenly become three-dimensional and the rest of the world turn two-dimensional. If that’s in the film, that was my idea.”

Of course, nothing has been written down yet and Charles is just speculating a little, but at least to me that idea sounds pretty wacky and funny, maybe worthy for an animated short =3

Remember fellas: the hopes are not dead yet!

The Totally unOfficial Toonography of Jessica P2

ImNotBadTV surprises us again with the follow-up of his unOfficial Toonography involving Jessica Rabbit and, at some extent, some of the characters, merchandising and legacy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This time we’ll learn about Jessica’s signature store (in which only were sold Jessica related items), and we can get a chance to see some of the original drawings for the merchandising that was sold on there (even some rare and unproduced items, that never saw the light of day). He had even the chance of having an interview with artist Mark Marderosian, who was the creator of the iconic Jessica Rabbit neon sign on Pleasure Island.

Thanks again, ImNotBadTV! You can check his own blog on:

http://inbjr.blogspot.com/

The Totally unOfficial Toonography of Jessica P1

Thanks to Youtube user ImNotBadTV (who also runs the website http://www.imnotbad.com/ ) we can get “The Totally unOfficial Toonography of Jessica (Rabbit)”; a fan-made documentary which will gather anything related to Jessica Rabbit, from her earlier success and how she suddenly disappeared from the spotlights, along with some cool, rare collectibles and some unproduced items. It will be mainly devoted to Jessica, so many fans will be really delighted (although I’m more on the Roger side, rather than Jessica´s).

The first part of this documentary, featured above, shows some unseen drawings and concepts of the proposed-but-never-completed 4th. animated short, named “Hare in my Soup”, along with some animation cels of what appears to be the Roger Rabbit cartoon project, that was discarded because Disney and Amblin were not getting a fair agreement about the movie characters (as you might know, this is the real reason behind the existence of Bonkers and his saturday morning cartoon). As you can notice, both projects were looking fine and were ready to get off the drawing boards. Along with those projects, a Christmas special was projected and some theatrical animated shorts were being considered as well.

I can’t help but feel sad, and a little angry. Roger and Jessica deserved something better than some uninspired pins (which is the only thing we can get from the movie at this moment). Hope Zemeckis is really thinking about “Roger Rabbit 2”, since the honey bunny needs to make a lot of people laugh.

Thanks, ImNotBadTV!

Roger Rabbit’s comeback… Closer?

As you might noticed from my former entries, I’ve been searching and posting all news related to the much-rumored, much-awaited and long-delayed “Roger Rabbit” sequel or prequel. Well… Comic-con (the biggest comics convention in US, that also involves videogames, cartoons, TV series and movies) is just happening right now, and Robert Zemeckis is introducing his new production, “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” to the whole world.

Yes, you guessed it. Someone asked him about Roger Rabbit.

And…

Well: seems that Zemeckis is trying to keep his mouth shout about the “Roger Rabbit II” project (that we already know it’s in the works ;D ) but still gave us some tidbits about how the proposed sequel will be made, if Disney greenlights it:

"I can neither confirm or deny. I will tell you this: If that ever does happen...the 2D characters will remain 2D. They will not be dimensionalized. Though would not exclude 3D."

Okay, so we can rest assured folks: Roger Rabbit and his fellow friends will remain 2D if the movie is ever made. It’s also rumored that Zemeckis would use a more “traditional”, less edge-cutting technology for giving life to our beloved Toons. In other words, they will be animated in the old-fashioned style, or something close to it.

You can read about the whole conference in the following link:

MTV Movies Blog - Robert Zemeckis Talks 'A Christmas Carol,' A 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' Sequel At San Diego Comic-Con

So, fellas… The hopes are not dead yet!! =3

Early Roger Rabbit pencil test

This rare pencil test, uploaded by Youtube user LindaBlair2000 features a short test with a preeliminary Jessica Rabbit design, walking around a mock Eddie Valiant actor, and even flirting and yelling at him. Later, we can see a totally nude Roger Rabbit (better said: the first version of the character which looked more like Screwball Squirrel, voiced by Paul Reubens who’s better known as Pee-Wee Herman) complaining at Eddie Valiant who is voiced off-screen. Finally, we can catch a very short glimpse of Roger Rabbit dressed in his corduroy pants, walking on a real street, in front of the corner of some building.

This can give you a very slight idea of what was originally intended for Roger Rabbit’s movie; in fact, it looks to me that the original plans were to stick to Gary Wolf’s novel as much as possible.

Thanks, LindaBlair2000!!

Pixar has a heart: fulfilling a little girl’s last wish

When I knew about this story, I couldn’t help but cry:

Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

This story, although sad, brings up to me a lot of hope for the humanity and how about we care for each other. About how a really big company as Pixar (that’s part of an even bigger company: Disney) cares about a dying little girl whose very last wish was watching “Up”--and got granted. And about the things that we complain everyday, that are really small compared with the suffering this brave girl came through in her short life.

Rest in peace, Colby. Now you’re up in the sky, as you wished :’)

Behind The Ears: The Making of WFRR

And now, thanks to YouTube user 323232user (yup, that’s his username) we’ve got the documentary included in the two-dvd version of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” from Touchstone’s Vista Series, named: “Behind The Ears: The Making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. It compliments the previous documentary I posted some time ago and expands it with some incredible footage like the first animated test of Roger Rabbit (shown to Disney executives, that were at first reluctant to invest a huge amount of money in Roger’s movie), and a lot of scenes concerning to the filming of the movie:

Thanks, 323232user, for sharing this cool documentary with us!

Happy Birthday, Donald Duck!

 

Happy 75th. Birthday, Donald Duck! Go for another 75!! =3

Roger Rabbit in: Movin’ to the Music

Our friend Alexander sent to me a very funny comic featuring our beloved, clumsy bunny and his errands as a moving service clerk, and how he tries to deliver a brand new piano for one of his closest comrades… Better let’s read about this =3

Every thumbnail is clickable, and will open in a new window:

Thanks a lot Alexander, for sharing this funny comic with us!! =3

About a baking bear and a very old duck

Today I got another walking Bimbo bear like the one I got some months ago. What makes him different is that he really comes complete, still holding his trademark bread loaf and sporting his ear tag. But like the other one, he’s supposed to walk and dance… Although he didn’t. Maybe is because his age. Anyway it’s OK to me, since the odds of finding one of those bears in complete condition are very, very low, and I got this one for just a couple of dollars! =D

Also I found a very interesting toy:

He’s a vintage plastic Donald Duck doll, perhaps from the 60’s or 70’s, which I got for less than a dollar. Even when he looks very played-with (with some scuffs, stains and even cracks in the neck joint) and his clothes are very worn and faded, I really love him. It seems to me like if some kid (maybe he’s now a full-fledged adult) enjoyed playing with him a lot and had a lot of fun doing it, which adds some sweetness to his smile. Now he comes to me for having a second chance, and I won’t turn this little fella down. Donald deserves to get some love again =3

My office desktop

That’s how my office desktop looked the last friday. It seems like I have some fun while working, right? Well, in fact… Yes, I do =3

Bambi & Thumper

Bought them last monday on a online bidding website (not eBay) and I got them this afternoon. Bambi is huge, and is made of floppy plush, very soft and smooth. Thumper is small, but it’s the most cute of both. His plush is very soft as well, and he looks very innocent and sweet.

I’m really in love of this couple, but specially, I adore Thumper. My little baby bunny… Mi bebé <3

Huge collection update (and I mean it)

Long time no see you, guys! Since the latest news concerning to Roger Rabbit, I haven’t found more info about the proposed sequel (or prequel, or whatever it is) for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. Instead, I’ve found a lot of interesting things for my collection, which I want to share with all of you:

Eddie Valiant, Roger Rabbit and Judge Doom vintage action figures

Easter Thumper Plush Doll

I recently fell in love with Thumper, from the Bambi and Bambi II movies. After all, he’s Roger Rabbit’s uncle =3

The most cute thing about this plushie, is that he’s dressed… As the Easter bunny! How sweet, a bunny dressed up as a bunny:

Now, about my other finds…

 Huge Thumper Plush; push his hand and he plays a sweet tune

 Thumper Beanie Doll and Sam (official mascot from the 1984 Olympic Games, held in Los Angeles, USA) Little Plush Doll

 Another Roger Rabbit Vinyl Figurine

And one awesome find I’m very proud of:

 Optimus Prime, as a cool Dodge Ram SRT-10, from the Transformers Alternators series

And that’s all of my latest finds in toy stores, thrift stores and flea markets. Sure I spend a lot of money getting all those items, but I’m a compulsive shopper and, well, I can’t help it ;)

Roger and Jessica Shorts Tribute Series

 Isn’t she lovely?

Electric Tiki Design is about to release a limited series of resin figures featuring Jessica and Roger Rabbit from the shorts “Roller Coaster Rabbit” and “Trail Mix-Up”. The concept sketches and the maquette featuring Jessica Rabbit are featured in the following link:

http://www.electrictiki.com/classic%20toons/roger-shorts.html

It is said that the very revealing outfit Jessica’s wearing would be changed for her traditional maroon sequined dress, but I bet she’ll still look awesome in the maquette. I’m still waiting for Roger’s maquette but there’s a concept drawing that shows how would him look.

By the way, thanks to Alexander for the info and the link!! =3

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:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

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

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

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 :)

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.

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.

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