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.

“The Return of Roger Rabbit” on MousePlanet

If you’re a hardcore Roger Rabbit fan like us, maybe you’d like to read this excellent article from Jim Korkis at MousePlanet. He give us all the info we know about the 25th. Anniversary of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, the gossips about the proposed sequels (Robert Zemeckis and Gary Wolf’s ones) and the troubled life or a rabbit which only purpose in life is making people laugh.

But he also interviews Gary Wolf about the motivation to write a new novel involving the wacky rabbit and his friends, the proposal for “The Stooge” and how he sees Roger Rabbit in his own mind. It’s definitively worth a read, so you can’t miss this article if you love good old Roger or if you want to know a little more about the man behind the rabbit =)

Toonbusters

Toonbusters by ~Itchyscratchy on deviantART

I really loved this great piece of art, and if you ask me I didn’t see this coming… But it actually works =)

Great job, Alex!! =3

Roger Rabbit back at Easter on Disneyland

Facebook fan page Characters Photos Blog recently published some interesting news: if those are true and not only rumors, then the Roger Rabbit costumed character will be back at Disneyland for the upcoming Easter season, along with his friends Br’er Rabbit (from Song of the South and Splash Mountain) and Mr. Easter Bunny himself. Also, he will be part of the “Happiness is Here Parade” on Tokyo Disneyland for the park’s 30th. anniversary. There is a slight chance he travels to Disneyland Paris too.

Let’s wait for a confirmation from official sources, but let’s hope for the best too =3

P.S. Thanks to ImNotBad.com for the info =D

Random Roger Rabbit news – Part Deux

Well, we can expect several new interviews with Charles Fleischer, Gary Wolf or any other person related to Roger Rabbit in the following days. Meanwhile, I’ll bring you the newest ones:

• Silas Lesnick from ComingSoon.net had a very interesting interview with Charles: half of it consists in the things we already know from previous interviews, but the other half is worth the read. Let’s say Charles Fleischer is “not just another rabbit” ;)
  
• BuzzFeed bring us a list of 20 interesting tidbits of trivia about “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”; many of them are well known to hardcore Roger Rabbit fans, but newest fans will find them amusing =)
  
• Flavorwire does a very extensive essay about the reasons “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was a revolutionary film back in the eighties, and still remains as one of the greatest movies of all time. If you have enough time, I highly recommend you to give it a read.

Stay tooned for more news and interesting articles!! =3

Random Roger Rabbit news

Have you already got your Blu-ray copy of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit – 25th. Anniversary Edition” which was released yesterday? Not yet? Then you’d love to read the following links before going to your nearest store:

• William Bibbiani from Crave Online interviews Charles Fleischer; you can’t miss this interview since we can finally know how Roger Rabbit’s speech impediment is called, among other interesting tidbits about the movie production and his future interventions on the possible sequel(s).
  
• Then Cameron Meier from Orlando Weekly gets his own interview with Charles; it’s more or less like the previous interviews but it’s still worth a read.
  
• Mike Gencarelli from Media Mikes got his chance with Charles Fleischer too, discussing his own point of view about “The Stooge” (it’s all ‘puffery’, he says), the future of the “Roger Rabbit” sequel and his own theories about “Moleeds” and gamma-ray bursts.
  
• Ain’t It Cool News (sorry again guys) goes deeper into the new “The Stooge” poster artwork, reposting an interview made to conceptual artist Douglas Sirois: creator of that awesome piece of art. They also have been in touch with Gary Wolf, and he assures them “The Stooge” project is actually happening.

And in the least interesting history of the bunch… YES. I’M BACK =3

The Stooge poster

Gary Wolf has posted the poster art for The Stooge. Splendid, simply splendid! Digging that old-school painted look.

Charles Fleischer interviewed again.

In celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, NBC interviewed our old pal Charles Fleischer. So hurry over and check it out folks. 

Thanks again to Bunnyfriend for the heads up

Fleischer not sure about The Stooge

Charles Fleischer was interviewed by Slashfilm.com regarding "The Stooge", where he goes on to say it could be just a rumor.

But don't throw yerselves in the Dip yet kiddies, from the looks of things it seem he's just speculating. Based on what I've read so far the project is in it's very early stages, so there probably hasn't been any need to contact any voiceactors yet. So hold in there until we get more news on this. Keep your fingers and ears crossed and hope Gary Wolf can get Roger back in action again.

Thanks again to Bunnyfriend for the heads up.

The Dvd shelf movie reviews: Roger Rabbit

An in-depth review of our favorite film has been posted over at The Agony Booth. And this must be one of the best ones I've seen so far. In addition to expressing his love for the film, David Rose also go on to tell us about the making of it in great detail. A very enthusiastic video made by someone with great admiration for the film.

Roger Rabbit Cast reunion.

The Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science isn't letting the 25th anniversary of Who Framed Roger Rabbit go on unnoticed. They have a special celebration planned with the people behind the film. Check it out for yourselves over at Animation Magazine:

Academy Plans ‘Roger Rabbit’s’ 25th Anniversary Reunion

Thanks to our old pal Bunnyfriend for the news.

New Charles Fleischer interview

Don't worry about Bunnyfriend leaving. He's still contributing to the blog. He just sent me this new interview with Charles Fleischer.
 
Thanks, old buddy!

Roger Rabbit voiced by Duke Nukem?

Wow, you can find Roger Rabbit-related stuff in the strangest of places. Your old pal Al happens to be a big fan of Duke Nukem and while watching a interview with his voiceactor; Jon St. John I was quite surprised when he did a Roger Rabbit impression. And a darn good one to. He goes on to say the reason for doing this was because he used to stand in for Charles Fleischer. Quite an interesting bit of trivia there.


Skip to 17:20 to hear his Roger voice and again to 33:05.
Hail to the king baby!

Goodbye, Toontown. Bunnyfriend is out.

Friends and followers, I’m really sorry about my poor performance on this blog. I’ve ranted enough to fill a tall building with frustration and curse words. I’ve called people “liars” or “not professionals” when they were right from the very beginning. I’ve done a lot of harm to the Roger Rabbit fandom with my false assumptions and snobbism.

I’m sorry folks. Take my most sincere apologies.

+++++

From this moment, I’m stepping down as the webmaster of Toontown Antics. Instead, Alex will be the head of this blog.

Alex: I know this will be sudden and unexpected, but I also know from the bottom of my heart you’ll be fine with Toontown Antics. You’re a true Roger Rabbit fan, and about that old question of ours: yes, actually you do love Roger Rabbit more than I do.

Sorry fellas. I can’t take care of this place anymore. Thanks for all those years of support, laughter and hope. Maybe someday I’ll be back, but I can’t be sure. Keep Toontown alive and wacky for me.

Thanks guys. I’ll miss you. =’)