Alex's interview with Bill Kopp!

Well kiddies, today we have a special treat for you. A interview with none other than Bill Kopp. Bill has had quite a amazing animation career which includes The Simpsons, Eek The Cat, Tales From The Crypt and the Roger Rabbit shorts.

ALEX: Hello Mr. Kopp and thanks for taking some time to do this interview. I'm very excited for this chat. I love the Roger Rabbit shorts and I am a HUGE fan of Eek the cat.

What artists or cartoons do you consider to be your main influences?

BILL: Well, influences are the obvious ones; Bob Clampett and Tex. But I also think Michael Maltese is very underrated. His contributions on story are phenomenal. I think he was the true genius of the Looney Tunes. If you look back on those credits he was all over the place.

ALEX: How did your animation career get started?

BILL: My animation career was an accident. I just met the right people at CalArts. Savage Steve Holland was a super influence on me. He was the guy that told me to change my major into animation in my second year. But all the fellas back then were a huge influence on me. it was very healthy competition at CalArts.

ALEX: Could you give us a bit of insight to how do you come up with the stories for your cartoons?

BILL: How do I come up with stories... I'm not sure if there's a simple answer to that. It's a very complex process. And I'm never at ease with it. Writing is very hard, like torture. None of this stuff comes easy to me. I wish I was like Woody Allen, where it just flows. But I'm not. It's a fist-fight every time, somehow I have an instinctual knowledge of what seems to be funny. THANK-GOD! And my instincts seem to sync up with what makes people laugh. But a lot of it is nervous energy, comedy is like a defense mechanism. It's like the world scares me and I just fend it off with gags.

ALEX: Can you tell us some more about Tummy Trouble and how you got involved in that project?

BILL: The Roger Rabbit stuff came after we started the Simpsons. It appealed to me because it was high-end animation. And I wanted that chance to work on stuff that was challenging you on quality.

ALEX: What was the making of Roller Coaster Rabbit like?

BILL: Tummy Trouble and Roller Coaster Rabbit were awesome experiences. I was lead story guy on those and it was a fucking blast.

ALEX: Did you do any uncredited work on the third cartoon, Trail Mix-up?

BILL: I did. Pat Ventura and I worked that up along with another great one that was never made called: BEACH BLANKET BUNNY. But I left Disney and they got mad at me so I never got credit on that one. But I don't care.

ALEX: There was a fourth Roger Rabbit cartoon in the making that got canceled called "Hare in my soup" Did you do any work on that or have any more information in it?

BILL: Yes. I remember that one. There were one or two units working and Hare in my soup came from another unit. We were very competitive back then, and we didn't have much respect for the other units. Ours was the one that got shit made.All due respect of course.

we were a lot like musicians in those days. We just wanted to blow the other guys off the stage.

ALEX: Finally, on a different note: "When does the hurting stop?"

BILL: HAHAAA... It never stops....

Roger Rabbit as Loki from “The Avengers”

Dare to even try to frame him!

As found on Darrin Brege Art Tumblr page:
http://darrinbregeart.tumblr.com/post/54297207045/roger-rabbit-as-loki

Thanks to Thomas Rebel for the heads up! =D

Liz DeJesus' Gary K. Wolf interview and giveaway

Liz DeJesus, novel author and poet, got the chance to interview Gary K. Wolf about the release of this upcoming novel: "Who Wacked Roger Rabbit"; she does her own questions about the novel, Roger Rabbit, Toontown and some other things about Mr. Wolf's daily life, but she also includes some questions from fans of Roger Rabbit. It's worth the read, and you can find it on the following link:

http://liz-dejesus.livejournal.com/268587.html

BTW, she's holding a small giveaway so there's another reason to not miss this interview ;)

Roger is a Famous Fone Friend

Roger is a very popular character. He is quite well known all over the world, and he has many fans, young and old. But some of these children aren't well all the time, and could be so sick that their life may be on the line.

Sorry for saying that, but there is good news. There is a charity organization that gives dying children one last smile. It is called Famous Fone Friends (Pardon the misspelling, they wanted to be clever.) Who gets people who have terminal ilnesses, young and old, a chance to talk to their favorite actor or even some Toons.

Celebs who are in this include Bill Farmer (Voice of Goofy), June Foray (Voice of Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle, and known to Roger fans as Wheezy the Weasel and Leena Hyeena) and Roger Rabbit.

Jess Harnell is an impressionist and voice actor. Some of his notable roles include Br'er Rabbit in Splash Mountain, Wakko Warner on Animaniacs, and fills in for Charles Fleischer for Roger if Charlie cannot do recordings. For this, Jess talks to children who are terminally ill as Roger for charity.

Here is a link if you are interested. :  http://www.famousfonefriends.org/Celebrity_volunteers.html

Roger dolls from Japan

This just in: More Roger merch exists today from Japan.


The thing is, Roger is loved in other countries a lot more than he is where I come from. In America, he is well known, but that is about it. But in Japan, like Oswald and Stitch, he is well loved.


Here is an example. The Takara Tomi Roger doll.

You may notice that it's a smaller size than most Roger plushes, but in my opinion, it's the most based off of the character. Things from the tie to the one eye being smaller than the other are perfectly replicated.

Then there is this talking doll from the 80's that I found.

It's one of the more accurate Rogers that I have seen, from the color of the nose to the eyes to everything else. It talks, and it was voiced by the voice of Roger in Japan.

If you are interested in buying them, here are the links on Ebay.

Talking doll:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-18-EXTREMELY-RARE-Japanese-ROGER-RABBIT-talking-disney-doll-figure-MIB-/200973212099?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ecaefd9c3

Takara Tomy Roger:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Takara-Tomy-Arts-Beans-Collection-Roger-Rabbit-From-Japan-Pre-Order-/251337251263?pt=Stuffed_Animals_US&hash=item3a84de19bf

Roger Rabbit making appearances in Toontown for Halloween

This just in! I found a video that was recently released for Halloween at Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween party!




Bunnyfriend, sorry for not telling you about this, but it was important enough to post.

Gary K. Wolf’s “Ask Me Anything” at Reddit, and the first chapter of “Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?” narrated by Gar— I mean, Walter Windchill

Are you interested to know some interesting stuff about Roger Rabbit, Toontown, his novels and their creator: Gary K. Wolf? Then go here and read all the answers he left to several Redditors who asked him some great questions about “Who Censored Roger Rabbit?”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, “Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?” and basically everything related to the floppy-eared rabbit.

Again, the link where you can find Gary Wolf’s “Ask Me Anything” is:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1onjjx/i_am_gary_k_wolf_author_screenwriter_and_the/

Also, he shared with all Roger Rabbit fans this video, in which Walter Windchill (the gossip columnist who bores a striking resemblance to Gary Wolf) is narrating the first episode of “Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?” for us:

Are you willing to know what comes next? Better keep your simoleons ready! “Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?” will be available for pre-order on October 22nd, and then you’ll know the rest of this story ;)

New video with Richard Williams

Our pals at Oscars have once again uploaded a treat for us Roger Rabbit fans. They held a tribute to Richard Williams and he spoke about the films he had worked on through his career. And of course Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of them.

Ask Gary Wolf a question

Musa Publishing is asking for fans to send in questions for a interview with Gary Wolf. If there's something you wanted to know about Roger Rabbit but never found out, here's your chance. I've sent mine, now you go ahead and send yours.

How Gary K. Wolf became a male model – A.K.A. The origins of the first Roger Rabbit EVER

This giant rabbit plush looks like your average giant rabbit plush, right? Well, take a second look at him: this handsome fella is, in fact, THE ORIGINAL Roger Rabbit.

Yup: this giant rabbit plush is the first accurate portrayal of Roger Rabbit as a character, based of course in the description of him wrote by Gary K. Wolf, author of “Who Censored Roger Rabbit” and the whole Toontown concept.

Do you wonder who’s the owner of this particular rabbit? If your answer is Gary K. Wolf, you’re absolutely right!

In fact, he was kind to share with us the origin of the first Roger Rabbit ever, which is in fact tied to the very origins of “Who Censored Roger Rabbit” and his own characterization as Eddie Valiant in the first cover of the novel.

Let’s allow Gary speak for himself:

How I Became A Male Model

I published the first Roger Rabbit novel, Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, in 1981.

The publisher asked me for a book jacket photo for the inside back flap.

For my science fiction novels I had done a variety of poses. The kinds of poses writers were doing back then. Me out in the woods looking ethereal in long hair, long scruffy beard, and a turtleneck sweater. Me wearing a cowboy hat, bush jacket, and my military medals. Me slouching insolently against an alley wall wearing my leather Air Force flight jacket, white T-shirt, and shabby blue jeans.

For the Roger Rabbit novel I wanted something different, something more in keeping with the premise of the book.

I arranged for a toy company called Kamar to do me up a rabbit based on my description of Roger in the book.

I put that toy rabbit into a trench coat. I wore what Eddie Valiant wore, a shirt, tie, trench coat and period hat.

We shot the photo looking at me over Roger’s shoulder.

The hardest part of the photo shoot was holding the lighted cigarette. This was way before we could add that effect with Photoshop. We had to do the action for real. I’m not a smoker. I kept coughing because the smoke was drifting up my nose.

I sent the picture, which was black and white, to the publisher.
They got very excited. They said the pose would be perfect for the book jacket.

They hand tinted the picture to give the scene a period look.

They used the photo on the cover of the book.

The flap jacket copy says “The detective on the book’s jacket is portrayed by Mr. Wolf.”

I was a very happy guy.

Doubleday brought out a hard cover book club edition.

They changed that edition to an all-artwork cover. They drew Eddie Valiant as I had described him in the book, a craggy, clean-shaven, Robert Stack-type.

Except they didn’t change the flap jacket copy. That still said “The detective on the book’s jacket is portrayed by Mr. Wolf.” Which of course it wasn’t. Not even close.

When I do autographings, I still get copies of that book to sign. The owner always looks at the cover then looks at me suspiciously. I can tell they suspect I’m an imposter.

I do always draw a beard on that artwork Eddie after I sign one of those book club editions. That brings him a little closer to me.

We continued the Censored tradition with Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? Once again, the detective on the book’s jacket is portrayed by Mr. Wolf.

As an interesting sidelight, ever since the Wacked cover got released, I’ve been getting calls from Abercrombie & Fitch. They want me to be the cover boy on their next catalog. I’m gonna decline. They want me to take off my shirt, pull down my pants, and show my underwear.

I’m sorry.

I’m just not that kind of guy.

At least not anymore.

You can find more of Gary’s anecdotes and memories (as well as some wonderful and funny ramblings) on his own blog and his Facebook wall.

Thanks again for sharing this history with us, Gary! Of course, you and Roger look as great as ever =D

Cover art for “Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?” released

This is the cover art for the upcoming novel “Who Wacked Roger Rabbit”, due to be released on November by Musa Publishing (with pre-orders available on October 22th). The art was made by former Disney animator / illustrator Jacques Muller, who was part of the animation crew of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, and it features Gary K. Wolf as Eddie Valiant, crooked Toontown major Willy P, her moll Honey Graham and Mutt the puppy: all of them new characters which are being introduced on this novel.

Looks amazing and cartoony, right? =3

The following text is the cover blurb of the upcoming novel, found on Toontown Through a Keyhole:

Hard-boiled gumshoe Eddie Valiant lands a plum job as Gary Cooper's bodyguard while Coop scouts locations for his next movie—a screwball comedy titled Hi, Toon! But Eddie's dream job quickly turns into a nightmare. The film's being shot in Toontown, and Coop's co-star turns out to be none other than Roger Rabbit.

Eddie's a big fan of Coop. Of Roger? Not so much.

Now a sinister hoodlum is threatening to murder Coop if the movie gets made. Before long, Eddie, Coop, Roger, and the ever-glamorous Jessica Rabbit are embroiled in a mystery that could destroy Toontown. When Roger bites off more Toonish trouble than Eddie can swallow, the answer to the question Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? suddenly becomes no laughing matter.

I can’t wait to read this novel, and hope you’re as eager as I am! =D

P.S. Sorry for the long absence, I’ll be here more often ;)

Roger Rabbit at Comic-con

Over at the San Diego comic con the 25th anniversary of our favorite film was celebrated with a Q&A with several of the castmembers and animators. Insidethemagic recorded the whole event and it is available below for your viewing pleasure.

A Roger Rabbit 25th. Anniversary Celebration by ImNotBad.com

From June 1st. until the last day of the month, ImNotBad.com will be holding a very special 25th. Anniversary celebration in their Tumblr page (Jessica Rabbit World). Literally tons of pictures related to Roger Rabbit will be posted on there and you can find all the details on the following link:

A Roger Rabbit 25th. Anniversary Celebration Next Month by ImNotBad.com

It will be a very fun month, and maybe you can see some pictures and photos you haven’t seen before, so keep an eye on there ;)

New Gary Wolf interview

The good folks of N the Queue at Blogtalkradio have a interview with none other than Gary Wolf himself. He goes on to tell us about his childhood, the making of Who Censored Roger Rabbit and some interesting trivia about the film. He also shares some bits about "The Stooge"

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 =)