Roger Rabbit - The *REAL* Story?

[*NikkiBell*]

I just got done watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and got to thinking about the "connections" again. Years ago, this movie was done by a company not associated with Disney...Touchstone, I believe. I always found this odd being that there were Disney characters *AND* Warner Brothers characters in the film. Now, I have read that there is a sequel in the works and that Disney now owns the rights to the film and characters; hence the new Roger Rabbit appearances, ride in Disneyland, and merchandise. I find this difficult to digest though...due to certain parts of the script as well as the presence of WB characters.

What is the *REAL* story? Anyone have info?

 

[manning]

The Walt Disney Studios distributes motion pictures under Walt Disney Pictures which includes Walt Disney Feature Animation and DisneyToon Studios, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Films and Dimension Films.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Years ago, this movie was done by a company not associated with Disney...Touchstone, I believe.

Touchstone Pictures was a part of The Walt Disney Company when "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988) was made, and Touchstone Pictures is still a part of The Walt Disney Company. The Touchstone brand was started by Ron Miller when he was CEO of Walt Disney Productions. This brand would allow Disney to make movies that would not have to be family movies. The first Touchstone movie was "Splash" (1984). When Wells, Eisner, and Katzenberg arrived, they leveraged the Touchstone brand in a big way.

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is interesting in that it was a joint venture between Touchstone Pictures (The Walt Disney Company) and Amblin Entertainment (Steven Spielberg).

The Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin at Disneyland (1994) and the three Roger Rabbit short subjects (1989-1993) are not new. They go back to the years soon after "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was made.

That relationship between Disney and Amblin went sour, and that's why there's never been a sequel. I suppose that could change now that Eisner is gone. I don't know where the OP "read that there is a sequel in the works." I'm not aware of any such sequel, and I don't expect to see one.

The movie's fictional R.K. Maroon cartoon characters were joined not only by characters from Disney and Warner Bros., but also from MGM, Paramount (Max Fleischer), and Universal (Walter Lantz). Having characters from various studios on screen together was a key part of the movie's premise. It took some persuasive negotiations to pull off the licensing.

 

[groovy~disney]

I recently heard that in order to get the rights to use the WB characters, for every line the Mickey had, Bugs also had to have a line, that is why in the movie you see Bugs chime in anytime Mickey does...

 

[Just2554]

I'm assuming you caught this on Turner Classic Movies last night, as did I. I haven't seen the movie in years...it's just as funny as I remembered.

Anyways, the story is this: The movie was originally based on a book called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?", which Disney bought the rights to shortly after it was published (I believe it was around 1981, but I could be mistaken). Touchstone (or Disney) paired with Spielberg's Amblin to make the movie and specifically sought after Robert Zemeckis to direct (at the time, he was THE person to go to for animation mixed with live actors). Rights/permission had to be sought for every character included in the movie that Disney did not own.

So really, Disney has always owned the rights to "Roger Rabbit", which is why the ride and everything else exist. Although the movie is not conventional Disney, it is very funny and very well-made and definitely a classic in its own right.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Ahhh, this makes much more sense now. Thanks to everyone for clearing that up. I have read numerous posts and articles saying a sequel is in the works. Again, this is why all of a sudden Roger Rabbit merchandise is being sold at Disney and Disney Shopping online as well as appear on advertising at the parks.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

So really, Disney has always owned the rights to "Roger Rabbit", which is why the ride and everything else exist.

I'm not sure that Disney owns all rights. My understanding is the that Disney and Amblin share the rights. Perhaps Disney owns the character licensing rights, theme park rights, and short subject cartoon rights — or perhaps Amblin doesn't care what Disney does with these aspects of the rights, as long as money flows to Amblin.

However, when it comes to making a sequel feature, Disney cannot proceed without Spielberg's Amblin.

I just did a Google search. Over five tears ago, Jim Hill wrote an article discussing this subject. See http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=416 (As with any Jim Hill article, reading some parts of the article with a little skepticism is probably a good idea.)

 

[MitchK]

This is all very interesting. I recently purchased the collectors edition on DVD. That is a true classic

 

[Mickey moos]

There was a sequel planned right after the movie came out, it was called "Resurrection Of Doom." Marvel comics even produced a graphic novel that I figured was very similar to what the storyline would have been. I've been waiting almost 20 years for it to finally come out and will wait another 20 if necessary.

 

[disneyphilip]

I also very strongly believe that with Eisner finally gone from the company, things will finally change, Disney and Amblin will finally patch things up and Roger will finally be able to make a long-awaited, long-overdue comeback.

 

[Razor Roman]

when I was working in Disney MGM STudios animation tour, I saw a binder down on the animation floor marked "Roger Rabbit 2" - it turns out they were doing tests for a sequel. The characters and props they held would all be CGI. Eric Goldberg was going to be lead animator...

I believe this is a picture of the redesigned Roger for the sequel

it could be Bravo Sierra, but it is linked as a sample off of an artist's resume, who worked at the Florida animation studio as a computer programmer.