During the summer of 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? lit up movie screens and became an instant classic. Disney and Amblin Entertainment waved in the truckloads of cash while Robert Zemeckis, the film’s director, had done the impossible in pioneering never before seen special effects. In the current climate of Hollywood, it is hard to understand why Who Framed Roger Rabbit? remains a stand-alone film, but right after the success of the movie a script for a prequel was written, and it is just bonkers.
Overcoming Fears and Punching Nazis
The script, written by Nat Mauldin, opens on a pastoral Kansas farm with a clueless Roger who believes he is a regular human. On the eve of his 18th birthday, he finds out that he was adopted and realizes he is a toon, which sets him on a quest to find his biological mother. His journey pairs him with Richie, a surly character filling a similar role to Bob Hoskins in the original, and they both arrive in Hollywood. Once out west they meet Jessica, who is shy, quiet and has yet to discover her bombshell ways, and while Richie tries to make it as an actor Roger is discovered by crashing into a set. This is all very short lived as the plot takes a heavy turn 
following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour which inspires Roger and Richie to enlist in the army. The American government has high hopes for the newly enlisted toons and they fill the newsreels with claims of the toons being a type of super soldier which will quickly end the war. There is a great scene where a unit of human soldiers open fire on Goofy with a barrage of machine gun fire and missiles which don’t even phase Goofy, he even cracks a joke afterwards. However, the Toon Platoon is a colossal failure as the toons don’t want to kill anyone and would much rather just goof about on the battlefield. Eventually the toons, and Richie overcome their fears and obstacles and bash some Nazis all while Jessica discovers eye-liner and that signature red dress. They save the day, by killing a Nazi commander with a falling piano, and at the very end Roger finds his mother and discovers that Bugs Bunny is his father.
What Happened?
The reasons why a follow-up to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? didn’t happen, and probably never will happen, is an interesting story in and of itself. The original film was a joint venture between Disney and Amblin Entertainment, Steven Speilberg’s production
company, and the production was marred with economic and technical problems. The film was originally budgeted at 30 million dollars, a number deemed too high by Disney and quickly swelled to double its original budget. The film struggled under its own ambition as the production crew couldn’t physically find enough animators to fill the cells, and certain compromises had to be made. The film was a very expensive gamble that caused countless headaches, but it did ultimately pay off. A huge reason for its success was the shock factor of the special effects, many of which had to be invented to fit the narrative, and being able to achieve the same effect on an audience again would be very difficult to replicate. Every now and again rumours of a sequel emerge but nothing has ever entered production. In the late 90s a CG, animated, and live-action film sequel was pitched, a link to some of the test footage can be found below, but the estimated budget sat at over 100 million dollars, which was just too expensive for the studios. Additionally, the legal climate surrounding IPs has changed radically from the 1980s making the necessary crossovers next to impossible to acquire. The Toon Platoon script is entertaining and the world of Roger Rabbit has many potential stories to tell, but unfortunately, is increasing unlikely to occur. It is interesting though that Who Framed Roger Rabbit? remains a stand-alone film (there is a handful of shorts that are equally entertaining which were produced around the time of the original), but being a standalone film it has allowed that movie to become an icon of the era in which it was produced.
-Ian Benke
Check out the Toon Platoon script here.
Check out the CG tests here.
Worried Nerds 