Hello and welcome back to Roger Rabbit Week. Join me today as I conclude my look at the trilogy of Roger Rabbit shorts as I take a look at Trail Mix-Up. This had to be the funniest short out of the three. It was so zany and over the top and random but the humor worked in delivering a knockout of a short. Now just like the last two there was Droopy cameo but alas I could not find a picture for ya and also you can throw out what I said about Jessica yesterday as she's only reduced to a cameo here as well as a park ranger. Here ya go.
Also just as with the last short there was a park ranger bust made along with a Roger bust made for this short.
The Plot
The basis for each of these shorts is the same. Roger is left in charge of Baby Herman and crazy and over the top antics ensue. Here this time though the adventure takes place in a National Park. Which leads me to an issue that I have in this short. Herman's mother in all of the shorts leaves Roger in charge of Herman while she goes off to due another activity. Here it happens to be hunting and well knowing what I know about national parks, it's a federal offense to hunt in a national park. All the same, I'm probably nitpicking but that does irk me a tad. Keeping in spirit with the Roger Rabbit universe, this short at the end is revealed to be being shot on studio as a log launches through the studio and sends Roger, Baby Herman, a Tex Avery inspired looking beaver and a bear the studio and they crash into and destroy Mount Rushmore. That's a powerful launch if it can send them all the way from L.A. to South Dakota.
Characters
Roger Rabbit
It's hard talking about Roger three reviews in a row because I feel that I've said everything I can about him. He was over the top and hysterical. Check! Though this short did remind me of attribute of Roger that I overlooked with the previous two shorts, he's has a good heart and good intentions. Things may not always turn out his way but Roger always means well. I was reading the Disney Wiki for the film and they were describing Roger's design as that of of a Warner Brothers face, a Disney body and the attitude of a Tex Avery character. And while I know little about about Tex Avery, I do know a good chunk about Disney and a I did grow up with Looney Tunes and I must say that for the two that I do know that is a pretty spot on description and these shorts. I'll also just realized this but Herman's mother seems to be homage to that old lady from all of the Tom and Jerry shorts that was Tom's owner. How did I not pick up on this before when it was so obvious? With both characters you never see they're faces and both berate one of the main characters of the short. Another nice touch here is that once again like last time, Roger tried to get out of watching Herman because he knows bad things will happen. Seeing Roger trying to pull himself out of these situations is funny yet heartbreaking at the same time because the audience knows the pain our hare brained friend is about to endure.
Baby Herman
Just like the first short that I covered featuring Roger and Baby Herman, we got to see both the baby side and a little snippet of the adult side. Though once again even though Baby Herman is the co star, Roger's antics seem to over shine him. This isn't a bad thing per SE but does sometimes make the shorts feel disjointed. Though I will say that Adult Herman was probably the funniest when he berated Roger for destroying Mount Rushmore.
My Final Thoughts
I've enjoyed these Roger Rabbit shorts. They aren't the greatest shorts in the world but of course I might be saying that because it's been so long since I've watched the film and this is the first time I've seen these characters in anything outside of the film. The nice thing is though the humor throughout of all the shorts was true to the characters. Now if I had one complaint about these shorts would be that Jessica felt underused in all of them. Which is ashame but I know a way to rectify that problem with a clip where she most certainly is not underused.
Now that's more like it.
Also just as with the last short there was a park ranger bust made along with a Roger bust made for this short.
The Plot
The basis for each of these shorts is the same. Roger is left in charge of Baby Herman and crazy and over the top antics ensue. Here this time though the adventure takes place in a National Park. Which leads me to an issue that I have in this short. Herman's mother in all of the shorts leaves Roger in charge of Herman while she goes off to due another activity. Here it happens to be hunting and well knowing what I know about national parks, it's a federal offense to hunt in a national park. All the same, I'm probably nitpicking but that does irk me a tad. Keeping in spirit with the Roger Rabbit universe, this short at the end is revealed to be being shot on studio as a log launches through the studio and sends Roger, Baby Herman, a Tex Avery inspired looking beaver and a bear the studio and they crash into and destroy Mount Rushmore. That's a powerful launch if it can send them all the way from L.A. to South Dakota.
Characters
Roger Rabbit
It's hard talking about Roger three reviews in a row because I feel that I've said everything I can about him. He was over the top and hysterical. Check! Though this short did remind me of attribute of Roger that I overlooked with the previous two shorts, he's has a good heart and good intentions. Things may not always turn out his way but Roger always means well. I was reading the Disney Wiki for the film and they were describing Roger's design as that of of a Warner Brothers face, a Disney body and the attitude of a Tex Avery character. And while I know little about about Tex Avery, I do know a good chunk about Disney and a I did grow up with Looney Tunes and I must say that for the two that I do know that is a pretty spot on description and these shorts. I'll also just realized this but Herman's mother seems to be homage to that old lady from all of the Tom and Jerry shorts that was Tom's owner. How did I not pick up on this before when it was so obvious? With both characters you never see they're faces and both berate one of the main characters of the short. Another nice touch here is that once again like last time, Roger tried to get out of watching Herman because he knows bad things will happen. Seeing Roger trying to pull himself out of these situations is funny yet heartbreaking at the same time because the audience knows the pain our hare brained friend is about to endure.
Baby Herman
Just like the first short that I covered featuring Roger and Baby Herman, we got to see both the baby side and a little snippet of the adult side. Though once again even though Baby Herman is the co star, Roger's antics seem to over shine him. This isn't a bad thing per SE but does sometimes make the shorts feel disjointed. Though I will say that Adult Herman was probably the funniest when he berated Roger for destroying Mount Rushmore.
My Final Thoughts
I've enjoyed these Roger Rabbit shorts. They aren't the greatest shorts in the world but of course I might be saying that because it's been so long since I've watched the film and this is the first time I've seen these characters in anything outside of the film. The nice thing is though the humor throughout of all the shorts was true to the characters. Now if I had one complaint about these shorts would be that Jessica felt underused in all of them. Which is ashame but I know a way to rectify that problem with a clip where she most certainly is not underused.
Now that's more like it.
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