Today, I'm starting Roger Rabbit Week by taking a look at all the diferent Roger Rabbit stuff sans the film since A. I don't own it and B. Lindgren and Jason have an upcoming review of it and I wish not to step on their toes. Never fear though as I will have Top 6 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Moments. Starting today on A Look at Disney, I'm going to be taking a look at the 3 Roger Rabbit shorts that were produced by both Spielberg and Walt Disney Pictures. Yes, there were 3 Roger Rabbit shorts produced and what I love about these shorts is the fact that A. they feel like shorts that would shown during the time of classic Looney Tunes and B. they keep in spirit with the original film by showing that at the end of each short, Roger and Baby Herman were filming a short and we see them in a studio filming. Although if you went in watching one of these shorts not knowing that such as I did with this, it may appear somewhat to see these characters in a fully animated world. Another fun little nod is that on the title screen, it says that this short was made in 1947, the same year the film was set in and also according to the short, it was released through R.K. Maroon Studios. The studio that produced the shorts that starred Roger and Baby Herman in the film. Now I know some might find it odd that I'm including this on A Look at Disney seeing as the film was released through Touchstone but Disney owns them and with all of the Disney characters that appear in the film and the fact that Roger can be spotted at Disneyland, I feel it's okay to include it and treat it more or less like one of the Pixar's in that while it may not be directly Disney, they still had a hand in it.
The Plot
The plot of this short is rather simple in that Roger has been brought in to babysit Baby Herman and he promises that he'll take care of him and not let anything happen to him but Roger being Roger, that isn't the case as Baby Herman starts to cry and then Roger hands him a rattle that Baby Herman accidentally swallows and from there, Roger takes him to the hospital and Roger is over dramatic in a hysterical manner but through his hysterics he gets the rattle out of Baby Herman and it lunges into Roger and then when the doctors hear the rattle in Roger, they think he's Baby Herman. Dumb, I know but just go with it. This leads to many funny escapades and then later on Baby Herman sees Jessica who is a nurse in this short carrying a tray of bottles and decides to go after the bottles. This looking back is rather funny knowing what Herman is like in the film. From there we have more crazy escapades and then we see Roger in the operating room and when there Herman sees something that looks like a bottle that is actually a piece of machinery and goes after it. This leads our two main leads to fall through the many different stories of the hospital. This was funny and at one point, we get a cameo from Droopy who just as in the film works the elevator. Here take a look.
The plot while simple works for these characters. It really isn't about the plot so much as the zany misadventures and all of the slapstick in this short. And does it deliver! Roger works well in this short and it is just so much fun and so funny.
Characters
I'll be breaking this down into Main, and Supporting.
Main Characters
Roger Rabbit voiced by Charles Fleischer
Roger was great in this short and while it's known from the film that he was over the top, it was so much fun to see that put to use in a short and it was rather effective. Even though, this was released with Disney, the short felt more like something along the lines of MGM a la Tom & Jerry or Looney Tunes but that worked with this character. Roger may not be the smartest character but y'know it works and he was just so much fun in this short and I loved all of his over the top moments.
Baby Herman voiced by April Winchell (Baby)/ Lou Hirsch (Adult)
With Baby Herman, if you watch this short your going have to try and separate this character from the film because while the short goes, he's seen as a baby that gets Roger into of this trouble and causes all of the mishaps for poor Roger. As a baby, Herman is rather cute and endearing. Which is so strange considering what his real character is like. I guess the best way to put it is that his on screen persona is the most drastically different than his off screen persona. Now at the end of the short, we get to see the Herman, we are familiar with from the film and it's a nice touch seeing the real Baby Herman show up and apparently he hated the idea of swallowing the rattle. Can you blame him? That's gross.
Supporting Character
Jessica Rabbit voiced by Kathleen Turner
The Plot
The plot of this short is rather simple in that Roger has been brought in to babysit Baby Herman and he promises that he'll take care of him and not let anything happen to him but Roger being Roger, that isn't the case as Baby Herman starts to cry and then Roger hands him a rattle that Baby Herman accidentally swallows and from there, Roger takes him to the hospital and Roger is over dramatic in a hysterical manner but through his hysterics he gets the rattle out of Baby Herman and it lunges into Roger and then when the doctors hear the rattle in Roger, they think he's Baby Herman. Dumb, I know but just go with it. This leads to many funny escapades and then later on Baby Herman sees Jessica who is a nurse in this short carrying a tray of bottles and decides to go after the bottles. This looking back is rather funny knowing what Herman is like in the film. From there we have more crazy escapades and then we see Roger in the operating room and when there Herman sees something that looks like a bottle that is actually a piece of machinery and goes after it. This leads our two main leads to fall through the many different stories of the hospital. This was funny and at one point, we get a cameo from Droopy who just as in the film works the elevator. Here take a look.
The plot while simple works for these characters. It really isn't about the plot so much as the zany misadventures and all of the slapstick in this short. And does it deliver! Roger works well in this short and it is just so much fun and so funny.
Characters
I'll be breaking this down into Main, and Supporting.
Main Characters
Roger Rabbit voiced by Charles Fleischer
Roger was great in this short and while it's known from the film that he was over the top, it was so much fun to see that put to use in a short and it was rather effective. Even though, this was released with Disney, the short felt more like something along the lines of MGM a la Tom & Jerry or Looney Tunes but that worked with this character. Roger may not be the smartest character but y'know it works and he was just so much fun in this short and I loved all of his over the top moments.
Baby Herman voiced by April Winchell (Baby)/ Lou Hirsch (Adult)
With Baby Herman, if you watch this short your going have to try and separate this character from the film because while the short goes, he's seen as a baby that gets Roger into of this trouble and causes all of the mishaps for poor Roger. As a baby, Herman is rather cute and endearing. Which is so strange considering what his real character is like. I guess the best way to put it is that his on screen persona is the most drastically different than his off screen persona. Now at the end of the short, we get to see the Herman, we are familiar with from the film and it's a nice touch seeing the real Baby Herman show up and apparently he hated the idea of swallowing the rattle. Can you blame him? That's gross.
Supporting Character
Jessica Rabbit voiced by Kathleen Turner
What is there to say about Jessica in this short? She was there! That's about it, really because unlike the film where she served a purpose. Here not so much other than the fact that she was pushing the tray of bottles. And if this picture is any indication, they still play up the sexy toon angle with Jessica. It's okay I guess but it doesn't hold any true value in this short and maybe I'm wrong but I don't think she has any speaking lines until the end of the short where we see the toons on set and Jessica and Roger go home to play a game of patty cake. Another nice touch and reminder of the film.
My Final Thoughts
This was a good short, Roger and Baby Herman shine brilliantly here. It was so funny and the Droopy cameo was a nice touch. This short while released in 1989 feels as though it could be from the '40s. My only real complaint towards this short is that it feels as though it didn't know how to use Jessica. Which I guess makes sense because unlike Roger and Baby Herman whom we have seen in this element before from the opening of the film, we never actually got to see Jessica in a short in the film. Still, it's a good short and I highly reccomend it. Join me tomorrow as I take a look at next Roger Rabbit short...
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