The Complicated History of Who Framed Roger Rabbit

A Deep Dive Documentary into the History of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’. From the original version that was cancelled, the production problems of the one that came to be, and the fascinating production stories of one of the most ambitious films ever made.

Special thanks to Ross Anderson for assisting with research and providing visual material.
Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat (Kindle version):

Special thanks to Randy Cartwright for providing a the 8mm footage of his visit to Darrell Van Citters office.

‘Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - E-Book:

PRIMARY INFORMATIONAL SOURCES:

Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat by Ross Anderson - The University Press of Mississippi

‘Who Censored Roger Rabbit?’ by Gary K. Wolf - Original publication by St. Martin’s Press - Gary K. Wolf

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONAL SOURCES:

VIDEO & IMAGE CREDITS:

(due to YouTube's description limits, the rest of links are in End Credits)

Unless otherwise noted, conceptual artwork, storyboards & scripts for Darrell Van Citters Roger Rabbit provided by Ross Anderson, courtesy of Darrell Van Citters, copyright of The Walt Disney Company.

Persistence of Vision, 2012 © Kevin Schreck Productions

Who Framed Roger Rabbit © Touchstone Pictures / The Walt Disney Company

Who MADE Roger Rabbit (Bonus Feature on Blu-ray Release) © Touchstone Pictures / The Walt Disney Company

Roger Rabbit: Behind the Ears (Bonus Feature on Blu-ray Release) © Touchstone Pictures / The Walt Disney Company

Waking Sleeping Beauty, directed by Don Hahn © The Walt Disney Company

Randy Cartwright’s Home Movie of Walt Disney Studios 1981 - Waking Sleeping Beauty (BONUS FEATURE) - © The Walt Disney Company / Randy Cartwright

Footage of Darrell Van Citters office at Walt Disney Studios - Courtesy of Randy Cartwright

Randy Cartwright’s Home Movie of Walt Disney Studios 1983 - Waking Sleeping Beauty (BONUS FEATURE) - © The Walt Disney Company / Randy Cartwright

[Anynom]

Christopher Lloyd refusing to blink is just stunning dedication as well as a genius touch.

[GreyofDodeca]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit, what a masterpiece! Man...I'm so glad that they changed Jessica's characterization from the book in particular lol. Like, yeah, she's hella memorable for being the ultimate smokeshow design wise & also starring in an iconic sequence animated by one of the GOATs, Richard Williams (R.I.P), but her actually being a loving devoted wife ( _highly aware of the prejudice thrown her way_ ) is what seals her as a legitimately awesome character.

[Kool_Kow]

Yesterworld is like the Oversimplified of pop culture videos: he doesn’t upload very often, but when he does, you KNOW it’s a great video.

[darkness]

I loved Roger Rabbit as a kid and was amazed to find it was a book. I actually tracked down Gary Wolf through social media and had correspondence with him for a bit where I bought one of the original "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" books that he signed for me. Such a great IP that they should have done more with, like the Rocketeer.

[RickHarris]

I know a number of animators who worked on this film. They all graduated from Sheridan College in Oakvile, ON Canada. They were travelling to Europe after graduation (ended up in Germany when the wall fell). They were recruited by someone associated with the film and ended up in London. Excellent history of this great film.

[Dr]

The most amazing thing about the whole production is it took Richard Williams took less than 40 years to animate, for once

[Miawgical]

“The enigma known as Bill Murray couldn’t be reached” that’s my favorite line I’ve ever heard 😂 To me, this is what quality content on the internet should be! I love Roger Rabbit, it’s forever one of my favorite movies!

[Euanverse]

One of the most fascinating movies ever made, this huge crossover in the 80's was absolutely wild

[Harlequin_Eyes]

There's still nothing out there that matches this incredible film. What a fascinating deep-dive into its history! Seeing the actors doing it without the animation and selling it so well is mind-blowing.

[sumguy]

Roger Rabbit and The Thief are both technical masterpieces. At the time, Richard Williams was doing things that even Disney were not.

[erickmaverick]

I recall renting Roger Rabbit at a Blockbuster on time. Was so enthralled with the concept of real life people mingling together with cartoon characters. We need more live action/animation hybrids, WITHOUT CGI.

[jetsons]

I had no idea that the making of Rodger Rabbit was so complicated. A very enjoyable watch with loads of

[slothfulcobra]

There were a few big name animator perfectionists involved in the rebirth of animation in the 80s and 90s, and the actual rebirth and popularization of animation involved shutting down those perfectionists and integrating lots of shortcuts into the process. Because the animation that gets made is far better than whatever is stuck forever in production.

[tjchill]

Excellent video, now where can I watch the recommended documentary 'Persistence of Vision'

[pieawaitsme]

I put this on the tv this morning and my dad ended up sitting and watching it w me, he’s extremely picky and even sat through the whole video (he has walked out of movies he enjoyed before the end just to prove a point… don’t ask me it’s his boomer emotions idk) and afterwards he was telling everyone about the making of Roger rabbit and how fascinating and messy it was! He loved the vid and he’s such a tough audience so that is srsly y some high praise to u

[markjackson]

im not the biggest fan of the Disney Company as a whole but i’m real big fan of their theme park history (which explains why i’d like to see Mark do a video on ideas such as Westcot or Port Disney or Disneys America). i recently i watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit because Mark mentioned it as one of his favorite films. i was entertained by it the whole way through. an excellent film similar to how every one of Mark’s are excellent. i’m a fan of Kevin and the Defuntland crew. however Yesterworld is my favorite.

[ao]

With the cancellation of Coyote vs Acme you publishing this couldn’t have been at a better time

[jclyndworm]

I had no idea that the production of this movie was so elaborate and complicated. It’s amazing to see that kind of innovation.

[AngelofGrace]

Wow, I obviously thought about the actors 'reacting' to the animations, but I never considered all the tiny little practical effects like the puppetering or the robotics! Incredible! Films that do everything with cgi these days are really missing out

[WhiteMaster]

Thanks for reviewing my movie, Yesterworld!