#Villain in who framed roger rabbit movie#
#Villain in who framed roger rabbit full#

Lloyd channels all 1.21 giggawatts of his incredible charismatic energy into investing Doom with a sinister, crackling malevolence that bubbles right under the surface until finally bursting forth in all its horror. Firstly, of course, is Christopher Lloyd, giving one of the all time great portrayals of big screen villainy. However, the character does work, and like gangbusters at that, for a few reasons. All we’re missing is the massive flashing neon sign saying “VILLAIN! VILLAIN! SMILING DAM’NED VILLAIN!”. So first we’re presented with a murder and then this guy called “Doom” shows up dressed all in black, wearing shades and accompanied by one of the most sinister musical themes since Bruce the Shark. After all, first rule of a good film noir mystery is that there should be, y’know, a mystery. On one level, Doom should be too ridiculous to work and really should derail the whole movie. Having watched it again…yeah, if you’ re looking for it, it does sound a lot like that’s what h e’s saying but the line is actually “doggone stubborn little…”

This sc ene is also somewhat notorious because of the urban legend that Donald calls Daffy the N-word at one point. That’s actually legendary MYTHICAL voice actor Mel Blanc as Daffy and the animation captures him perfectly (although, if he seems weirdly off-model it’s because this is forties “screwball Daffy”, the character underwent a pretty major design overhaul in the early fifties to become the more familiar Daffy we all know and love). It’s a pheno menal sequence and it’s really awesome to see these two charact ers acting off each other as they’re a surprisingly good fit (I’ve always felt Donald was one of the few Disney characters with enough of an anarchic edge to hold his own against the ‘Tunes). Onstage, Donald and Daffy Duck pe rform a piano duet which ends with Daffy locking Donald in his piano and th en Donald blowing Daffy up with a cannon and both ducks getting yanked offstage.

Large packs of feral dogs roam the landscape, and cannabalism is rife. The vast bulk of animation is now on television, rushed, cheaply produced, schilling for the toy industry and stifled by increasingly conser vative broadcast standards for whom anything hard er than the Smurfs is pushing the envelope.

#Villain in who framed roger rabbit full#

Di sney feature animation is in a creative rut, and only Ralp h Bakshi and a few others, working furtively from a secret rebel base, keep the full length animated film alive as an artform. Theatrical shorts have gone the way of the horse-drawn carriage and the wireless-polisher. Firstly, let’s take a look at the state of American animation in the late eighties.

#Villain in who framed roger rabbit movie#

Chances are, if not for this movie a whole load of the films I’ve reviewed here would never have happened.

But it’s as an a nimated movies that Roger Rabbit has its real significance. It’s a central text in what was something of a golden age of the big summer tentpole picture ( Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future). Fittingly,given its dual nature, Who Framed Roger Rabbit occ upies a special place in both the history of mainstream Hollywood blockbusters and American animation.