Why we never got that Toontown? (RR author still suing his pants off)

[pussnboots]

http://www.reuters.com/article/filmN...BrandChannel=0

So it looks like Roger Rabbit owes both his birth and demise to this Wolf fellow.

The reason I'm posting this here and not in the business section is because there have been a few discussions about why the Walt Disney Studios park has failed to take any advantage of the clever take on Hollywood that Who Framed Roger Rabbit provided, and I figured it could be semi-relevant.

I suppose this could answer why Disney pretty much stopped using Roger after his Toontown ride. Or not; I'm really just guessing.

[Zarniwoop]

Acme Studios and Toon Town behind it would make WDSP my dream park. Of course '20s Golden Hollywood with trams etc should be there too.

[pussnboots]

Acme Studios and Toon Town behind it would make WDSP my dream park. Of course '20s Golden Hollywood with trams etc should be there too.

I agree. While MGM took the Old Hollywood theme pretty seriously and DCA promises to do this in the next phase of construction (even though the Red Car idea seems dead now -- just like in the real LA), no park has delved in quite as deeply as the people behind that movie. But if one did, book me a plane.

[nathan detroit]

You are baiting a hook for me here Puss! You know this is one subject that I am passionate about! I shall post a considered reply in due course...

[CheriBibi]

But they could very easily build a Roger Rabbit-free ToonTown like Walt Disney World's Mickey's ToonTown fair. Unlike Disneyland and Tokyo, there's no RR attraction there, and if I remind well, no reference either.

[nathan detroit]

Ok so here's my first rant regarding Roger Rabbit.

I always assumed that Roger had limited presence in the parks (and minimal exposure elsewhere) due to the film and characters being part-owned by Amblin Entertainment. Throw in this kerfuffle with Wolf and the fact that many non-Disney characters appear in the film and its surprising that the film isn't just buried in a landfill somewhere.
WDS as I have stated before, has always been ripe for Roger. The '40s style Hollywood setting is matched by WFRR better than any other movie and the birth of Toon Studios simply made this ommission even more glaring.
May I add at this point that the word 'Toon' conjours a very specific image to me. To me the Disney Princesses are not Toons. Bambi, Dumbo and the cast of The Jungle Book are not Toons. To me Toons are fully anthropamorphised 'funny animals' and similar 'funny humans' (ie Elmer Fudd) who react wildly and ignore all laws of physics. The Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and the characters of Tex Avery are what I imagine as 'Toons'. I would even go as far as to say that Disney only really has one character that fits fully into my criteria - Goofy. But then came Roger...

I know before you say it, WFRR shows Snow White and many others in Toontown but all of a sudden, Roger Rabbit gave Disney a much needed kick up the pants (and a stick of dynamite in them too). Here we had a Disney character that was 'looney'. And he fit in nicely with Mickey and pals in the parks (something Stitch is now trying to do and generally winning at).

So the Roger costumes may be in mothballs because his 'creator' (the book bears little resemblance to the film and Roger gets killed in it) is getting greedy. Asking for money from the Roger walk-arounds?! Come on! But it is a complete travesty that Disney cannot be brave enough to ignore what looks to be a never-ending battle and bring out a set of characters that are surely due for a renaissance. Some merchandise is still available - how does that vary too much from Roger doing a meet&greet and appearing on a few billboards around the park? Surely dotting posters for Roger's existing movie/shorts (check out the DVD for the three hilarious shorts he appeared in) around the park would cost them nothing and would be a good start.

Of course my ultimate aim is to reimagine the entire Art of Animation as a dark ride with Roger taking us through a humourous and toon-packed tour of how cartoons are made.
Yes, I know. Dream on.

[bigwavedave]

is there room to atd on to toon town? Also not every Disneyland has toontown

[Witches of Morva]

ORWEN: Oh, I s-o-o-o-o miss my favorite little white bunny!! (And, for those who didn't already know it, I was originally supposed to be drawn to look like Jessica but they went and gave my body to her and--

ORGOCH: --a blimp's body ta my big, fat sister!

ORGOCH: Shut up, old biddy! I wasn't even talking to you!! Anyway, I remember the good old days when Roger used to do meetings and greetings at the park--only to be rabbit-napped away from all his adoring fans. (And some of us haven't been the same since!)

ORDDU: We had read that another reason for Roger's absence from the parks was due to the feud between Mr. Ei$ner and Mr. $peilberg. Neither one of them could agree on how to proceed with Roger's future projects and, supposedly, one of them made some illegal moves without informing the other one and, well, it was Roger and his fans who ended up suffering the most. That's why we haven't had any more sequels or shorts.

ORGOCH: Shorts?! Who ain't got no more shorts? I think I still got plenty in MY drawers!

[CheriBibi]

is there room to atd on to toon town? Also not every Disneyland has toontown

Nope only Magic Kingdom Park, Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, which is still 3 out of 5 Yes there is room for toontown outside Disneyland Paris berm. It's was supposed to be added during Phase 3.

More info about room avaibility in the different kingdoms here :

http://5kingdoms.blogspot.com/2008/05/locked-in.html

Tata !

[tasman]

A whole Roger Rabbit / Maroon Studios section was planned for Disney-MGM in Orlando and even appeared in concept art. This (highly appropriate) addition to the park got dumped after the legal wranglings with Amblin began. Part of the land was then used to build Rock N Roller Coaster. While RNRC is a very popular ride, I think Roger Robbit makes much more sense within the whole "Golden Age of Hollywood" theme. The ToonTown in Magic Kingdom is not nearly well developed as the other two...I wish a full scale version could be built in DHS instead. And of course this would work equally well within context of WDS.

[pussnboots]

Alright, pardon my tardiness; I wanted to give this the thought it deserves and not post something while pretending to listen to a client.

I can't be sure who the mastermind behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit was, but I'm tempted to believe it was Zemeckis, not Wolf. Apparently, Wolf's first book (the one the film was loosely based on) is set in the present day, 1981, and involves such unfamiliarities as comic book characters who speak in text balloons. The second book, published post-movie, then tries to jump on the bandwagon of the film's success and negates the sudden inconsistencies of Book 1 with an "it was all a dream" scene. If anything, Wolf makes the impression of being a second rate writer clinging desperately to an unlikely moment of success.

Zemeckis has the better track record. Obviously, there's Back to the Future. But although it bombed at the box office, was universally shot down by critics and superficially bears little resemblance to his wacky rabbit movie, Death Becomes Her shows the same jabs at LA, the same law-of-nature-defying antics, the same talent for showcasing eccentric bits of cinematic history*. But whoever it was, Who Framed Roger Rabbit gave Disney something wonderful it has barely taken advantage of since 1992.

And as Nathan so eloquently explained, like Amy Sedaris on the Martha Stewart show, the film gave Disney a much-needed kick in the butt. A kick in the butt which would set the stage for the self-deprecating humor in later efforts such as The Emperor's New Groove and Enchanted. Not to mention how it almost made us forget just how tame Disney's shorts had been those past 50 years, especially compared to Warner Bros. and MGM.

As for theme parks; the Disney-MGM Studios seems to be made for Maroon Studios. Not having it there is almost as tragic as that awful hat. There must be some sort of connection anyway -- the park opened a year the film did. Why the sudden obsession with film studios of the 1940s, one wonders. But conspiracy theories aside, both that park and the Walt Disney Studios in Paris feel empty and pointless to me without that Animaniacs-style period zaniness. Two of Disney's theme parks wish to be to the Disney Studios what Main Street U.S.A. is to small town America, and what kind of normal person raised by TV would in their wildest fantasies imagine the Disney Studios as anything other than Maroon?

Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland's Toontowns got it right, although they seem to be in the wrong parks. And as for the WDS; Throwing a heap of Pixar on a pile and naming it Toon Studio just isn't enough.


*It's also just a freaking great movie that has Meryl Streep spray-painting Goldie Hawn's butt: go rent it today.

[nathan detroit]

Ah! Excellently put Mr Boots.

I would however humbly add to your lists of the 'Fathers of Roger' - Mr Richard Williams (animation director) and Mr Charles Fleischer (vocal duties).

(Off topic but an amusing story featured in the WFRR DVD extras: -
Fleischer was on set for most of the filming of the movie to provide the voice of Roger off-camera in an effort to assist the actors. Being a wacky guy, he attended the set daily in Roger's trademark red dungarees, bowtie and a giant pair of floppy rabbit ears.
During a break in filming when Fleischer and several other cast and crew members visited the commissary, a whispered conversation was overheard from another table observing that if Fleischer's costume was the level of the SFX, then the 'rabbit movie' was in serious trouble!)

Talk of a movie sequel hovered for years after the original but never surfaced apparently due to budget concerns (it was reportedly going to be a prequel entitled Who Discovered Roger Rabbit?) and the shorts disappeared after only three were made. A TV show could have been a possibilty (Amblin has had great success partnering Warners for Tiny Toons, Animaniacs etc) but Disney seemed instead content to churn out Roger Rabbit rip-off Bonkers Bobcat (remember that? thought not). The comic book did slightly better, its lasting only about a dozen issues seemed more to do with a shake-up within Disney comics than anything else.

Anyway, sad to say that probably between Disney, Amblin and Wolf, Roger may be nothing more than a long forgotten classic and a fool's dream to park lovers everywhere (or at least in Europe)

[Witches of Morva]

ORWEN: (sniff, sniff) Such a sad ending for one of my favorite Disney bunnies. But all of us, here, who cared to say what we all said will never forget him. Every time we re-watch WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, we'll think of what might have been and what should have been. It's another reason to be glad Mr. Eisner is gone. He mishandled the whole thing and Mr. Speilberg should take some of the blame, too.

ORDDU: See what out of control ego's do to innocent Disney characters and their fans?

ORGOCH: Sure do. Makes 'em turn out as sad 'n sappy as yerselves!

[disneytim]

I doubt that Wolf's lawsuit against Disney has had any effect on Roger Rabbit's presence (or lack thereof) at the theme parks. Ongoing litigation over Winnie the Pooh royalties has hardly kept the Hundred Acre Wood residents out of the parks or off retail shelves:

Court sides with Disney on Pooh Rights

This isn't Disney's first case involving "Hollywood Accounting" either:

Disney Doesn't Pay: 'Cheetah Girls' Creator Falls Victim to Hollywood Accounting

It appears the future of Roger Rabbit lies in the hands of Disney's and Spielberg/Amblin's attorneys.

[Monkey joe]

Well we do have a secert weapon for Roger's return. Uncle John. Plus Zemmicks is at Disney. Zemmicks is buddies with Steven. Eisner is gone.