Robert Zemeckis Has A New Idea For Roger Rabbit 2

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The sequel madness in Hollywood is starting to get out of control. Earlier this week it was revealed that Robert Rodriguez would be producing a Predator remake titled Predators, Ridley Scott was considering making a prequel to Alien, and that Mirage Studios are developing a live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot. Russell Brand is remaking Drop Dead Fred. Yesterday Oliver Stone announced Wall Street 2. Last night we told you about how Joe Dante wouldn’t be directing a Gremlins 3 and how Amy Heckerling may, or may not, be making a sequel to Clueless. And now there is talk of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel!

Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis told MTV that all the new “digital tools and performance capture” has him “starting to think about” doing another Roger Rabbit. Of course, Zemeckis didn’t give any more details, only adding that “new idea” has been “buzzing around in my head.”

The original 1988 film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, four wins. I’m not sure how the new technology would elevate the effect of transplanting 2D animated characters into the real world, but I’m sure it has something to do with performance capture. And I’m sure the result would be a movie that takes place with humans trapped inside of the animated world of Toon Town.

But I actually think that there might be more stories to tell in the Roger Rabbit universe, and I even have some really topical ideas. Like I would like to see how Toon Town has dealt with the invasion of computer animation. I’m sure the 2D cartoon stars have now become “old news”.

Many people don’t know that the first film almost spawned a direct-to-video prequel. Written by Nat Mauldin, Roger Rabbit: The Toon Platoon told the story of a young Roger Rabbit, who meets a struggling Hollywood actress named Jessica while traveling west to find his mother. But when Jessica is kidnapped and forced to make pro-Nazi Germany broadcasts, Roger and  his human friend Ritchie Davenport go to Nazi-occupied Europe to save her. The film ended with a huge Hollywood parade where Roger us reunited with his mother, and his father… big reveal… Bugs Bunny. Ugh!

Disney later tried to rework the story without Steven Spielberg. Who Discovered Roger Rabbit told the story of Roger’s “inadvertent rise to stardom on Broadway and Hollywood.” Eight time Academy Award composer Alan Menken was even hired on to write five songs for the production, with Looney Toons: Back in Action helmer Eric Goldberg attached to direct the animation. A test sequence was filmed in 1998 which combined traditional animation, computer animation and live action. Disney wasn’t happy with the results, so they also did a test with all the cartoon characters completely converted to CG. The budget quickly skyrocketed past $100 million, forcing Michael Eisner t pull the plug. It’s probably better for everyone involved that neither films earned a greenlight.

  • MyNew Pep-Pep
    Im still writing my sequel to Godfather 3
  • why? WHY??????? Please, stop this 80s madness.
  • I have to say no to this. No sequel or prequel is needed.
  • You're a sharp one.
  • I bet it said... "There was already a Godfather 3!"
  • Jean Valjean
    How about a Bakshi/Pitt Cool World sequel while we're at it?
  • GregoryV
    If there is an uncanny valley version of Jessica Rabbit, I'm down.
  • kyle
    Horrible idea, I hope this doesnt happen.
  • how about no to Roger Rabbit 2?

    Unless it's a damn good story, I don't want to see it. 50 years from now, people would look back and ask the question "Why were they making sequels from movies 20 years ago?"
  • jason B
    only if the 2D characters stay in 2D. sooooooooooooooooooooooo tired of the 3D bandwagon.
  • vva
    I'd rather a SEQUEL to Roger Rabbit than a REMAKE so I don't understand the complaints here. Especially with the return of many of the original cast and crew.
  • RWF
    I think Peters idea of showing the effect the new 3d characters have had on Toon Town could be very interesting.
  • greycolumbus
    Me too: don't make it.
  • joshua
    How about dont make it.
  • Danny Bogue
    I'm still not fully sure how I feel, leaning towards no. Please keep 2D Toons 2D. Also, if they had to worry about 3D toons coming in.... wouldn't that be at least 50+ years after the time period of the first movie?
  • Do not want
  • Thorloth
    I'd go and watch it, if it's done well there are so many cool things they could do with the roger rabbit universe.
  • I don't feel that a sequel involving CG-animated characters versus 2D cartoons would work. Mainly b/c one of the things that was GREAT about WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT was that it took place in the '40s - a time when cartoons were important to the film industry. Back when "Merrie Melodies" used to play in the theatre before the feature started.
    If this were being made by the same Robert Zemeckis from 20 years ago, I'd be all for it. But "'80s Zemeckis" is very different from "present day Zemeckis"...
  • I really liked Who Framed Roger Rabbit and was surprised a sequel never saw the light of day but its now so many years after the fact. In an interesting footnote-Gene Hackman was originally offered the Bob Hoskins role as the films lead but turned it down because he wasn't comfortable with the song and dance scenes.


    chuck
  • dagreenman18
    If Zemekis has to make an unnecessary sequel, at the very very least make damn sure there is no atrocious CGI. Classic animation or no animation.
  • NOOOOO! I hope it's a good idea. I honestly have been writing down a roger rabbit sequel idea for awhile now. I really think having it take place when computer animation starts out would be cool. A lot of the 2 D toons would be out of jobs so they would have to work in everyday society - some of the 2 D toons would go digital and would be looked down upon by their fellow toons. Then you could have the 2 D toons trying to sabotage the upcoming release of Toy Story or something because they feel it will ruin all their careers. I'm just rambling here but I think having the movie take place at the dawn of computer animation would be better than having a DIRECT sequel back in the 40's with toon town. Side note- Roger rabbit is in my top five favorite films all time.
  • Luke Boyce
    I'm sorry, but you just can't uproot Roger Rabbit and throw him in the present day JUST so that you can add CG characters to it. And the reason you can't do that is because one of the greatest things about the movie was it's environment. Roger Rabbit wasn't just some human-toon movie. It was a neo-noir film. In fact, it was technically the "Sequel" to Chinatown. The writers took the general storyline from what was supposed to be Chinatown's sequel to make this movie. Roger HAS to be made in that time period so it can keep it's noir-like environment and feel. "Roger Rabbit" in modern times surrounded by CG characters would only be MILDLY interesting, but overall it would suck the soul from the film.
  • Goobity
    Not exactly...
    From Gary K. Wolf's (the author of the source material) website:
    "His innovative concept was the basis for the novel "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" Wolf found his idea hard to sell -- this time to publishers. Even with three well reviewed science fiction novels to his credit, it took Wolf two years and 110 rejections to find a publisher for his unusual book. “Publishers told me it was too esoteric. Too weird. Nobody would understand it,” Wolf explains. Finally, a small publisher took a chance and brought it out. Soon after, Walt Disney Pictures came calling. Disney and Steven Spielberg teamed up to make Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film became the most critically acclaimed and highest-grossing film of 1988, bringing in more than $750 million at the box office as well as four Academy Awards.

    There was also a sequel, titled "Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?"
    The plot (From WIkipedia):
    The story starts out with Eddie Valiant at the front door of Roger Rabbit's house. Almost immediately after he is let inside the house, Roger tells him about the upcoming Gone with the Wind toon adaptation and how he has a chance to play the lead as Rhett Butler. However, the Telltale News, a newspaper that tends to Toons, prints an article about Jessica Rabbit and her relationship with Clark Gable. Valiant primarily declines, stressing that he promised his wife, 'Doris' (who seems to be Delores from the movie), that he wouldn't take such work anymore. However, he takes the job because of the quote Roger announces.
    From this simple case, the story branches out to the murders of Kirk Enigman (another candidate for the part of Rhett Butler), Baby Herman, and Dodger Rabbit (Roger Rabbit's evil cousin)."

    I'm betting "the digital tools and performance capture" that Zemekis is mulling over is a CG Clark Gable. :)
  • brian
    im not 100% down for the sequel but im tootallly against a remake... i do have a knid of spin off of the sequel idea you put...
    in the toon world how they are struggling cuz of the 3d animation take over... they are perminantly getting rid of 2d animated characters by turning them in to 3d characters... (3d is the evilness of the story) haha it sounds cheezy but its a movie about toons...isnt it supposed to be cheezy? lmao

    so i will ave to think longer on the idea of a sequel to roger rabbit...
  • a remake probably won't happen because quite frankly, Roger Rabbit is so timeless (being a period piece) and had ground breaking effects that a remake won't really add anything to the equation.

    If they go ahead and use CGI character, it defeats the purpose of Roger Rabbit. The movie is set in the 40s, in the hey day of animation. Plus, the cameos from the Looney Tunes and Disney made it special.
  • chancho
    I have an idea for Robert Zemeckis, DO NOT MAKE ANOTHER ROGER RABBIT MOVIE! LEAVE THE ORIGINAL ALONE! Robert Zemeckis, you need to go make another crappy motion capture movie! Here's another idea... come up with something original!
  • Jones
    talk about non-news.
  • I'm waiting for Titanic 2 to be announced.
  • lpfanaddy
    He probably wants to have it completely animated with CG humans. Zemeckis is beginning to gain hack status with me after Beowulf...
  • chancho
    I totally agree!
  • One issue that I have is that Zemeckis has a hard on for motion capture. While it is obviously pretty damn cool, and makes the movements realistic and life like....it makes the animation soul-less. If you watch people interact like they do in real life, it's boring. There is no character what so ever, thats why Final Fantasy Spirits Within or even Beowulf get a bad rep for their animation. It looks beautiful until you start seeing the people move around and interact. Sure it's lifelike and it's technically good....but it's missing something....it doesn't look right...it's empty

    If this happens, it HAS to be hand animated either 75% or 100% all the way. That is the only way to capture Roger and his universe. You have to go balls to the wall with your animation, get that movement and bring the soul of those characters.

    Go hire some animators and let them truely work their magic...
  • I totally agree, I'm so sick of hearing about him and motion capture....I can just imagine Roger being 2D for the first ten minutes, then going through some 'special machine' that makes him 3D....yuck, no thanks.
  • almostinfocus
    Aren't there some legal and ego related problems that would prevent a sequel? I remember reading several articles over the years that arguments between Disney and Spielberg over the use of the cartoon shorts that were produced after the original film have pretty much shelved a sequel for good. Has there been a change in this situation? Did Zemeckis address this potential problem?
  • Zemeckis is one of the best directors working today and I have no doubt that he will only pursue this project in a way that would honour the first part. Whatever movies he goes on making, I'm sure they'll be pioneering, exciting, engrossing smart stuff.
  • chancho
    What was the last good movie he did? Castaway? That was 9 years ago. All he has made since then were awful animated movies. He needs to step away from animation, stop using motion capture, and go back to live action and make another Forest Gump.
  • joshi38
    Oi Vey.... okay, first of all, why the hell do we need a sequel... wait, stupid question, never mind that.

    I do want to point out that thing to do with motion capture though... um...why? Motion capture is great if you want to make virtual things look like they're moving in a realistic way to how real humans would move.

    But we're talking cartoons here. TOONS! Animated cartoons have the added value of being, you know, animated. Moreso than we are. Look at Roger in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He's a cartoon through and through, actual humans can't do the twisty, bendy, stretchy stuff he does, that's the charm of a Tex Avery, Warner Brothers, Mickey Mouse type cartoon. What the fuck do you need performance capture for?

    We have the technology now that allows us to super-impose animation on top of live action in a very easy quick way instead of painting onto enlarged film cells. It worked for Space Jam (don't look at me like that, technically speaking it did work). What the hell more do we need now?

    Really, don't fix what ain't broke.
  • chancho
    THANK YOU!!!! Motion Capture is great for live action movies that require stunts that are too difficult or dangerous for a stunt man. Animation is key framed by an animator. That is it! No more no less!
  • skippy
    let's see, my vote is... NO!

    let's start a new way of thinking in moviemaking: "New Ideas or Nothing!"
    so, whenever a remake or sequel is announced, we all chant "NEW IDEAS OR NOTHING!" really loud, and maybe they'll hear us.

    That, or we could simply stop supporting those movies...
  • skippy
    (*actually, coming up with new ideas for films is not a new way of thinking. when "Hollywood" began, EVERY idea was a new idea!)
  • TommyTOON
    Spoke to Charles Fleischer this weekend who said they are doing a Who Framed Roger Rabbit re-release in 3-D which might be cool.
  • skippy
    he did NOT say that. you sir, are a dirty, stinking liar and you know it.
  • chutzpah
    i saw this movie when i was like 5. it scared the hell out of me. not gonna lie, i would definitely see a sequel.
  • chancho
    This movie should not be made if Richard Williams is not directing it.
  • Here's a good idea, don't do another Roger Rabbit movie. I actually liked the first one but movies like that aren't good anymore.
  • Dave
    How can you guys be opposed to this? Have you no faith in the franchise? Some of us, who are really in love with the Roger Rabbit mythos, have been waiting for this for twenty-one years now, and the fact that the sequel seems closer than ever is the best news I've heard in months. If you don't like the idea, you're free not to watch it. Really. But let it exist, so that those of us for whom RR is a significant part of our lives, in the same way as Star Wars and Star Trek enrich the lives of others, can enjoy it at long last.
  • shin
    roger rabbit is a great story and i wouldve loved the prequel, the sequel or even a completely new storyline with roger rabbit in it. i especially loved jessica, his hot wife. i think its normal to find a toon woman sexy.
  • If there's no richard williams on board, it's a no go for me. however if he has a say on the 2d animation, this is a good idea.
  • Nelsen Liddle
    The sequel is coming out 2012, and they will feature Christopher Lloyd as "Judge Doom", which means in the movie, the Toons in Toontown will flee from him and find a safe place.
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