Roller Coaster Rabbit

Having recently got one of my all-time favourite films 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' on DVD, all three Roger Rabbit shorts were included as bonuses. And what great bonuses they were, thoroughly enjoyable in their own way, go perfectly with the film and almost as good.

Following on from the very good 'Tummy Trouble', the second cartoon 'Roller Coaster Rabbit' is even better. It is closer in spirit to the wild manic energy of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and has a more imaginative setting, this time set in an amusement park. The basic story is not that special, if you remember the hilarious made-up short that started 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' you have the basic story structure for all three Roger Rabbit cartoons except in different settings.

What stops things from being predictable, repetitive and tired is the increasingly intensely frenetic physical comedy/violence (Roger always getting the worst of it), the wonderfully relentlessly madcap pacing that reminds one of a slightly faster paced Tex Avery cartoon (while occasionally feeling a touch rushed) and writing that's never less than very amusing and at its best hysterical (the roller coaster scene in particular in phenomenal in its execution).

Anybody familiar with 'Animaniacs', 'Pinky and the Brain' and 'Tiny Toons', or who grew up with them, and only saw the Roger Rabbit cartoons recently like me, will love the vibrancy of the colours, the detail of the backgrounds and fluidity of the movements in 'Tummy Trouble'. The live-action sequence at the end like in tribute to 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' was an inspired touch. The music is rousing and energetically orchestrated, Roger and Baby Herman work wonders together and the voice acting is fine.

All in all, brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox

THE PRODUCTION TEAM pulled out all stops in bringing this one to the screen. In addition to the old art of full animation, this cartoon has the benefit of modern special effects animation also. The sound work and Technicolour are also outstanding.

IN SHORT, THEY took a very thin, thread bare even, premise and did it up to a tee. They stick to the now formula of Baby Herman, Roger and the Lady (seen only at her lower leg level ala Hanna-Barberra's MGM TOM & JERRY Cartoons of the 1940's).

FROM THIS THEY move everything along at a typically manic pace, bringing it to a most enjoyable successful conclusion.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING, WE have really enjoyed this experimental foray into doing new theatrical cartoons by Amlin Enertainment and Disney. We sure wish that they'd do some more; perhaps on a greater volume.

After the wonderful film WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, Disney Pictures experimented by making several short cartoons starring Roger Rabbit and they were shown before feature films--much like the original purpose of classic Warner Brothers, MGM and Disney toons. Unfortunately, Disney also chose to pair these amazing shorts with some of the worst films of the era--virtually guaranteeing they would never see the light of day! Today, the only way you can see them is on an out of print videotape entitled "THE BEST OF ROGER RABBIT". It is NOT available on DVD nor does it appear it will be.

In this short, Roger is at an amusement park and as usual, he's watching the troublesome Baby Herman. Things really move into high gear when Roger wanders onto the roller-coaster to rescue the wayward youth (who is a lot like Sweet Pea from Popeye cartoons). You just have to see it to believe it.

Now as to the quality of this cartoon, it is amazingly violent and insane--even more so than the typical Tex Avery cartoon of the 1950s. Because the characters are so funny, the animation quality so superb and the action so intense, this is one of the greatest cartoon shorts you can find---period. Too bad the powers that be at Disney were idiots who didn't realize they had gold on their hands!

UPDATE 2/09--According to IMDb "This animated short can be found on the Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Vista Series DVD, released in 2003".

Rollercoasters are an ideal inclusion in animated films because they possess the ability to be devices for high-flying, gravity-defying, unapologetically ridiculous situations for the story's characters. Consider Bébé's Kids and its emphasis on misadventures at a local theme park involving a slew of toddlers. Roller Coaster Rabbit looks to have that same kind of emphasis, but its end result is a messy and fairly uninteresting blend of visual gags and routine silliness that shouldn't be so casually accepted by fans of the once-visceral and original Roger Rabbit character.

The film revolves around Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer), Baby Herman, and Mrs. Herman (April Winchell), all of whom are spending their day at a fair. When Baby Herman winds up losing his red balloon, Roger goes to fetch him a new one, but not before Baby Herman attempts to get another one; here is what sets the film's plot into motion. Baby Herman escapes the company of his mother, which sends Roger into a panic and various desperate attempts to recover both Herman and the balloon. At one point, the two end up provoking a bull in a bull-riding arena, in addition to climbing aboard a roller coaster for a frightening ride, all while Roger tries to rescue Baby Herman and Baby Herman continues to escape danger just as easily as he found it, leaving Roger to bear all the battle wounds.

There is one truly great scene in Roller Coaster Rabbit and it comes when Roger leaps onto a roller coaster in order to fetch Baby Herman. During this time, for about five seconds, we see a point-of-view shot of the roller coaster's path, which sends us into a dizzying, almost hallucinatory, trance as it shows the cars of the roller coaster essentially eating up the track at the speed of light. It's a phenomenally executed scene in a short that unfortunately finds the need to settle for rather perfunctory sight gags that make this a monotonous and foreseeable Tom & Jerry skit done without any of the flair and less remarkable excitement.

Voiced by: Charles Fleischer and April Winchell. Directed by: Rob Minkoff and Frank Marshall.

"Roller Coaster Rabbit" is my favorite of the three Roger Rabbit shorts. I thought that many of the gags throughout the cartoon were very clever and funny. Those that I found most memorable included the chase through the carnie games, Roger and Baby Herman riding off the film reel, and Jessica Rabbit making a cameo with Droopy on the railroad tracks with Jessica yelling a coarse "SAVE ME!!!" when Roger asked what she was saying. There's just something funny about Jessica having to switch from her sexy, sultry voice to one where she yells and criticizes Roger. It's just a striking difference!

There were also moments in the cartoon that kind of took me back, like when Roger falls into the bull's "droppings." Yeah, that was kinda gross! And I wasn't entirely sure what Baby Herman was reaching into when he tried to get his balloon. Despite these quasi-shocking moments, "Roller Coaster Rabbit" is quite inventive and has some good laughs from beginning to end. It's just a great cartoon short all around!

My IMDb Rating: 9/10