character in terms of effects.
Separate elements were needed
for her shadow, hair, skin, and dress.
Her costume alone required three layers
just to make it shimmer and sparkle.
Ed Jones at Industrial Light and Magic
supervised photographing the 1,035
optical illusions needed for Roger Rabbit.
Each effect required from 15 to 185 shots.
Effects supervisor Ken Ralston commented,
"It was the equivalent of 10 films."
Effects supervisor Ken Ralston commented,
"It was the equivalent of 10 films."
The dark look of the movie was inspired
by the "film noir" black and white
detective mysteries of the 1940s.
Director Zemeckis called this "cartoon noir."
Eddie's character was a spoof
of Humphrey Bogart's portrayals
of cynical detectives
Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941)
and The Big Sleep's Philip Marlowe (1946).
The movie Chinatown (1974) was influential
in the making of Roger Rabbit.
That film was a stylish detective film set
in 1930s Los Angeles, and was a favourite
of the Roger Rabbit screenwriters.
Roger's angst is styled after
Burt Young's character chewing
the Venetian blinds in the movie Chinatown.
In keeping with the 1940s period,
Director Robert Zemeckis wanted
classically cartoony sounding voices
for the new characters.
Before creating
the original voice of Roger Rabbit,
Charles Fleischer was a stand- up comic
who performed regularly
at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
Zemeckis remembered seeing Fleischer
on stage eight years before making the movie
and ultimately called him in
to audition for various Toon roles.
Roger morphs into a whistle
once common to signal important
times of the day at factories.
Fleischer also read the part of
Roger Rabbit during screen tests
for the Eddie Valiant character.
By the third test,
everyone agreed Charlie should be Roger.
No one else was considered.
Aftergrowing up in Washington, D. C.,
Charles Fleischer spent 15 years
working night clubs and in minor film roles.
He had parts in The Hand (1981), Night Shift
(1982), Nightmare On Elm Street (1984),
and laterStraight Talk (1992).
Zemeckis encouraged
Charles's Roger to talk fast and develop
some kind of speech impediment
believing most of the best, classic Toons
had unique speech mannerisms.
In addition to Roger, Fleischer
also created the voices of Benny the Cab,
and two weasels- Greasy and Psycho.
The rabbit couple dined at
the Brown Derby in Hollywood,
which was famous for
celebrity drawings on the walls.
Find the portrait of Mickey Mouse.
The words on the glass door to Eddie's
office are classically photographed
from the inside in the style of
film noir detective movies.
Eddie hangs his hat
on a Maltese Falcon, like the prop
in the classic 1941 Warner Bros.
detective movie of the same name.
This scene was re-shot and re-edited
after the character design of Jessica changed.
After the film, Bob Hoskins took
his family to Antigua for a vacation.
Hoskins' wife insisted that
he keep his shirt on while on the beach
since the actor's body was covered
with bruises from the shooting.
She did not want to look like a husband basher.
Eddie's brother, Teddy, is portrayed
by Eugene Guirterrez only in stills.
Richard Le Parmentier
(Lt. Santino) seen in Rollerball (1975),
Star Wars (1977) as General Motti
Superman II (1980), and
the TV mini-series "London Embassy" (1987).
The Acme Warehouse was actually
an empty electrical testing station
in the Shepherd's Bush area of London.
Since they were altering the appearance
of the building, it was necessary
to complete photography
as quickly as possible.
There was around-the-clock filming
going on five days a week for six weeks.
The palm trees were shipped over from Spain.
Who is this ornery pint-sized cowboy?
Yosemite Sam first roared onto the screen
in Warner Bros. "Hare Trigger" (1944).
Yosemite Sam was
originally voiced by veteran Mel Blanc
but the vocally tough character
was recreated here by Joe