Williams' first trip
to Disney Studios in 1948, he stayed
at the YMCA on Hope Street in
downtown Los Angeles... this same street!
This tune became so well known
because it was used
as what theme music?
"The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"
is the familiar theme song for
the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons.
The original Friend-Franklyn song
has lyrics, although they were
not used for the cartoon overture.
Roger's lyrics were written
just for this film.
"Toon" was popularised
for the first time in this film
to describe an animated character
from the cartoon world.
Costume Designer
Joanna Johnston specialised
in period costumes
withThe French Lieutenant's Woman (1981),
Pirates of Penzance (1982), and
Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom (1984).
Miss Johnston won Academy Awards®
for her clothing designs in Tess (1979)
and Death on the Nile (1978).
Production Designer
Elliot Scott began
designing sets in 1933
and became
Supervising Art Director
at M-G-M's British studio.
Scott helped create the atmosphere of films
like Mogambo (1953), Tom Thumb (1958),
The Haunting (1963)
The Americanization of Emily (1964),
Dragonslayer (1981) and
the second Indiana Jones film in 1984.
The bar patron introduces Judge Doom
to a non-existent "Harvey."
Harvey was a comedy play produced in 1944
about a man with an invisible rabbit friend.
Jimmy Stewart starred in
the 1950 film adaptation.
Before CDs, music was played on records.
This vintage 1920s-style gramophone
had a heavy needle that projected
the sound through a metal horn.
The first records only played one song
and rotated at 78 revolutions per minute (rpm).
78s, as they were called, were easily
breakable before soft vinyl was developed.
Doom is tapping out the rhythmic phrase,
"Shave and a haircut..."
which is answered musically, "Two bits."
Two bits is slang for a quarter- 25 cents.
Zemeckis described
giving feedback to the animators;
"I worked with the performances
[not details of the drawings],
the same way I would an actor in rehearsal.
They'd sketch a pose as I explained."
Animator Dave Spafford commented,
"Bob Hoskins was so good
he stole the show in every shot."
"We knew we'd be in trouble
if he was more animated than we were.
We had to pull all the stops out
to compete with him."
This arguing banter to confuse
someone by changing pronouns
was a standard comedy routine.
Warner Bros. first used it
in "A Wild Hare" (1940).
The classic cartoon, "Rabbit Seasoning" (1952)
was built around repeating this gag
with Daffy Duck declaring his
now famous realisation, "Pronoun trouble."
A longer, more involved fight in the bar
was filmed, but cut for pacing.
Each frame of a live-action scene
was transferred into a large
black and white photograph.
The animators registered their drawings
on top of each photo to know where
the characters should be in a scene.
Later, the finished, colour animation
was combined with the colour,
live-action film through special cameras.
Director Robert Zemeckis expressed
his trust in Animation Director
Richard Williams by stating
"I never worried about the animation.
I knew it would be breathtaking."
Benny refers to a running joke in this era
that it never rained in California,
known as the land of perpetual sunshine.
Benny makes a period joke about
the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.
Later than the time of this film,
they moved to California.
In the novel, Benny was a beetle,
not a cab, and had a very minor part.
Some scenes of Eddie Valiant
in the taxi are actually drawings,
not live-action footage of Bob Hoskins.
The sign suddenly appearing
is a Tex Avery-style gag.
Benny references a "bridge,"
as the middle section of a song,
which connects two musical ideas.
This is the Hyperion Bridge
in Los Angeles' Silverlake-Atwater
region, near DodgerStadium.
In real life, this street
leads to the site of the 1930s
Walt Disney Studios on Hyperion Avenue
where Mickey