Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Walt Disney Home Video, $29.99

The newly released Vista Series DVD of Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit sets out to make the case that the film is a true masterpiece. The 2-DVD is loaded with special features, which mostly focus on how the team of filmmakers created the most realistic blend of live action and animation spectacle to date (1988, specifically) and all without the aid of computers. Four making-of documentaries are included to fully explain the filmmaker’s achievements, and an audio commentary track allows Zemeckis and five of the other prominent crew members to tell the story themselves, as well as reminisce about the great time they had making Roger Rabbit. Other offerings include developmental sketches of the characters, scenes split-screened to show how they looked before and after animation, deleted scenes, and a couple of busts: two interactive annoyances that serve no purpose other than to reinforce images seen during the movie, and a Pop-Up Video-style viewing option. Overall the features are pretty cool, but they stop short of really getting into the filmmakers’ heads.

This article appears in March 28 • 2003.

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