"Save Roger Rabbit" petition--April 2003 update

[Philip Kippel]

As some of you may recall…

Last year, I created a petition to try to get Disney and Amblin/Dreamworks to put aside their differences so that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) can be able to appear in new Disney projects.

As a lover of Roger Rabbit and Co., I have been very disappointed with not seeing new Roger Rabbit stuff and not seeing Roger in the Disney Theme Parks.

As of today (4/10/2003), the current number of signatures is 1,397.

The address for this petition is:

http://www.petitiononline.com/RRABBIT/petition.html

P-P-P-P-P-P-Please sign it and tell others about it.

I’ll mail copies of the petition to the companies.

Thank you.

 

[Philip Kippel]

I also strongly suggest that everyone write letters regarding Roger Rabbit and the Disney/Amblin/Dreamworks feud.


Here's some addresses to write to:

The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

Steven Spielberg
Amblin Entertainment
100 Universal City Plaza
Bungalow 477
Universal City, CA 91608-1085

Dreamworks SKG
1000 Flower St.
Glendale, CA 91201


Also, here's some sample letters:

For "Amblin Entertainment":

Dear Steven Spielberg:

I’m a big fan of Roger Rabbit and have enjoyed the past collaborations between your company and Disney.
I’ve been anticipating more from this team, but I’ve been disappointed for some time, as I’ve noticed that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) have been absent from recent Disney productions. I don’t claim to understand the business aspects of such collaborations, but it seems to me that potential income is being lost.
In rumor, I’ve heard that your company and Disney have been unable to come to working agreements in bringing Roger and his co-stars back into the Disney universe. I’m afraid that Roger seems to have been fading into obscurity—this is truly a shame, since Roger is a great character with huge marketing potential.
However, Roger and his co-stars still appear on Disney merchandise sometimes.
The Roger Rabbit walk-around character hardly appears in the Disney theme parks anymore. I’d like him to go back to being a regular character in Disney’s parks…for meet-and-greets, parades, shows, etc.
It’d be nice if Roger returned to appearing in the “Disney on Ice” shows as well.
I wish he’d appear in new Disney theme park attractions. It would be great if they built the “Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood” area/attractions that were proposed for Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios theme park years ago.
Roger still gets a lot of attention and exposure in the overseas Disney parks, so I hope that this is a sign of future possibilities.
I’d also like to see Roger in more Disney movies and television shows, plus more Roger Rabbit feature films, cartoon shorts and maybe a Roger Rabbit TV show.
If your company and Disney can agree on merchandising, why not expand the ability to agree?
I hope that your company can settle your differences with Disney over the ownership and licensing of Roger Rabbit and Co., so that the public can see more of them in the future.

Sincerely,
(Your name here)


For "Dreamworks":

Dear Sir or Madam:

I’m a big fan of Roger Rabbit and have enjoyed the past collaborations between your company and Disney.
I’ve been anticipating more from this team, but I’ve been disappointed for some time, as I’ve noticed that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) have been absent from recent Disney productions. I don’t claim to understand the business aspects of such collaborations, but it seems to me that potential income is being lost.
In rumor, I’ve heard that your company and Disney have been unable to come to working agreements in bringing Roger and his co-stars back into the Disney universe. I’m afraid that Roger seems to have been fading into obscurity—this is truly a shame, since Roger is a great character with huge marketing potential.
However, Roger and his co-stars still appear on Disney merchandise sometimes.
The Roger Rabbit walk-around character hardly appears in the Disney theme parks anymore. I’d like him to go back to being a regular character in Disney’s parks…for meet-and-greets, parades, shows, etc.
It’d be nice if Roger returned to appearing in the “Disney on Ice” shows as well.
I wish he’d appear in new Disney theme park attractions. It would be great if they built the “Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood” area/attractions that were proposed for Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios theme park years ago.
Roger still gets a lot of attention and exposure in the overseas Disney parks, so I hope that this is a sign of future possibilities.
I’d also like to see Roger in more Disney movies and television shows, plus more Roger Rabbit feature films, cartoon shorts and maybe a Roger Rabbit TV show.
If your company and Disney can agree on merchandising, why not expand the ability to agree?
I hope that your company can settle your differences with Disney over the ownership and licensing of Roger Rabbit and Co., so that the public can see more of them in the future.
Sincerely,
(Your name here)


For "The Walt Disney Company":

Dear Sir or Madam:

I’m a big fan of Roger Rabbit and have enjoyed the past collaborations between Disney and Amblin Entertainment.
I’ve been anticipating more from this team, but I’ve been disappointed for some time, as I’ve noticed that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) have been absent from recent Disney productions. I don’t claim to understand the business aspects of such collaborations, but it seems to me that potential income is being lost.
In rumor, I’ve heard that Disney and Amblin have been unable to come to working agreements in bringing Roger and his co-stars back into the Disney universe. I’m afraid that Roger seems to have been fading into obscurity—this is truly a shame, since Roger is a great character with huge marketing potential.
However, Roger and his co-stars still appear on Disney merchandise sometimes.
The Roger Rabbit walk-around character hardly appears in the Disney theme parks anymore. I’d like him to go back to being a regular character in Disney’s parks…for meet-and-greets, parades, shows, etc.
It’d be nice if Roger returned to appearing in the “Disney on Ice” shows as well.
I wish he’d appear in new Disney theme park attractions. It would be great if they built the “Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood” area/attractions that they proposed for Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios theme park years ago.
Roger still gets a lot of attention and exposure in the overseas Disney parks, so I hope that this is a sign of future possibilities.
I’d also like to see Roger in more Disney movies and television shows, plus more Roger Rabbit feature films, cartoon shorts and maybe a Roger Rabbit TV show.
If Disney and Amblin can agree on merchandising, why not expand the ability to agree?
I hope that Disney and Amblin can settle their differences over the ownership and licensing of Roger Rabbit and Co., so that the public can see more of them in the future.

Sincerely,
(Your name here)

P-P-P-P-P-P-Please tell others about this cause.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I signed it.

FOZ

(To heck with Mickey and ET! MORE ROGER & CO!!)

 

[Mr.Penguin]

I signed too (FIGHT THE POWER! )
....Oh, just to let you know Roger's not completley gone: Benny appeared in an
episode of House of Mouse.

 

[Beauregard]

I havn't seen RR for years. But I remeber it as scary, but great.

Anyway, I'll go sign it.

 

[Mr.Penguin]

Hey now......

Hey what does Dreamworks have to do with this!? They weren't around in 1988.
I think you might be speaking of ILM(CGI wizards that do effects for major films).

-

Mr. All American Penguin

 

[Bruce the Duck]

Ah, so that explains why the Roger Rabbit store at Disney World in Florida has been reduced to a couple props from the movie and the RR merchandise has been replaced with Muppet merchandise.

I love Roger Rabbit. It's one of my favorite movies. The books are pretty good too. It's too bad Disney can't play nice with it's former friends (Pixar, Amblin)

 

[McFraggle]

Hey what does Dreamworks have to do with this!? They weren't around in 1988.
I think you might be speaking of ILM(CGI wizards that do effects for major films).

Dreamworks SKG, where the S stands for Steven Spielberg, the owner of Amblin. Amblin, correct me if I'm wrong, became a part of Dreamworks. The K, Jeffrey Katzenberg, was at Disney until the mid-1990's when he left after a heated dispute, and he ended up suing the company. Basically, anything that is released has to be approved by both Disney and Amblin, et al. This means that little to no new material is released because for an action figure to be released it has to be signed off on by Spielberg's people as well all others with a stake. This leads to many headaches and if you look online you'll likely find many good stories as to why there is no new material. For example, the DVD was years in the making.

 

[Philip Kippel]

Well, hopefully, when Eisner finally leaves Disney, maybe Disney and Amblin will finally get back on good terms and go back to having an easier time agreeing to including the Roger Rabbit characters in new Disney productions and products (and also in the Disney theme parks) on a regular basis once more.

Let's keep our fingers crossed, please.

 

[McFraggle]

Philip,

Were you happy with the DVD that was released a few years back? I think they did a good job on it. I think Roger Rabbit in many ways is at least partially responsible for the golden age resurgence in the early '90s.