The Stooge: Starring Roger Rabbit & Mickey Mouse

[Drtooth]

IF it happened then, it probably wouldn't have been such a big deal, but after all this time, and the original being such the standalone classic and groundbreaking piece of cinematic history that it is, any sort of followup movie at this point in time would just tarnish the credibility of the original.

A sequel/prequel only ruins the first movie if you let it. Too many viewers let it.

I have problems with long contested sequels, and how everyone wants one until they get it. I'm an open mind of seeing another Roger Rabbit story, and I have fan-ficcy ideas that will undoubtedly corrupt my opinion of the film if one happens. I still think there needs to be a direct sequel about the television age hurting the theatrical toons, and a big scale war breaks out between made of TV cartoons and theatricals with Roger getting in the middle (though I really hope Dreamworks would let them use the Classic media library if that happened). All and all, I think that Roger Rabbit 2 needs to bring back as many characters as possible, and renegotiate some of the characters that couldn't make it in the last film.

A sequel can be done properly, and even if this is a rumor, the one thing that is true is that any story needs to be filtered by Disney and Pixar. And we all know that Pixar is good at story telling. Even their weaker films are better than most of the CGI animated kiddy fare.

 

[Teheheman]

The way that this sounds, it sounds like something that'll only run in Disney Theme Parks considering it's supposed to incorporate 5 sections of DisneyLand.

Daniel

 

[Mo Frackle]

On a different note, has anybody here actually seen "The Stooge"? Personally, I didn't care for it. Then again, Jerry Lewis' movies are a mixed bag (in my opinion).

But I can see a remake with Roger Rabit and Mickey Mouse working.

 

[Scooterforever]

A good sequel just isn't possible in this day and age, and here's the main reasons why: 1) The original film had cameos from countless cartoon characters from different studios, including Disney, WB, and Fleischer. The dueling pianos scene with Donald and Daffy was one of the greatest scenes in the film. I believe the strict licensing issues of today would not allow this to happen again. 2) Despite people ignorantly considering it a kid's film just because it had cartoons, it IS NOT a kid's film. It had sexual innuendo out the wazoo, not to much a fair share of violence and language. There's no doubt the original film would be PG-13 if released today, and parents would scream bloody murder if it were marketed to kids. If Disney made a sequel, it would be incredibly watered down, and the original's edginess is one of the things that made it great.

 

[Oscarfan]

Despite people ignorantly considering it a kid's film just because it had cartoons, it IS NOT a kid's film. It had sexual innuendo out the wazoo, not to much a fair share of violence and language. There's no doubt the original film would be PG-13 if released today, and parents would scream bloody murder if it were marketed to kids. If Disney made a sequel, it would be incredibly watered down, and the original's edginess is one of the things that made it great.

...or they could NOT market it toward kids as common sense would dictate.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

The problem is, even if it's not marketed towards kids, you will STILL have parents who think it's a kids movie because cartoons=for kids. It's a lose-lose situation no matter how they market it.

 

[jvcarroll]

The Stooge:
I would have preferred Roger Rabbit and Mickey Mouse star in their own movies and I still think that could work! I don't know if this Stooge premise can survive 90 minutes, but it would make one heck of a 7 minute cartoon short. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Cartoons are not just for kids:
It is true that there is a perception in the western world that cartoons are for kids and there's probably no changing that in the minds of most people. However, animated pictures make up 25% of the top 100 all-time grossing films worldwide! That means 1 of every 4 blockbuster films is an animated picture. That means a heck-of-a-lot of people with out kids are seeing these movies too. That's why films typically have different tiered marketing campaigns. Now, these are not all television ads. There are billboards, inserts and strategically placed magazine layouts created to court different markets.

A Roger Rabbit sequel:
The original film was appealing on many levels:

• It was traditionally animated
• It was the first film to advance live-action/animation technology forward in decades
• It contained so many characters from different companies
• It was well written piece of film-noir

Basically, it was a rare case of the quality living up to the hype and gimmicks. Advancements in technology would certainly work, but they wouldn't be seen as impressive on a new Roger Rabbit film. However, a return to real traditional animation mixed in with modern wizardry would make it stand apart and boost its appeal.

Could they get the cast back? It's about money and deals. I'm sure they could work something out. Warner Brothers would probably jump at the chance to make provide some character cameos that they didn't have to pay for. They'd get free money, exposure and final approval. It takes a special person to shepherd the deal. Zemekis and Spielberg could pull a hat trick if they wanted to.

The rest? Well, any movie is worth what is written on the page. That's what it all comes down to. There are plenty of creative people in Hollywood. The problem is that nobody seems to call on them or to leave them alone to do what they do best. Have Brad Bird write it! That's my answer for everything. Ha! Actually, it would be a good idea to at least have him produce it and find the appropriate person to write it. The time for Roger nostalgia to come return is about now. If handled properly, it could work. Hey, I'm a "smile, darn-ya, smile" sort of fella so of course that's going to be my position!

 

[rowlfy662]

i wpuld love to see a Roger Rabbit just for the cameos there are so many other characters they could choose and thousands of companies would jump mostly wb cause they own both MGM and Hanna Barbera the amount of cameos they milk from characters like the flintstones droopy tom and jerry yogi bear and others would be amazing i mean a lot of big companies let there gaming characters appear in the film Wreck it Ralph so i hope cartoon companies would do the sam . the only thing is the great Bob Hoskins would not appear in it maybe a cameo but due to his retirement from acting i doubt it but we don't even know if this film is happening this could all be rumour or swept under the carpet

 

[Mo Frackle]

On a different note, has anybody here actually seen "The Stooge"? Personally, I didn't care for it. Then again, Jerry Lewis' movies are a mixed bag (in my opinion).

But I can see a remake with Roger Rabit and Mickey Mouse working.

 

[Drtooth]

Could they get the cast back? It's about money and deals. I'm sure they could work something out. Warner Brothers would probably jump at the chance to make provide some character cameos that they didn't have to pay for. They'd get free money, exposure and final approval. It takes a special person to shepherd the deal. Zemekis and Spielberg could pull a hat trick if they wanted to.

Disney was able to get Nintendo, Capcom, Sega, Namco Bandai, and even Sony (they own Q*bert) to work together on Wreck it Ralph. Though, with caveats... Q*Bert's part was originally written for Dig Dug, Namco Bandai didn't want to see that character portrayed as broken and homeless. Capcom made them rewrite a Dr. Wily Cameo to be M. Bison (internal problems with Capcom... they REALLY want to push Street Fighter, even though Mega Man has a successful Archie Comics series now). And of course, little fiddly things about how much characters should be used. The writers of the film themselves didn't put Mario in the film because they couldn't find a good enough place for him.

I think if they can get that many video game corporations to lend their likenesses, they certainly can get Warner Bros (who own like roughly a third of cartoon characters in existence) and a couple others to lend their characters in another film.

As for a sequel, we need something with a strong enough story. It's possible. You just have to revisit the movie and look for the subtle references to racial tension and modernization at the risk of preservation, and all that other stuff that came from the film originally being a Chinatown sequel (!). All they need to do is write a movie that doesn't involve cartoons and rewrite it so it does. Would you believe that the latest Die Hard movie, the fifth, was the first Die Hard movie written to be a Die Hard movie? And it's getting bad reviews for it.