What if cartoon characters were real performers who lived and breathed and worked on movie soundstages like any other actor? With the considerable might of Walt Disney Studios and Amblin Entertainment behind him, director Robert Zemeckis took that offbeat notion and from it concocted Who Framed Roger Rabbit — a frenetic comedy adventure combining live-action and animation with a degree of realism never before attempted. Mechanical effects by George Gibbs and Michael Lantieri enabled actor Bob Hoskins and others to interact convincingly with characters that had no on-set presence. These characters were later provided by some three hundred artisans working under animation director Richard Williams and were then seamlessly integrated into the live-action -complete with shadows and highlights — by the optical wizards at Industrial Light & Magic.
