Roger Rabbit is about to get a break most actors only dream about. Steven Spielberg and Walt Disney Pictures want to make him a star.
But then, Roger is no mere mortal: He's a cartoon character who's making his debut Wednesday in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" His creators spared no effort to make the sputtering, excitable rabbit into an endearing and enduring personality, potentially as famous as the stars who make cameo appearances in the movie – Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Woody Woodpecker and Betty Boop, among others. Eventually, Roger might rival the Great Mouse himself.
But "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" is much more than a cartoon: The movie mixes animation and live action to create an extraordinary effect never before seen. Roger and his cartoon-character companions are by no means flat cutouts flitting across the screen; they look rounded, three-dimensional. They take up space, and they interact with real objects. Roger even casts a shadow. He can sit on a couch nervously rattling a real coffee cup. He can almost reach out and grab your lapels.
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