Robert Zemeckis just made my hair catch fire. During a recent event, an MTV News correspondent caught up with the director to ask a few questions about his thoughts on revisiting past franchises, like the Back To the Future series. Zemeckis casually mentioned that he’s been thinking about doing another Roger Rabbit film.
Now, those of you who read Manolith regularly know well how I despise Hollywood for its never-ending stream of remakes of perfectly-fine movies. But this wouldn’t be a remake. We’re talking about a brand-new script, directed by the same guy who did the original. Is there room in the Roger Rabbit universe for more stories? Hell yes there is. If for no other reason, we need more Jessica Rabbit screen time.
But here’s the question. In the video, he talks about a new Roger Rabbit in the context of what we can do these days with digital technology — specifically, motion capture. Part of the fun of the original “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” was that it was live action mixed with traditional cel animation. If there’s a sequel and it involves motion capture, we’re talking 3D. Would a 3D Roger be the same? Or would it just be creepy, like Zemeckis’s “Polar Express“? Does the wackiness still play these days? Has Disney evolved past the point where the parody still sells? I’m excited to find out, but it’s likely that this is still just wish-fulfillment on Zemeckis’s part, and even if the thing were in production tomorrow, we probably wouldn’t see anything new until about 2015.
Still, it’s nice to think about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend some quality time with a certain couple of screengrabs. Oh, Jessica, take me to bed or lose me forever.
yeah not sure i like the idea of a CGI Roger Rabbit, but hey a new movie can’t be all bad. worth checking out