Roller Coaster Rabbit

After the wonderful film WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, Disney Pictures experimented by making several short cartoons starring Roger Rabbit and they were shown before feature films--much like the original purpose of classic Warner Brothers, MGM and Disney toons. Unfortunately, Disney also chose to pair these amazing shorts with some of the worst films of the era--virtually guaranteeing they would never see the light of day! Today, the only way you can see them is on an out of print videotape entitled "THE BEST OF ROGER RABBIT". It is NOT available on DVD nor does it appear it will be.

In this short, Roger is at an amusement park and as usual, he's watching the troublesome Baby Herman. Things really move into high gear when Roger wanders onto the roller-coaster to rescue the wayward youth (who is a lot like Sweet Pea from Popeye cartoons). You just have to see it to believe it.

Now as to the quality of this cartoon, it is amazingly violent and insane--even more so than the typical Tex Avery cartoon of the 1950s. Because the characters are so funny, the animation quality so superb and the action so intense, this is one of the greatest cartoon shorts you can find---period. Too bad the powers that be at Disney were idiots who didn't realize they had gold on their hands!

UPDATE 2/09--According to IMDb "This animated short can be found on the Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Vista Series DVD, released in 2003".

Roger Rabbit loses Baby Herman at an amusement park when the little tike goes in search of his red balloon. All manner of craziness ensues.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Roger Rabbit shorts, finding Roger's voice a little on the irritating side and the relentlessly madcap nature and breakneck speed of the action, something akin to Tex Avery on speed, just a touch too excessive for my taste (I had the same problem with Spielberg's equally insane Animaniacs).

Even though Roller Coaster Rabbit doesn't rate as highly with me as it does with other reviewers here on IMDb, I still recommend it if only for the fact that pneumatic Jessica Rabbit fleetingly appears tied to a roller-coaster track (cue wolf-whistles, leg thumping on table, jaw hitting the floor, eyes popping out, and steam erupting from ears!).

(Please excuse the fact that all the reviews I have written for the Roger Rabbit shorts are almost identical—since all three cartoons follow exactly the same formula, I thought I would save myself some time!)

I'm 14 and I STILL love Looney Tunes, I have all of the collections and I watch them constantly. I'm also a BIG fan of Tex Avery, his mind was all over the place. Now when I got old enough to find out Roger Rabbit had his own cartoon shorts, I jumped for joy!!! Now, I had seen the "Tummy Trouble" cartoon when I was young since I liked "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" But it never occurred to me that it was a Roger Rabbit cartoon. I finally found out when I re-rented "Honey" and it said "Tummy Trouble" on the cover. After that, I went out of my way to find the others. It wasn't till just a few days ago that I finally saw all of them!!! I've watched them about a million time and "Rollercoaster Rabbit" is my absolute favorite one!!! Here are the reasons I love this cartoon, Spoiler Alert: 1: It's like Tex Avery to the extreme, especially when Roger is at the top of the roller-coaster and his eyes pop out of his sockets and wiggle around in the air.

2: The jokes are original, like when roger files smack dab into some barbed wire, he says, "That was bracing" and smiles to show us his barbed wire braces.

3: It's all over the place, with Roger getting shot at, getting stuck in the grinders, it's just plain hilarious!!! I loved it, it's probably my favorite cartoon now, I can't believe Disney and Steven had to finally pull the plug!!! That just chaps my hide (sorry, my Dad uses that phrase.) One of my favorite lines comes from Droopy, "Curses. Foiled again" HA, I laughed.

Well, I've taken up enough of your time now, just be sure to go out and watch this cartoon. Buy the new DVD which has just come out, even if it's only to see all 3 shorts!!! It'll be worth your money, I would do it, if my parents allowed me to buy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Adios, Amigos

Oh my gosh, my sides still ache from this one.

The first and last time I saw "Roller Coaster Rabbit" was when it was shown as a short subject before the midnight premiere of Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy". I haven't seen it sense and that makes my memories all the fonder.

This time, our hero Roger Rabbit has to babysit Baby Herman in an amusement park as the baby follows a mischievous balloon. In the process, Roger gets punctured with darts, attacked by a bull, riddled in a firing range and, of course, holds on for dear life on an out-of-control roller coaster.

Jessica Rabbit puts in an appearance, too. But the biggest laugh comes from who says "Curses, foiled again!"

If I could find this one on a tape all by itself, I'd buy it and watch it on a daily basis. I do that with cartoons anyway, but this one takes special precedence. Hey man, it's Roger!

Ten stars and a gold-plated carrot for "Roller Coaster Rabbit".

And Roger, make more movies, will ya?

THE PRODUCTION TEAM pulled out all stops in bringing this one to the screen. In addition to the old art of full animation, this cartoon has the benefit of modern special effects animation also. The sound work and Technicolour are also outstanding.

IN SHORT, THEY took a very thin, thread bare even, premise and did it up to a tee. They stick to the now formula of Baby Herman, Roger and the Lady (seen only at her lower leg level ala Hanna-Barberra's MGM TOM & JERRY Cartoons of the 1940's).

FROM THIS THEY move everything along at a typically manic pace, bringing it to a most enjoyable successful conclusion.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING, WE have really enjoyed this experimental foray into doing new theatrical cartoons by Amlin Enertainment and Disney. We sure wish that they'd do some more; perhaps on a greater volume.