Cours toujours mon lapin

By 1993, the cultural footprint and relevance of the smash-hit Who Framed Roger Rabbit? had faded from the mind of the public, which explains why Buena Vista decided to attach Trail Mix-Up, the third and final short film involving the Roger Rabbit character, to a A Far Off Place, a relatively low-key, small-budget studio release that had mediocre returns. In addition, by this point, the sheer magic and originality of blending live action and animation was a novelty that went by the wayside, so the only thing that was left for Roger Rabbit to try and remain relevant was to concoct a short that went back to the basics in terms of what it emphasized; in Trail Mix-Up's case, it's the juvenile qualities of Roger Rabbit and Jessica Rabbit's assets.

The short opens with Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer), Baby Herman, and Mrs. Herman (April Winchell) setting up camp at a local park, with Roger in charge of looking after Baby Herman, because he has a track record of doing so well at such a task. As one expects, Herman winds up wandering into the forest, and scaredy-cat Roger has few skills that aid him in surviving in a woodsy setting. This is where the busty, gorgeous, and unabashedly sexualized Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) flaunts into the picture. She's the forest's local ranger, as she shakes her bust and wiggles her petite waist and perfect round rump in order to "help" Roger find Herman before more danger faces him. But not before Roger can have his face flattened like a pancake and be shredded by a sawmill.

Trail Mix-Up, while sporadically funny and still admirably full of energy like the two shorts that preceded it, essentially admits defeat and shows why Roger Rabbit faded out of relevance in the public. With new, ground-breaking animation just two years on the horizon and a cry for more story-based shorts and films that didn't settle for cute dinosaurs and rambunctious rabbits, the reckless Roger, the fearless Herman, and the buxom Jessica Rabbit just didn't seem to hold the kind of ground in the 1990's as they previously held in the 1980's. The good news is that this kind of material doesn't find itself dated in terms of content, and is still just as amusing today because of its slapstick and setups as it was when it was released. Whether it directly calls for future projects, I can't say, but it does work to suggest that this serves more as a "see you later" with an unclear meaning or span of time for that last term.

Voiced by: Charles Fleischer, April Winchell, and Kathleen Turner. Directed by: Barry Cook.

In the last Roger Rabbit short, Roger and Baby Herman go camping in Yellowstain Park. Some rather stressful shenanigans ensue.

It's produced in full Candybox Animation mode, and while I have some issues with the violence starting full bore and continuing throughout, I am willing to forgive all for the sheer structure of the cartoon, and the infinite flexibility of Roger; even Bob Clampett wouldn't have done anything quite that destructive.

Alas, there were no more of these beautiful theatrical Roger Rabbit cartoons. The impulse to produce them is a little vague, but the amazing success of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? Made them seen as something to keep people interested in the proposed sequel. Steven Spielberg, who produced them, loved them, but even for him it undoubtedly seemed less than sensible to keep on producing them when the sequel fell through.

I remember 'Entertainment Weekly' panning this cartoon when it came out for its crudeness and sexiness. I'll agree that the 'dropped a log' line is a bit much but on the whole the cartoon seems to be a foil for Disney animator's frustrations with the 'Disney' way of storytelling. To that end, this is the most violent and faced-paced of the Roger Rabbit shorts with Roger getting threatened by a shot gun, bashed countless times, with a face-ful of bee sting welts, and sliced up by the saw-mill.

The drawings are certainly not top-notch with Roger and Baby looking like distant cousins of their characters in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'. The backgrounds are bright and lively but this certainly is the most forgettable Maroon Cartoon short and possibly why others were not produced. Less an homage to Tex Avery and other 1940's-50's cartoon shorts, it just goes a little too far cramming one rabbit-pummeling gag after another.

This short was very funny. I like the Droopy scenes. Every Roger Rabbit short has a cameo by Jessica, and this one does too. It is a very funny one. I wish they would make more of these Roger Rabbit shorts, but I can only find three. Oh well do yourself a favor don't miss this one.

The years were good for Roger Rabbit and the animation crew. It was three years since the previous Roger Rabbit cartoon when "Trail Mix-Up" was released, and the animation was quite contrasting compared to the first two Roger shorts. The visuals are almost up to feature-animation quality and are quite crisp and beautiful. Just imagine what Roger Rabbit cartoons would look like if they were made today!

"Trail Mix-Up" has some very inventive and funny gags; like when Roger runs for safety only to have an unbelievably tall tree crash down on him miles away, and when numerous mini-Rogers appear after Roger goes through some buzz saws. This short even features Jessica Rabbit's sexiest appearance out of all the cartoons (and probably the feature too!). Who knew a cartoon character could accomplish such a thing. Man, I feel like the ultimate nerd by writing that! :P

While watching "Trail Mix-Up" again, I had a hard time remembering why I prefer "Roller Coaster Rabbit" to this. All the gags were top-notch and hilarious, with a sexy Jessica Rabbit thrown in, and then we get to the ending. The water-skiing bear was pretty funny, but it all turned too manic and just not all that funny when they returned to the "real world." I don't know what exactly it was, but maybe I just didn't like seeing a national monument be destroyed or to even see Baby Herman harmed. The ending just didn't sit well with me.

Aside from that, this is still a pretty good cartoon. There are plenty of laughs, and it's just a beauty to see.

My IMDb Rating: 8/10