The Physics of...

Released in 1988, Who Framed Roger Rabbit tells the story of an alternate reality in which Hollywood is inhabited by both humans and cartoon characters.  Although this idea was certainly not new in the world of film making (animated characters had been coming into live worlds almost since the beginning of animation), it became a turning point in visual effects. Instead of paying attention to the difference between the actors and animated characters, the audience was drawn into the story of Roger Rabbit, a star of Maroon cartoons, who is accused of murdering the owner of Toontown. Together with a human detective named Eddie Valient, he must find the real murder, with the suspects including his wife, Jessica, and eerie Toontown judge, Judge Doom.

From the beginning of the film, the audience accepts the logic of the film. This was accomplished, in part, by the way the physics of the world were approached. Roger Rabbit’s physical world is not fully real; it becomes necessary for the physics to be pushed into a more cartoony realm. Even though this is not strictly a cartoon, it is treated like one. In doing this, the audience accepts the fact that a cartoon rabbit, femme fatale, and talking taxicab can interact with a flesh and blood private detective.

One way that the physics become more cartoony is exaggerated squash and stretch. This comes about in the cartoon characters, in particular, Roger. From his introduction on screen, Roger moves about in the movie almost as if he has no bones. His ears, in particular, experience more squash and stretch than a real rabbit's ears ever word. They reflect his mood and almost become dance-like in their movements. These fluid movements speak to the type of character he is; easygoing, jovial, and more than anything else, a 'toon. The exaggerated squash and stretch is there to emphasize the fact that ‘toons are different from humans. Roger needs to be able to stretch beyond natural capabilities; otherwise he is not believable as a cartoon rabbit.

 This is not to say that every animated character is automatically given the same exaggeration. Roger mentions that he can only do certain things if they are funny and this is true of all 'toons in this world. Because of the broadly comedic nature of this film, most of the animated characters experience exaggerated squash and stretch. There’s one exception, however, in the character of Jessica Rabbit. She is largely a humanoid character, but that isn't why her movements have to be more subtle than Roger or Benny the Cab's. She is the femme fatale of the story, her character oozing sexuality. The contrast between Jessica and Roger further emphasizes that there is a logic behind the squash and stretch.

In this screen shot, we see Roger stretching beyond his bodies physical capabilities while Jessica is moving very much in the same way a human would

Exaggerated acceleration and air resistance are also important to the comedy of the story. Again, the bulk of this comes from the ‘toon characters, and most of it comes in the Toontown sequence. Eddie has to tail Jessica to Toontown, and from there, all semblance of reality goes out the window. For instance, in true cartoon fashion, Eddie hovers in the air a bit before falling off the edge of a building and, despite not being a ‘toon, escapes from a fall a dozen stories tall unscathed. In that same sequence, Eddie is falling and comes across Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny skydiving. In order to have a dialogue, Eddie seems able to slows the rate of his speed down, and then subsequently speeds up when he finds that the “spare” that Bugs has given him is not a parachute, but a spare tire. Again, this is all done in the interest of comedy, playing on the idea that the broader the situation, the more comical it is.

We see Eddie using his hands to slow down to talk to Bugs, almost as if he's trying to create more air resistance

Exaggerated forces are also used to emphasize the meshing of a live action and animated world. Throughout the movie, ‘toon logic is discussed, and one of the most important points of that logic is what happens when something is dropped on their head. At the end of his introductory cartoon, Roger has a large refrigerator dropped on his head and is able to walk away with nothing more than a circle of cartoon birds flying around his head. In a similar way, humans can become like ‘toons and have the same responses to exaggerated forces that Roger does. During the Toontown sequence, Eddie's body loses all sense of real physics, despite being human. He gets into an elevator that travels at extremely fast speeds and is flatten like a pancake. This seems to have been done as homage to Tex Avery or Warner Bros. broad cartoon comedy, and yet it follows the logic of the world all the same. It's funny to see Eddie, who is a very sullen character, be subject to the exaggerated physical laws of Toontown. 

‘Toon logic doesn’t apply to humans automatically though. This is a murder mystery and the weapon of choice is…a safe. The filmmakers could have chosen any other possible murder weapon, and yet because of its connection to classic cartoons, a safe is used to kill two people. This act proves that real physics is only defied if a situation is funny. Both Teddy Valient and Marvin Acme are killed by having safes dropped on their heads. In any cartoon instance of this happening, it wouldn’t be fatal, and it would also most likely be funny. Regardless of their comedic merit, these are important plot points, so in a way its better for the physics of a safe dropping on someone’s head to be realistic. Had they not, these murders (both of which drive characters to do things later on in the story) would not have been as heavy and might have even been dismissed.

        In conclusion, it appears that the decision to exaggerate the physics of the world is affected by the story. In order for the audience to accept that a four foot tall cartoon rabbit can exist in 1940s Los Angeles and handle things that a live actor would, the physics almost have to be exaggerated in order for the rest of the film’s logic to be accepted. The different exaggerations also aid in the comedic timing of the movie; it almost tells the audience when to be concerned with the plight of the characters. The way that the filmmakers paid extreme attention to when they would break the laws of physics shows that a live action film does not have to be extremely realistic in order to be accepted by the audience.