Roger Rabbit sequel still in the works, blame the writers

When I was young, I loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit, possibly the first cross-over I was ever exposed to. (Either that, or The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, but that doesn’t count.) I loved the idea of all my favorite golden age cartoons – which were still on TV back then! – could coexist in a colorful world and also interact with humans. As I got older, I expected to stop liking it, but found that I enjoyed it all the more, for I caught more subtle jokes, appreciated the caricature of the 1940s, and adored the casting of a serious actor (Bob Hoskins) in such a silly role. It could just be the nostalgia talking, but it’s still a pretty cool film.

Apparently, they’re still kicking around the idea of making a sequel (or prequel, as some rumors assert) over twenty years after the film’s release. The Playlist talked with the original film’s director Robert Zemeckis about it, confirming that the script is still being worked on by the original writers, Peter S. Seaman and Jeffrey Price. Zemeckis’s explanation? “They’re slow.” That’s an understatement, I’ve seen glaciers move faster.

Part of the lack of progress has been rough negotiations between Disney and Stephen Spielberg, who produced the first film, owns 50% of anything related to the franchise, and must approve anything done with the character. For instance, when the film was being billed as a prequel, he put the kibosh on including Nazis as villains, saying that he would never have comedic Nazis in his films after making Schindler’s List. Boo. Everyone loves comedic Nazis, just look at Inglourious Basterds.

Still, it seems like this project could still come together, as it seems Spielberg is much happier with Disney since they agreed to distribute his output from DreamWorks. Could this mean we’ll see a return to the idealized world of the ’40s? Personally, I’d like to see a sequel tackle the massive decline in animation quality that Hanna-Barbara cartoons typified in the ’60s. How would aging toons deal with conceding their work to poorly animated ones?