Roger Rabbit Sequel?

[ShyViolet]

Wow, very interesting! Thanks for the info Droo.

[Randall]

I was also an avid Zoo Crew fan, and still am disappointed that it never got an animated series. And it will never happen, as the creators own too much of the property to make it worth DC's while to make a deal, according to Scott Shaw! (the exclamation point is part of his name, for those unfamiliar).

I had read about those details re: Who Censored Roger Rabbit, and it made me less inclined to seek out the book, especially after reading a sequel (Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit) that I didn't find too enjoyable. I never sought out the third book, either (Who Whacked Roger Rabbit).

[ShyViolet]

Interesting. Now I’m actually more curious about reading WCRR; I’m actually really intrigued by the “comic book” Toon concept as opposed to the animation setting we got in WFRR.

Also weird/random thought: Can’t help wondering what the WFRR film would have been like if it had been directed by Spielberg instead of Zemeckis. Not that I don’t love the Bob Z version, but can’t help but wonder how Spielberg would have adapted Wolf’s book. Maybe less noir, more scenes with Toon Town? We’ll never know I guess.

[Ben]

After seeking out and borrowing a copy of WCRR years later, I was very disappointed in the original book and actually found it bizarre and strangely depressing. Disney were right to ultimately buy it for the *concept*…and then literally change everything else about it!

Gary K Wolf is ultimately a lucky guy who struck it rich with a great idea, but isn’t the easiest of authors to read, though he’s clearly wanting to keep hold of his publishing rights by putting a new book out every few years, and I do wonder how much this new 4K is as much about celebrating the movie as it is about doing something with it to retain Disney's hold on the material, since a couple of years ago he was looking to get back the rights. Much better, though still tonally weird, was the "official" comic sequel The Resurrection Of Doom, which was set in the movie version universe and was completely Wolf-free, and though it’s "better" than the books, it’s also kind of little more than a rehash of the film's story beats.

Spielberg was *so* involved and invested in this film that he also spent a *lot* of time on set (both Roger and Empire Of The Sun were Elstree based in 1986-87, right after Young Sherlock) and, while it was Zemeckis' baby, there wasn’t a decision made that el Steveo didn’t approve or have a hand in, since he was also Katzenberg’s point man between the production and Disney: there was actually a clause in the contracts that said he had veto powers and final cut, and that Disney could replace BZ with Spielberg if everyone felt it wasn’t going well. Spielberg was the major insurance policy — and supporter of BZ at some hairy times — on that film, so it would not have been materially different. I wish my Dad had been a little more still involved at Elstree then: RR came at the tail end of his time there and we didn’t used to visit the sets as much after Sherlock, though I did get to go into the Ink & Paint Club, and see Eddie's office, while I also had a very cool afternoon over at Richard Williams' studio in Camden where everyone was working *furiously* under time and over budget! I think we were dropping off some dialogue reels for them to animate to, and I got to see some test stuff on the old Moviola machine. I can’t remember what, exactly, but great memories!

And…ooh…Captain Carrott (and his Amazing Zoo Crew)! Used to love that, being as they were kind of proper cartoon superhero characters, so that plugged right into my eight/nine/ten year old self. Think I still have some kind of special promo issue that they put out here as an intro…and then I don’t think I could ever find any more! Over here he was always Rodney Rabbit, I believe, so they must have sorted that copyright claim out pretty early, since I would have remembered if his name had been Roger when the movie came out. I also remember being crushed when The Adventures Of The American Rabbit came out, which looked Zoo Crew-esque, but was boring as anything!

[droosan]

That got me curious to check out the only trade-paperback reprint of the series -- a black & white 'DC Showcase' volume, from a few years ago -- to see if the 'Roger Rabbit' dialogue had since been excised. But, nope; it's still in there ..
.

CaptCarrot_RogerRabbit.png (144.13 KiB) Viewed 6535 times

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.. reading further, it looks like it was around issue #10 (December, 1981) that he began to be referred to as "Roger Rodney Rabbit" .. then as "R. Rodney Rabbit" in issue #14 (March, 1982) .. and then just "Rodney Rabbit", thereafter.

Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! was my 'transitional' comic book title .. coming along when I was 11 years old. Prior to it, I'd read mostly cartoon 'funny animal' books like Donald Duck, Woody Woodpecker, The Pink Panther, etc .. and afterward, I began reading mostly 'superhero' books like The New Teen Titans, Blue Devil, or Thor.

It was also the first time I'd ever encountered a comic book's cancellation. I was absolutely crushed; I had no idea that comic books ever actually ended..!

It's still one of my favorite comic books, ever. An animated TV cartoon series -- perhaps from Ruby-Spears, or the like -- would've absolutely ruled.

I've had the opportunity to meet and talk with Scott Shaw! about the comics, several times over the years .. I've even run into him accidentally in local restaurants, on occasion! He's always 'super nice' about it .. even though it's apparent he has some hard feelings over DC Comics' treatment of the title.

[Ben]

Yep, that’s the one!

Hmmm…maybe he was Roger in my version too? I’ll have to try and dig it out. The one I had/have is definitely color, though, from the original printing. Ooh, I’ll have to try and find that!!

[Randall]

That preview was in New Teen Titans, if that helps. Titans is still my fave series of all time, and was DC's best seller at that time, so DC gave the Captain a good debut. I also had the first Zoo Crew issue, after which my brother collected the rest of ghe series. But he sold his collection later, so I needed to buy the black and white trade to see the series again. (It also has the awesome Oz-Wonderland War, drawn by Carol Lay.)

[droosan]

New Teen Titans # 16, to be exact.

I still have all of the original issues of CCaHAZC that I'd bought almost 40 years ago! They're in rather less than 'mint' condition .. but are still in good shape, considering their age.

I also own the original artwork of a few choice Zoo Crew pages that Mr. Shaw! was kind enough to sell to me, awhile back.

[Ben]

Found it! Here ya go…my original pull-out from 1981, in mint condition!




And here's the color print version of the page Droo posted above and, yes, he is indeed Roger Rabbit here…!




If WB wanted to continue their bonkers current superhero/movie kick, they could do a lot worse than make a live-action/animation hybrid version out of this! Oh, wait…they have already done a lot worse…

[Dan]

Being the owner of all three Roger Rabbit books, I can say with great certainty that fans of the film probably shouldn't seek them out unless curiosity got the best of them. As many others have said, they are weird stories as Wolf's sense of humor clearly doesn't align with the film by any stretch of the imagination. The only one that really comes close to being comparable with the film is the second book, Plugged.

With the first book, Wolf was merely playing around with the idea of supposing you could make comic strip characters far less benevolent than the public generally perceived them to be back in the day (Roger has a sinister side that is nowhere near touched upon in the film). The second book, Wolf was definitely inspired by the film and essentially rewrote himself to work with elements from the film (Roger is the jolly, hapless dunce we know him to be and the speech impediment is more prominent). The third book, which oddly enough turned out to be the reason for me getting a Kindle as I understood it could only be read as an e-book at the time, is him keeping elements of the film, but returning to some of the darker aspects he was going for with the first book (there's a bit more interest in ToonTown and how it functions in this one than with the characters).

I even picked The Road to ToonTown, which is a collection of short stories by Wolf, one of which sees him really playing around with Jessica's characterization with the film serving as a springboard into other ideas he wanted to explore with her.

A key notation is actually in the opening of the second book, in which Valiant mentions how Roger "and his screwball buddies play fast and loose with historical accuracy". Essentially, none of the books really have a proper connection to one another in terms of narrative, and even in characterizations, and they should be taken as stand-alone reads set within their own universes. Aside from the clear inspiration from the film in the second book, the only real acknowledgment is the first book summarized as a bad dream Jessica mentions having in the second book.

All things considered, I liked the second book the best because of how much closer to the film it was than the other two, which may be saying something as I believe it's also less like a Wolf story because of it. Nevertheless, I really don't know if any one who liked the movie should check these books out because of just how out there and different they are from the film and even one another.

[Randall]

And Plugged was the best, eh? Wow, and I really didn't even care for that one.

And Ben--- Someone pulled that Captain Carrot preview out of Titans #16?!?!? That's vandalism! Wanton destruction! Oh, the humanity! Sure, read comics until they're tattered, but don't pull them apart on purpose!!! (My copy of Titans #16 is, of course, sitting nestled in its Mylar bag, sitting alongside the rest of the New Teen Titans run in a comics longbox. Gosh, that was a great series!)

[Ben]

Well, i *was* only eight at the time! And it felt like a pull-out!

Actually, I don’t know how this was taken out, but it seems I was VERY careful, as there are no staple hole rips on any of the pages, they’re all just loose. I do actually have a second copy, although also taken out of the comic (yes, I know), that my younger self *has* managed to staple together to make it more like its own "book", although I don’t know why. And, having two copies, I don’t know why I wouldn’t have kept one in the Titans intact and one separate, as was my usual wont, if I was that desperate to take it out! Ah, the vagaries of time…

[ShyViolet]

Great background info guys, thanks!

[Dan]

Ben made mention of the steelbook design for the Roger Rabbit 4K that Best Buy will put out.

Here's how it looks:

[Ben]

Bleugh…!