Letters protesting the absence of Roger Rabbit

D

disneyphilip

Member
Original Poster
I strongly suggest that everyone write letters regarding Roger Rabbit and the Disney/Amblin/Dreamworks feud.


Here's some addresses to write to:

The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

Steven Spielberg
Amblin Entertainment
100 Universal City Plaza
Bungalow 477
Universal City, CA 91608-1085

Dreamworks SKG
1000 Flower St.
Glendale, CA 91201


Also, here's some sample letters:

For "Amblin Entertainment":

Dear Steven Spielberg:

I’m a big fan of Roger Rabbit and have enjoyed the past collaborations between your company and Disney.
I’ve been anticipating more from this team, but I’ve been disappointed for some time, as I’ve noticed that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) have been absent from recent Disney productions. I don’t claim to understand the business aspects of such collaborations, but it seems to me that potential income is being lost.
In rumor, I’ve heard that your company and Disney have been unable to come to working agreements in bringing Roger and his co-stars back into the Disney universe. I’m afraid that Roger seems to have been fading into obscurity—this is truly a shame, since Roger is a great character with huge marketing potential.
However, Roger and his co-stars still appear on Disney merchandise sometimes.
The Roger Rabbit walk-around character hardly appears in the Disney theme parks anymore. I’d like him to go back to being a regular character in Disney’s parks…for meet-and-greets, parades, shows, etc.
It’d be nice if Roger returned to appearing in the “Disney on Ice” shows as well.
I wish he’d appear in new Disney theme park attractions. It would be great if they built the “Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood” area/attractions that were proposed for Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios theme park years ago.
Roger still gets a lot of attention and exposure in the overseas Disney parks, so I hope that this is a sign of future possibilities.
I’d also like to see Roger in more Disney movies and television shows, plus more Roger Rabbit feature films, cartoon shorts and maybe a Roger Rabbit TV show.
If your company and Disney can agree on merchandising, why not expand the ability to agree?
I hope that your company can settle your differences with Disney over the ownership and licensing of Roger Rabbit and Co., so that the public can see more of them in the future.

Sincerely,
(Your name here)


For "Dreamworks":

Dear Sir or Madam:

I’m a big fan of Roger Rabbit and have enjoyed the past collaborations between your company and Disney.
I’ve been anticipating more from this team, but I’ve been disappointed for some time, as I’ve noticed that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) have been absent from recent Disney productions. I don’t claim to understand the business aspects of such collaborations, but it seems to me that potential income is being lost.
In rumor, I’ve heard that your company and Disney have been unable to come to working agreements in bringing Roger and his co-stars back into the Disney universe. I’m afraid that Roger seems to have been fading into obscurity—this is truly a shame, since Roger is a great character with huge marketing potential.
However, Roger and his co-stars still appear on Disney merchandise sometimes.
The Roger Rabbit walk-around character hardly appears in the Disney theme parks anymore. I’d like him to go back to being a regular character in Disney’s parks…for meet-and-greets, parades, shows, etc.
It’d be nice if Roger returned to appearing in the “Disney on Ice” shows as well.
I wish he’d appear in new Disney theme park attractions. It would be great if they built the “Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood” area/attractions that were proposed for Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios theme park years ago.
Roger still gets a lot of attention and exposure in the overseas Disney parks, so I hope that this is a sign of future possibilities.
I’d also like to see Roger in more Disney movies and television shows, plus more Roger Rabbit feature films, cartoon shorts and maybe a Roger Rabbit TV show.
If your company and Disney can agree on merchandising, why not expand the ability to agree?
I hope that your company can settle your differences with Disney over the ownership and licensing of Roger Rabbit and Co., so that the public can see more of them in the future.
Sincerely,
(Your name here)


For "The Walt Disney Company":

Dear Sir or Madam:

I’m a big fan of Roger Rabbit and have enjoyed the past collaborations between Disney and Amblin Entertainment.
I’ve been anticipating more from this team, but I’ve been disappointed for some time, as I’ve noticed that Roger Rabbit and his co-stars (Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the Weasels, etc.) have been absent from recent Disney productions. I don’t claim to understand the business aspects of such collaborations, but it seems to me that potential income is being lost.
In rumor, I’ve heard that Disney and Amblin have been unable to come to working agreements in bringing Roger and his co-stars back into the Disney universe. I’m afraid that Roger seems to have been fading into obscurity—this is truly a shame, since Roger is a great character with huge marketing potential.
However, Roger and his co-stars still appear on Disney merchandise sometimes.
The Roger Rabbit walk-around character hardly appears in the Disney theme parks anymore. I’d like him to go back to being a regular character in Disney’s parks…for meet-and-greets, parades, shows, etc.
It’d be nice if Roger returned to appearing in the “Disney on Ice” shows as well.
I wish he’d appear in new Disney theme park attractions. It would be great if they built the “Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood” area/attractions that they proposed for Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios theme park years ago.
Roger still gets a lot of attention and exposure in the overseas Disney parks, so I hope that this is a sign of future possibilities.
I’d also like to see Roger in more Disney movies and television shows, plus more Roger Rabbit feature films, cartoon shorts and maybe a Roger Rabbit TV show.
If Disney and Amblin can agree on merchandising, why not expand the ability to agree?
I hope that Disney and Amblin can settle their differences over the ownership and licensing of Roger Rabbit and Co., so that the public can see more of them in the future.

Sincerely,
(Your name here)

Please write to them soon.

BTW, for those still interested, the "Save Roger Rabbit" (http://www.petitiononline.com/RRABBIT/petition.html) is now up to 1,402 signatures.

P-P-P-P-P-P-Please tell others about this cause.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
Testtrack321 said:
You are thinking of Brair Rabbit. Rodger Rabbit has the red overalls and the goofy voice and the hot girlfriend.
Click to expand...
Hmmm....you could be correct. But why do I remember seeing RR on the log ride?
 
imagineer boy

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
hakunamatata said:
Hmmm....you could be correct. But why do I remember seeing RR on the log ride?
Click to expand...

That was a roger rabbit cartoon short that was shown in front of a movie in the 80s. In that one, Roger chases baby herman through a lumber mill ultimately going into a flume drop. That's probably the one you're thinking of. Brer Rabbit and Roger Rabbit have no realations what so ever with each other.
 
Halfling418

Halfling418

New Member
I love Who Framed Roger Rabbit...it's pure genius. I watch it a few times a year, ever since I was little.

And he's so adorable! Who can say no to a face like that? :kiss:
 
J

JLW11Hi

Well-Known Member
mkt said:
wow... this is an OLD thread
Click to expand...

its interesting, though, as the topic may have some relevance today.

It seems that this whole situation stemmed from a personal quarrel between Eisner and Spielberg. With Eisner now out of the picture, and Iger making such deals as aquiring a different rabbit friend, long-time forgotten Oswald, as well as patching up the relationship with Pixar, wouldn't it be awesome if Iger were to somehow make a deal with Spielberg and aquire the remaining rights to Roger, or to at least ease up on their contract and let Disney revive the character, in the parks (rides, characters) or even films?
 
C

clarksfan95

Member
If it makes you guys feel any better, Mickeys Toontown in Disneyland has Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin. It's a pretty good ride, the wait was entirely way too long, but that's what happens when things breakdown while you are in line.....:) . It was a fun and cute ride...the one issue that I see with this thread is the fact that everyone thinks that Roger Rabbit is a Disney developed character, when in fact he is not. The only connection he has with Disney is the fact that Disneys ....Touchstone (??? It's been a while)...released the film (not Walt Disney Productions). The people at Warner Bros. could argue that Roger Rabbit belongs to them as well, but it doesn't. Disney was brought in on the deal to assist with animation, the animation was actually done in England at the Richard Williams studio. Disney and Warner Bros. acted as support roles. Disney has shown a lot more interest in Roger Rabbit, but they are also in a lawsuit with it's creator over royalties....go figure.

I don't believe that Disney will now try to acquire the rights to Roger as they have with Oswald, because he's not that important to the history of Disney as Oswald was.... Oswald is an important piece of history, but to be honest, it was probably best for Walt that Oswald got swindled away. Oswald was not that popular...whereas Mickey Mouse became a phenomenon. How different history would be had that event not taken place, would Disney as we know it even exist? Had it not been for Ub Iwerks staying with Disney (as Universal played hardball and convinced all of Walts animators to join them instead), Mickey might not even exist anymore. It was Ub's job to animate the Mickey cartoons (the first couple - Plane Crazy, Steamboat Willie, etc.) by himself...late at night and cautiously during the day.

Unfortunately, Roger isn't that important in the history of animation...his film helped reopen the door to the industry boom that occured in the late 80's and early to mid-90's, but for Disney...a certain Mermaid swung that door open on her own.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
I think the popularity was not with the character Roger Rabit perse, but with the style of the movie. They did a real good job with the quality of the interaction between the human and cartoon characters. I personally liked a number of the other cartoon characters allot better than Roger, simply because after 5 minutes of hearing him lisp and slobber, it became irritating.
 
C

clarksfan95

Member
Which part don't you agree with Disneyphilip? I can try to rephrase if I might have said something confusing...

Fact is tho:

-Disney does not own Roger Rabbit
-Disney is in a lawsuit with the creator of Roger Rabbit

-Roger Rabbit is a movie that helped to open up the animation industry (without it, things at Disney during the early to mid 90's might not have happened) - he is very important to animation history, but he didn't blow the roof off of the industry the way that the Little Mermaid did - she didn't gross nearly as much as Roger did box office wise, but her sheer power took Disney to the next level.

-Little Mermaid was the first completely animated feature to get remotely close to the $100 million mark while in theatres (most execs at Disney considered it a write-off). Without her and her popularity - most at Disney felt that animated cartoons were to developed for boys (this from the mouths of Ron Clements and John Musker) and not for girls. If Mermaid doesn't happen...then where does Beauty and the Beast come into play...it hadn't started production at that point - it was still an idea - that both Ron and John passed on. Ariel was at one point the highest grossing Disney franchise - beating both Mickey and Pooh. Basically, if the Little Mermaid doesn't do well...then Beauty and the Beast probably doesn't go into full production and who knows where Disney animation goes from there....:veryconfu

-Mickey Mouse doesn't exist without Oswald being stolen (basically) from Walt by Universal. Walt created him on the train ride home from New York after learning that his partner at the time along with Universal had swindled not only his first major character, but also all of his animators. This makes Oswald one of the most important figures in Disney's history.

On another note...I don't even think that Amblin Entertainment exists anymore. It was a secondary company owned by Universal that Don Bluth generally dealt with and that Steven Spielberg for a time was assocaited with. When Don Bluth joined Fox Animation, I think this banner company ceased to exist. The only two animated films that they released that Bluth wasn't a part of were Balto and Roger Rabbit. When Spielberg helped create Dreamworks, if I remember correctly, he gave up all creative control that he had at Amblin (Amblin wasn't even in America - it was based out of England).

If you didn't mean any of these points, let me know and I'll try again to clarify my meaning.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
clarksfan95 said:
-Mickey Mouse doesn't exist without Oswald being stolen (basically) from Walt by Universal. Walt created him on the train ride home from New York after learning that his partner at the time along with Universal had swindled not only his first major character, but also all of his animators. This makes Oswald one of the most important figures in Disney's history.
Click to expand...
Actually, since we are looking at being accurate,... Walt created Mortimer Mouse on the way home on the train. If it wasnt for Walt's wife, there might be no Disney as we know it today....she was the one that said he looked like a Mickey Mouse, not a Mortimer Mouse.....
 
L

luvJC4saken

New Member
Eddie Valentine: "She's married to Roger Rabbit?!"

Betty Boop: "Yeeeahh... whadda lucky girl."

It'd be cool to see more Roger. But I don't know if Who Framed was really in line w/ the Disney "family entertainment" image.

Finally, I know Dreamworks and Disney have been rather strong competitors recently. And as far as Spielberg goes, his Animaniacs cartoons did nothing but rip on the Disney company ALL the time (not that I was ever opposed to this. I thought The Pinky and The Brain episode that was spoof off of Disney's Winnie the Pooh was absolutely hilarious. Particularly the character of The Jagger which was Mic Jagger as Tigger.... great stuff!). Anyway I'm curious as to who actually owns the rights to RR and his co-pals (particularly his girlfriend!). You're right that the characters appear every once in awhile on Disney merchandise and parks, but are they Disney's to create films and television shows with?
 
J

JLW11Hi

Well-Known Member
Unfortuantely a very large portion of the animation community would probably have to disagree with you as they see Roger Rabbit as one of the greatest animation based films of all time. The movie brought forth a new generation of animated movies, and justly so doing it by tracing back to its roots, the classic cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s.

I love the character of Roger Rabbit and his whole clan, and it is quite obvious from the merchandise that is being put out that others agree, as there is a ton of Jessica Rabbit merchandise, at least as much as Disney can put out while abiding by the rules of whatever kind of contract they have with Amblin. I'm not saying they have to have an entire revitilization of the characters by puttin gout new cartoons or films or even rides (though it would be awesome). It would at least be right if they could more openly acknowledge the existence of the film in the Disney film library. Star Wars and Indiana Jones might not be considered true Disney franchises, yet you see things being done with them in the parks yet.
 
L

luvJC4saken

New Member
Well, we have to remember that the point of owning a corporation IS to make a profit, not to own chunks of history. Now a lot of people in here might not like that, but that's just the way it is. People love Roger Rabbit and supporting characters --> they make money --> that's why it makes sense for SOMEONE to start marketing them out again. History is fine and I guess it is related to earning profits in the sense that people appreciate a corporation involved in a lot of significant historical events and are more willing to buy from such an organization. But the bottom line is how much you end up in the black at the end of each quarter. That's just the truth of it.

There's no doubt I have much more respect for the Mermaid than I do for Roger. But if he's a popular character why not let him loose a little bit? And come to think of it, Disney's kind of ingenius by slapping his face on whatever merchandise they can so that if there ever is a deal to be made with the rights of the character the public is going to associate his face with Disney. That's it.
 
FrumiousBoojum

FrumiousBoojum

New Member
Disney does own Roger Rabbit... at least partially.

The copyright for Roger Rabbit is Disney/Amblin. It's a joint ownership. Disney can do whatever they want to with the character as long as Steven Spielberg gives the okay. Gary Wolf, unfortunately, no longer has any say in what to do with any of his characters.

But with all the editing that the film has gone through, is it only Eisner that Spielberg is upset with?

If I were Iger, I'd go through the ESPN lineup and see who Spielberg might want in exchange for the other half of that rabbit. (Hey, sports figure for Rabbit -- seems like a normal trade these days.)
 

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