Tonight on TV: Mixing animation and real shots, the bet was risky … The director back to the future takes up the challenge hands down!

Robert Zemeckis has always liked to explore ambitious formats and put technology at the heart of his narrative process. His cult film that wants the skin of Roger Rabbit is a perfect example.

Released in the cinema in 1988, three years after return to the future, this family comedy follows the adventures of a hysterical rabbit. Formerly sacred star of animation cinema, Roger Rabbit has been concerned during the shootings since he suspected his wife, the sublime Jessica Rabbit, to deceive him. The studio that employs Roger decides to hire a private, Eddie Valliant (embodied by actor Bob Hoskins), to discover what is hidden behind this story!

Robert Zemeckis' artistic challenge

Who wants the skin of Roger Rabbit is a real technical feat of 1988. If the mixture of animation and real shots was not a novelty for the time (we think of Mary Poppins released in 1965), Robert Zemeckis stood out by making Cartoon and real world coexist in an incredibly credible way.

In addition, it was also necessary to bring together in the animated characters of the Warner stables (Bugs Bunny and Duffy Duck) and Disney (like Mickey and Donald), which is, again, a great first in the animation.

Thus, in this family film, the animated characters, in particular Roger and Jessica Rabbit and those mentioned above, physically interact with real actors and real decorations. A work of incredible thoroughness, especially since everything was done image by image, by hand.

The 326 animators had to draw the animated characters taking into account the perspective and the lighting of each plan filmed in real taking. In total, it is estimated that no less than 82,080 drawings were necessary to make the film, not to mention the storyboards and conceptual drawings, for a post-production of fourteen months.

With technical prowess, technical Oscars. Who wants the skin of Roger Rabbit In 1989, the statuettes of the best special effects, the best sound effects and the best montage in 1989, while a special statuette came to reward the impressive work of Richard Williams for the management of animation and the creation of animated characters.

A risky bet but succeeded highly, since the film had resounding success ($ 349 million around the world, for a budget of 70 million). Hat Robert Zemeckis!

Tonight on Gulli at 9:05 p.m.

Meetings between cartoon and real world: