𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝘽𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙮
(𝘉𝘢𝘥! 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘹 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳! 𝘞𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳)
𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 ‘𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵?’ 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘳&𝘔𝘳𝘴 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵.
𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘹, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧.
MAYFLOWER RECORDING, LOS ANGELES. 1987
It was a challenge for animators to make audiences believe that real people were genuinely interacting with animated characters considering factors like camera panning, the character's interaction with the real world, and the three-dimensional aspect.
It was even more complicated when the performance required acting alongside a tall, shapely woman and a pint-sized rabbit with lightning-fast energy. The project was unprecedented, which is what convinced Michael to persuade his wife to take part. The Disney team had stayed in relatively close contact with Michael since Captain EO.
When the monumental task of animating ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ got the green light, executives knew they needed a truly unique and instantly recognizable voice for a character as singular as the rabbit. And since they had already signed Michael for Roger, it made perfect sense for his real-life wife to play his fictional wife, one can only imagine the fortune invested in a project of that caliber featuring stars of that magnitude.
HAYVENHURST, CALIFORNIA. 1986.
"Come on, Tink, it’ll be fun! You love the Roger Rabbit comic strip!"
She glanced at her husband,who was grinning from ear to ear in the bathroom mirror.
"Honey, I don't know... You’ve acted before, but what about me? I don't know... I’m worried I won't be up to the task." She spoke while continuing to look at her reflection, removing her makeup.
"It’s just voice acting! And they asked us personally, sweetheart... Say yes, beautiful... It would be so lovely to watch the movie and tell our little ones, 'Do you know who Jessica and Roger are? That’s Mommy and Daddy.'" Michael lowered his voice as he wrapped his arms around his wife’s neck to embrace her, burying his face in the curve of her neck.
"Hmm... Yeah, that would be nice," she said, he lifted his head excitedly from where it had been tucked against her neck. "If we were to have kids." The woman, who, in the curly-haired man's view, had just made a bad joke, burst out laughing. Michael got up and flopped onto the bed, waiting for his wife to lay with him.
MAYFLOWER RECORDING, CALIFORNIA. 1987
He didn't even remember how he’d convinced her to agree, actually, that wasn't true! He did remember; he couldn't forget the game of... patty-cake they’d played the night of the argument.
Although they had spent up to two years delivering their lines from behind the camera during filming, helping the other actors achieve a sense of realism, this was the thrilling moment when the voices of Roger and Jessica Rabbit would finally be recorded.
"It’s incredible to have you guys back here! I know you’re going to do an amazing job." Robert Zemeckis, the director in charge of the voice acting, with whom they had already worked during the film's production, greeted them with a hug each before ushering them into the recording booth.
Each of them had a microphone positioned just inches from their face and a screen displaying the scene to be recorded, they stood facing one another so their dialogue would sound natural. Even though there wasn't much back-and-forth and most of their lines were delivered individually, it was crucial that the relationship and chemistry between the characters came through clearly.
The man asked from outside, Michael and she already had their headphones on and scripts ready, nodding.
Finding the right voices had been a challenge, Michael had to speak with a lisp, make a lip-trilling sound when saying "please," and intentionally let his voice crack, something that looked impossible to someone with the voice of an angel, and he pulled it off perfectly.
His wife, meanwhile, had to sound positively seductive and whimper slightly whenever she spoke, using a very breathy, relaxed tone. At first, it felt a bit embarrassing to sound the way only her husband had ever heard her in the privacy of their bedroom, but she was getting used to it.
"Alright! Scene 35, Take 1—let's go!"
She took a breath and spoke in sync with the animated character.
"I have to find my darling husband! I’m so worried about him!" She waited in silence, listening to Bob Hoskins’s voice asking what she saw in the guy.
"He makes me laugh." Both of them in the booth held their breath, pulling away from the microphones until they heard the "cut", once they did, they both burst out laughing.
"That was good, miss. Let's continue." They continued with Michael's individual lines as the rabbit, often having to be repeated because of one of their disruptive laughs.
It was true, he really did make her laugh. "Take 3, come on Mike, you can do it." The man nodded, rereading once more and clearing his throat before speaking.
"Ow! What's wrong with you? You're the only person in this theater that isn't laughing. Is there nothing that can dampen your impervious puss?" Outside the booth (by Robert's decision, seeing that she couldn't stop laughing), the woman patted her thigh, trying not to laugh and distract her husband while he was recording.
"Excellent, Michael!" Towards the end of the exhaustive day of recording, after a hot tea for the three of them in the studio, there was only one last scene left, one that they didn't know if it would make the final cut but it had to be done anyway.
"Let's go!" Robert gave the signal, and the take began.
"Roger!" Michael let out a little chuckle, slipping into character as Roger. "Honey Bunny, let's go home and play." Face-to-face, speaking in a voice as soft as velvet and airy, were it not for the pet names, it could have been a real conversation between them.
"Jeepers! What are we playing? Tiddlywinks, Canasta, Parcheesi?" She held back a smile, just like the man across from her, though the happiness in her voice was unmistakable.
"Oh, how about a little Patty-Cake instead?" Michael’s eyes went wide and his eyebrows shot up, he had to convey with his voice everything Roger was feeling with his whole body.
"Patty-Cake?! Jeepers..."
"Cut! Well done, everyone."
They left the studio after dark, heading back home in the Rolls-Royce driven by its owner,
one hand on the wheel, the other resting on his Jessica’s thigh.
"Thank y’ for making my dream come true mama, we’ll be together even in the movies..."
"Put that way, it sounds lovely. Honestly, I had a great time, it was a fun, new experience being there with you." She turned her head to look at her husband, who was focused on the road, a habit he’d picked up after years of Bill scolding him for driving like a Looney Tune.
"So much fun... When we get home, we could play our own game of Patty-Cake if you like, Bunny."
Michael would have sworn he saw stars—not little birds—spinning before his eyes. He had to grip the steering wheel tight to keep his hand from slipping while he chuckled completely flustered and getting blushed.
"I wouldn't be able to resist, Love Cup."
i mayyy do a masterlist, and i promise i’ll post soon about the series,,, spoiler barbara beats diana’s ross ass😛
as always thanks for reading, please interact if you like my works! i had this idea since i saw for the first time the movie, really enjoyed it!!! xoxo
