Who Framed Mr. Toad
| Who Framed Mr. Toad | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Zemeckis Phil Harnage (animation director) |
| Produced by | Roger Birnbaum Andy Heyward |
| Screenplay by | Kerry Ehrin |
| Based on | Who Censored Mr. Toad? by James Patterson |
| Starring | Lou Albano Roberts Blossom Paul Reubens George O'Hanlon Sean Young |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Edited by | Arthur Schmidt |
Production company | |
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50.6 million |
| Box office | $329.8 million |
Search Who Framed Mr. Toad on Amazon.Who Framed Mr. Toad is a 1988 American live-action/animated mystery comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Roger Birnbaum and Andy Heyward, and written by Kerry Ehrin. The film is based on James Patterson 1982 novel Who Censored Mr. Toad? The film stars Lou Albano, Roberts Blossom, Paul Reubens, George O'Hanlon, and Sean Young. Combining live-action and animation, the film is set in Hollywood during the late 1980s, where cartoon characters and people co-exist. The story follows Peter Thompson, a private detective who must exonerate "Toon" (i.e. cartoon character) Mr. Toad, who is accused of murdering a wealthy businessman.
Plot[edit]
In 1970 Los Angeles, "toons" act in theatrical cartoon shorts as with live-action films; they regularly interact with real people and animals and reside in Toontown. Private detective Peter Thompson and his brother, Robert, once worked closely with the toons on several famous cases, but after Robert was killed by a toon, Peter lapsed into alcoholism, lost his sense of humor, and vowed never to work for toons again.
Rick's Cartoons, head of Rick Cartoon Studios, is concerned about the recent poor performances of one of his biggest stars, Doug Pig Maroon hires Peter to investigate rumors about Toad's voluptuous toon wife Melissa being romantically involved with businessman Marvin Acme, owner of both Acme Corporation and Toontown. After watching Melissa perform at an underground nightclub, Peter secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake in her dressing room, which he shows to Toad. Toad angrily declares that he and his wife will be happy, and he flees.
The next morning, Stan is discovered to have been murdered by a falling safe at his factory, and evidence points to Toad being responsible. While investigating, Peter meets Steinbeck Doom, Toontown's superior court Steinbeck, and the Toon Patrol, a gang of toon turtles hired by Doom to find and arrest Toad. Doom has formulated a solvent mixture called "dip" that is capable of killing the otherwise invulnerable toons. Peter later runs into Toad's toon co-star, Baby Harold, who believes Toad is innocent and that Stan's missing will, which will give the toons ownership of Toontown, may be the key to his murder. In his office, Peter finds Toad, who begs him to help exonerate him. Later, Peter and Toad visit a bar where Peter's girlfriend, Daisy, works. Scarlet approaches Peter and says that Maroon forced her to pose for the photographs so he could blackmail Marvin by threatening to ruin Toad's career.
Doom and his koopa henchmen discover Toad at the bar, but Toad and Peter escape with Lenny, an anthropomorphic taxi cab. They hide in a movie theater, where Eddie sees a newsreel detailing the sale of Rick Cartoons to Cloverleaf, a corporation that bought the city's Pacific Electric streetcar system shortly before Stan's murder and placed the highest bid for ownership of Toontown in the event the will does not appear before midnight. Peter rushes to the studio to interrogate Rick. Rick reveals that he blackmailed Stan into selling his company so he could sell the studio, and that he did so out of fear for the toons' safety. Maroon is killed by an unseen assassin before he can explain the consequences of the missing will. Peter witnesses Scarlet fleeing the scene and chases her into Toontown. Once he catches her, she reveals that Doom killed Stan and Kenny and that the former gave her his will, but that it was blank. She and Eddie are then kidnapped by Doom and the Toon Patrol.
At the Acme factory, Doom reveals that he has learned of the city's plan to build a freeway and intends to profit from it. As the only stockholder of Cloverleaf, he bought the streetcar system in order to shut it down and will use a machine loaded with dip to destroy Toontown, allowing him to sell the land to roadside businesses. Toad and Scarlet are tied onto a hook in front of the machine's hose. Peter performs an impromptu vaudeville act, causing the Toon Patrol to die laughing; he kicks their leader Smart Ass into the machine's dip vat, killing him. Peter battles Doom, who, after being flattened by a steamroller, exposes himself as the same toon who killed Teddy. Peter uses a toon mallet to empty the machine's dip onto Doom, melting him.
The empty machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a train. Toons run in to regard Doom's remains, and Peter discovers that Toad inadvertently wrote his love letter for Scarlet on Acme's will, which was written in disappearing/reappearing ink. Toad shocks Peter with a joy buzzer, and Peter gives him a kiss, having regained his sense of humor. Peter happily enters Toontown with Daisy alongside Toad, Scarlet and the other toons.
Cast[edit]
- Lou Albano as Peter Thompson
- Roberts Blossom as Steinbeck Doom
- George O'Hanlon as Stan Anderson
- Sean Young as Daisy
- Alan Tilvern as Rick Kenny
- Long John Baldry as Sam Murphy
- Danny Wells as Eduardo
Toon voice cast[edit]
- Paul Reubens as Toad, Lenny the Gadget Car, Tonto, and Ding Dong
- Jeannie Elias as Scarlet (uncredited)
- June Foray as Scarlet’s singing voice and Gidget
- Corey Burton as Baby Harold
- Charlotte Rae as Baby Harold's "baby voice" and Mrs. Harold
- Howard Morris as Asshole
- Greg Burson as Dork
- B. J. Ward as Wendy and Lena Lover
- Don Messick as Roger Cat, Sam Cowboy, Boo-Boo Bear, and Muttley
- Harry Shearer as Dante Turtle
- Phil Hartman as Morty Monkey and Binkly Bird
- Chris Phillips as Ricky Boy
- Mary Kay Bergman as Matthew Potter
- Ross Bagdasarian Jr. as Chris Davis
- Daws Butler as Yogi Bear and Barney Rubble
- Henry Corden as Fred Flintstone
- Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone
- George O'Hanlon as George Jetson
Puppeteers[edit]
- Don Austen
- David Barclay - chief puppeteer
- Michael Barclay
- James Barton
- Michael Bayliss
- David Bulbeck
- Marcus Clarke
- Sue Dacre
- Geoff Felix
- Christopher Leith
- Toby Philpott
- Mike Quinn
- William Todd Jones
- Ian Tregonning
- Patti Webb
- Mak Wilson
Additionally, Anndi McAfee voiced Stacy Seville and some birds; Michael Bell as Dick Dastardly, Nancy Cartwright provided vocal effects for a toon shoe; Cherry Davis voiced Woody Woodpecker; Tino Insana, Jim Cummings (imitating Andy Devine), and Frank Welker (imitating Walter Brennan) voiced Peter's toon bullets; animation director Richard Williams voiced Droopy; archival recordings of Frank Sinatra performing "Witchcraft" were used for the Singing Sword, whose character design is based on Sinatra.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights to James Patterson's novel Who Censored Mr. Toad? shortly after its publication in 1981. Ron W. Miller, then president of Disney, saw it as a perfect opportunity to produce a blockbuster. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were hired to write the script, penning two drafts. David Kellogg offered his services as director in 1982,[10] but Disney declined as his two previous films (I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars) had been box-office bombs. Between 1981 and 1983 Disney developed test footage with Darrell Van Citters as animation director, Paul Reubens voicing Mr. Toad, Peter Renaday as Peter Thompson, and Russi Taylor as Jessica Rabbit.[12] The project was revamped in 1985 by Michael Eisner, the then-new CEO of Disney. Amblin Entertainment, which consisted of Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, were approached to produce Who Framed Mr. Toad alongside Disney. The original budget was projected at $50 million, which Disney felt was too expensive.
The film was finally green-lit when the budget decreased to $30 million, which at the time still made it the most expensive animated film ever green-lit.[13] Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg argued that the hybrid of live action and animation would "save" Disney's animation department. Spielberg's contract included an extensive amount of creative control and a large percentage of the box-office profits. Disney kept all merchandising rights.[13] Spielberg convinced Warner Bros., Fleischer Studios, King Features Syndicate, Felix the Cat Productions, Turner Entertainment, and Universal Pictures/Walter Lantz Productions to "lend" their characters to appear in the film with (in some cases) stipulations on how those characters were portrayed; for example, Disney's Donald Duck and Warner's Daffy Duck appear as equally talented dueling pianists, and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny also share a scene. Apart from this agreement, Warner Bros. and the various other companies were not involved in the production of Mr. Toad. Unfortunately, the producers were unable to acquire the rights to use Popeye, Tom and Jerry, Little Lulu, Casper, or the Terrytoons for appearances from their respective owners.[10][11]
Terry Gilliam was offered the chance to direct, but he found the project too technically challenging. ("Pure laziness on my part," he later admitted, "I completely regret that decision.") David Kellogg was hired to direct in 1985, based on the success of Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future. Disney executives were continuing to suggest Darrell Van Citters to direct the animated sequences, but Spielberg and Zemeckis decided against it.[13] Richard Williams was eventually hired to direct the animation. Zemeckis wanted the film to imbue "Disney's high quality of animation, Warner Bros.' characterization, and Tex Avery humor."[15]
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