Noir characteristics in 'Who framed Roger Rabbit'

Plot/Genre
Brief summary of plot: 'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is prime suspect. Groundbreaking interaction between the live and animated characters, and lots of references to classic animation.'
The plot itself offers a lot for the noir genre, it includes: crime, deciept, investigators, thrill and ofcourse a dark twist. The dramatic and quite classic effect that is portrayed through combining the classic noir to classic animation is a complex contrast that keeps the movie from being a fatal disaster. Ofcourse, the animation is not noir in the slightest, however it is a fantastic comedy affect within the movie.
For the start of the the trailer we are shown an old and classic cartoon that many of us will relate to from our childhoods. Something about this keeps the sequence from being too much? (a little over dramatised maybe?) In my opinion it's the vintage scratches, and not quite high definition picture that we are all so used to nowadays, and although this is not a direct link to the noir genre, it does remind us of the time period it was made in. From this we are entered into the surreal world where the animation and the living, are habitated as one. The only real noir feature we can take from this, is the idea of disorientation. This is used quite effectively in noir movies to make the scene look more dramatic, frightening etc. However in this they use it to confuse you about what is real and what's not, for we have cartoon characters and real characters so how can we tell if what they're doing is real or not?

Costume

Following on from the cartoons, we are introduced to this glamorous fifties style life, (very noir) misconceding the brutal murder that is to take place within the story. We are introduced to the protagonists of the story (both male -very stereotypical for the time period for the men to be the heroes of the story and very noir in itself) in the form of a cartoon rabbit, and an investigator. The investigator is in the stereotypical bold hat, long coat, shirt, tie etc. oozing investigator. The personality of the investigator, although quite humorous, is that of a cold nature. He has no intention of helping Roger and quite forcefully tries to tell him no. This is very noir as it delves into the personality of what an investigator should be like: tough minded and not putting up with any un-needed business. However, quite unlike noir it does allow him to show a soft side throughout the movie, making the character more approachable and loveable in the eyes of the audience.

Not only do we have the rather striking costume of the investigator, we also have the stereotypical gangster look on the animated creatures (antagonists) and this is really exaggerated that they're the criminals as they're made to walk with arrogance, smoking a ciggarrette and talking like they own the place. The idea of being arrogant and the stereotypical dresswear echoes the noir genre very much so.

Setting/Surroundings
The settings/surroundings offer a lot of noir. For a first the desk that we see and well, frankly the whole office is very noir. The props used are those that are striking key features of a noir detectives desk, we have: lamp, pens, files, venetian blinds, books everywhere and all in all very messy. The only aspect missing is the artificial light, and with this? the scene would have been a perfect recollection of noir.

Other settings that are very stereotypically noir are: bar, crime scene, old warehouse, and artificially lit (creepy) street. These are all exaggerated in this movie painfully so that even the simplest of minds could understand what they're trying to portray. For example, in the crime scene we are shown with a white drawing of the where the body should be with a safe planted on the floor next to it. Not so noir. But keeping to it's comedy value, as this isn't all a serious movie after all.

In the bar scenes, we do see the aspect of dim/artificial lighting take place as the scene is meant to seem more sombre and mysterious. The usage of 50's style costume, dim lighting and props within the bar creates a brilliant scene in which to capture the story in.

Femme Fatale

The greatest of femme fatales and probably the most famous one in the animation history we are introduced to the great female character of Jessica Rabbit. At the start of the movie, the detective is hired to keep an eye on Jessica as she was seen to be an unfaithful wife, meddling with another man. Already we see a clear theme of deciept and power (all in her court ofcourse). She is a character that takes charge and gets her own way. This is a perfect example of femme fatale and a prime example of noir features. By using her wistful ways, and rather tempting figure, she flirts her way through the system, making any man believe what she wants them to believe. Although not killing anyone herself, and not being human, she could have quite easily replaced any femme fatale in a noir movie being a key seductress.

Choice of Main Character
The main character is that of Bob Hoskins. This actor was chosen particularly well as in the 1980's his career really set off with famous titles such as: The Long Good Friday (1980), The Cotton Club (1984) and Mona Lisa (1986) all in which Bob is playing the stereotypical gangster/investigator. With experience in this style of role, to recruit him into a noir style movie was a great investment. Not only this, but also stereotypical English movies, accents are part of his fortay, this is accentuated when he is made to do an american accent in Roger Rabbit. All in all, the very style of this film goes well with the experience of films that Bob Hoskins has had to play in the 80's.