Who Framed Roger Rabbit Special Edition (PG)

Helmer Robert Zemeckis labels his cheerful, convoluted comedy-crimer "Cartoon Noir". It's not hard to see why: an amusing spin on the likes of Bogart and co, it sees Bob Hoskins' grouchy gumshoe try to uncover just who's fitting up the eponymous bonkers bunny for murder. Along the way, we meet just about every cartoon character ever dreamed up.

An ingenious blend of hand-drawn animation and live action, spliced with humour that's by turns madcap, surreal and violent, Roger Rabbit demonstrates that it's possible to push the technical boundaries while still cooking up decent characters and plots. George Lucas should take note.

DVD Extras:

This new Special Edition arrives with a decent batch of features, but only occasionally earns the first part of its tag. A 10-minute Making Of serves primarily as one big back-pat, but the package is saved by the Toon Town Confidential text commentary. Despite being tough to read whenever there's frenetic action on screen - which is often - it's packed full of trivia, factoids and cutting humour.Conspicuous by its absence, however, is a Zemeckis commentary track. He is interviewed, but it's odd that, of all his work, Roger Rabbit misses the full-length gab. Let's pray they're not saving it for a future Collector's Super Special Edition.

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