Intrada’s Valiant Effort: A Deluxe ‘Roger Rabbit’ Soundtrack From Disney!

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Intrada is set to make Disney fans p-p-p-pleased with a major soundtrack expansion: Alan Silvestri’s stirring score to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Gary K. Wolf’s quirky novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? – the tale of a hard-boiled private detective named Eddie Valiant solving the murder of a comic strip character – was equal parts Raymond Chandler and Chuck Jones, and perfect film fodder. But nobody could have predicted what Who Framed Roger Rabbit would have become: Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman’s script rearranged the plot into a Chinatown-esque mystery in 1940s Hollywood, with plenty of vintage animated characters making cameos alongside Roger Rabbit, his unbelievable wife Jessica, his co-star Baby Herman, the short-tempered Benny The Cab and more.

You read that right: animator Richard Williams and his team, combined with the efforts of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, intermingled flesh-and-blood actors with animation in ways never thought possible. Toon actors had real depth and lifelike shadows, and interacted seamlessly with real-life sets and actors while the camera moved as dynamically as any modern Hollywood blockbuster.

A killer human cast including British actor Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, Joanna Cassidy as his girl Friday and Christopher Lloyd as the villainous Judge Doom and tight, action-packed direction by Back To The Future helmer Robert Zemeckis, Roger Rabbit became a runaway success, becoming the second-highest grossing film of 1988, winning four Oscars (including a special achievement award for Williams’ animation-live action hybrids) and helping kickstart a major renaissance for hand-drawn animation at Walt Disney Studios (whose imprint Touchstone released the film due to its slightly more risqué content than your average animated feature).

Zemeckis’ choice to score the film was a no-brainer: Alan Silvestri had scored the director’s last two films, Romancing The Stone and Back To The Future, and brought his best musical tricks when recording the score with the London Symphony Orchestra. A bushel of distinct, jazzy themes (lightly nudging the ribs of the film’s noir trappings), combined with playful Carl Stalling-esque cartoon music (including one deep cut from a 1931 Merrie Melodies cartoon, “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile”) and BTTF-esque rhythmic action cues, make this simply one of the best scores of Silvestri’s oeuvre.

The original 46-minute soundtrack album offered a wonderful sampling of Silvestri’s work on the film, but the wall-to-wall score of the film meant many cues were left off that release. Three decades later, Intrada and Disney have joined forces to provide the ultimate edition of the Roger Rabbit soundtrack, featuring the complete score alongside the original soundtrack presentation. Rarity collectors won’t be disappointed, either: eight unreleased alternates will be included, as well as the first-ever release of music from three Roger Rabbit theatrical shorts produced in the years after the film’s success. 1989’s Tummy Trouble, the most famous due to its inclusion on the bestselling video release of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (which it preceded in theaters, too), was scored by the late, great James Horner, while Bruce Broughton handled duties on 1990’s Roller Coaster Rabbit and 1993’s Trail Mix-Up.

As always, the expanded Roger Rabbit will be available from Intrada while quantities and interest remain! Read on for the full track list and a pre-order link from the label.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Deluxe Edition (Intrada Special Collection ISC 397, 2018 – original film released 1988)

Disc 1: Film Score

* not featured in film ** includes music not featured in film

  1. Main Title
  2. Maroon Toon Logo
  3. Cartoon
  4. Hitch-Hike **
  5. Cloverleaf **
  6. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Franz Liszt arr. Alan Silvestri)
  7. Why Don’t You Do Right?
  8. Eddie Breaks In **
  9. Patty Cake
  10. The Eye
  11. I Needed That/Work Here Finished
  12. Valiant & Valiant
  13. Fire in the Hatch */Scene of the Crime
  14. Shoes on the Loose *
  15. Judge Doom/Looking for a Murder **
  16. The Weasels **
  17. The Glass
  18. Strange Bedfellows **
  19. Toon Patrol **/Search the Place **
  20. I’m a Pawn
  21. The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down (Roger’s Song)
  22. But I’m a Toon **/Looking for Murderer
  23. Execution **
  24. Got Ya, Kid **
  25. Toon Killed My Brother
  26. Have a Good Man
  27. R.K. Maroon **
  28. The Getaway
  29. Toontown **
  30. Acme Factory/Roger Fanfare/Ton O’ Bricks
  31. Start The Dip

Disc 2: Film Score Continued, Additional Cues, Alternates and Extras

  1. Eddie’s Theme *
  2. The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down (Instrumental)
  3. The Kick/The Climbing
  4. Toon Magnet
  5. Steamroller
  6. Hole in the Wall
  7. Saved
  8. Big Kiss */Smile, Darn Ya, Smile
  9. End Credits – Roger Rabbit Medley (Film Version)
  10. Maroon Toon Logo (Without Logo Slide) *
  11. Hollywood 1947 *
  12. I’m a Pawn (Alternate) *
  13. Toon Killed My Brother (Alternate #1) *
  14. Toon Killed My Brother (Alternate #2) *
  15. Trumpet Fanfare *
  16. Hole in the Wall (Alternate) *
  17. Saved (Alternate) *
  18. Rollercoaster Rabbit – Bruce Broughton
  19. Trail Mix-Up – Bruce Broughton
  20. Tummy Trouble – James Horner

Disc 3: Original Soundtrack Album (released as Touchstone Records 64100, 1988)

  1. Maroon Logo
  2. Maroon Cartoon
  3. Valiant & Valiant
  4. The Weasels
  5. Hungarian Rhapsody (Dueling Pianos)
  6. Judge Doom
  7. Why Don’t You Do Right?
  8. No Justice for Toons
  9. The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down (Roger’s Song)
  10. Jessica’s Theme
  11. Toontown
  12. Eddie’s Theme
  13. The Gag Factory
  14. The Will
  15. Smile, Darn Ya, Smile/That’s All Folks!
  16. End Title
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Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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