★ 6 / 10
Roger's OK but he's no Bugs Bunny...
BA_Harrison
Baby Herman causes trouble for Roger Rabbit again when he wanders off into the woods whilst on a picnic. All manner of craziness ensues. I'm not the biggest…
Baby Herman causes trouble for Roger Rabbit again when he wanders off into the woods whilst on a picnic. All manner of craziness ensues.
I'm not the biggest fan of the Roger Rabbit shorts, finding Roger's voice a little on the irritating side and the relentlessly madcap nature and breakneck speed of the action, something akin to Tex Avery on speed, just a touch too excessive for my taste (I had the same problem with Spielberg's equally insane Animaniacs).
Even though Trail Mix-Up doesn't rate as highly with me as it does with other reviewers here on IMDb, I still recommend it if only for the fact that pneumatic Jessica Rabbit appears wearing a sexy park ranger's uniform (cue wolf-whistles, leg thumping on table, jaw hitting the floor, eyes popping out, and steam erupting from ears!).
(Please excuse the fact that all the reviews I have written for the Roger Rabbit shorts are almost identical—since all three cartoons follow exactly the same formula, I thought I would save myself some time!)
★ 7 / 10
A Maroon Cartoon
boblipton
In the last Roger Rabbit short, Roger and Baby Herman go camping in Yellowstain Park. Some rather stressful shenanigans ensue. It's produced in full Candybox…
In the last Roger Rabbit short, Roger and Baby Herman go camping in Yellowstain Park. Some rather stressful shenanigans ensue.
It's produced in full Candybox Animation mode, and while I have some issues with the violence starting full bore and continuing throughout, I am willing to forgive all for the sheer structure of the cartoon, and the infinite flexibility of Roger; even Bob Clampett wouldn't have done anything quite that destructive.
Alas, there were no more of these beautiful theatrical Roger Rabbit cartoons. The impulse to produce them is a little vague, but the amazing success of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? Made them seen as something to keep people interested in the proposed sequel. Steven Spielberg, who produced them, loved them, but even for him it undoubtedly seemed less than sensible to keep on producing them when the sequel fell through.
★ 6 / 10
When a once-original commodity needs to settle for the basics in order to remain relevant
StevePulaski
By 1993, the cultural footprint and relevance of the smash-hit Who Framed Roger Rabbit? had faded from the mind of the public, which explains why Buena Vista…
By 1993, the cultural footprint and relevance of the smash-hit Who Framed Roger Rabbit? had faded from the mind of the public, which explains why Buena Vista decided to attach Trail Mix-Up, the third and final short film involving the Roger Rabbit character, to a A Far Off Place, a relatively low-key, small-budget studio release that had mediocre returns. In addition, by this point, the sheer magic and originality of blending live action and animation was a novelty that went by the wayside, so the only thing that was left for Roger Rabbit to try and remain relevant was to concoct a short that went back to the basics in terms of what it emphasized; in Trail Mix-Up's case, it's the juvenile qualities of Roger Rabbit and Jessica Rabbit's assets.
The short opens with Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer), Baby Herman, and Mrs. Herman (April Winchell) setting up camp at a local park, with Roger in charge of looking after Baby Herman, because he has a track record of doing so well at such a task. As one expects, Herman winds up wandering into the forest, and scaredy-cat Roger has few skills that aid him in surviving in a woodsy setting. This is where the busty, gorgeous, and unabashedly sexualized Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) flaunts into the picture. She's the forest's local ranger, as she shakes her bust and wiggles her petite waist and perfect round rump in order to "help" Roger find Herman before more danger faces him. But not before Roger can have his face flattened like a pancake and be shredded by a sawmill.
Trail Mix-Up, while sporadically funny and still admirably full of energy like the two shorts that preceded it, essentially admits defeat and shows why Roger Rabbit faded out of relevance in the public. With new, ground-breaking animation just two years on the horizon and a cry for more story-based shorts and films that didn't settle for cute dinosaurs and rambunctious rabbits, the reckless Roger, the fearless Herman, and the buxom Jessica Rabbit just didn't seem to hold the kind of ground in the 1990's as they previously held in the 1980's. The good news is that this kind of material doesn't find itself dated in terms of content, and is still just as amusing today because of its slapstick and setups as it was when it was released. Whether it directly calls for future projects, I can't say, but it does work to suggest that this serves more as a "see you later" with an unclear meaning or span of time for that last term.
Voiced by: Charles Fleischer, April Winchell, and Kathleen Turner. Directed by: Barry Cook.
7.1/10
1.4K
