Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pin Release - Happy New Year Series

The Happy New Year Series pin was released, with one pin featuing Baby Herman, Roger Rabbit and Jessica. It became available on December 17, 2008 on the Disney Shopping website. It sold for $12.95 and is a Limited Edition of 250. Even the denizens of Toontown need a vacation now and then.

Pin Release Happy New Year 2008 Parade

Thr Happy New Year 2008 Parade was released December 17, 2007 on the Disney Shopping website. It sells for $14.95 and is a Limited Edition of 500. The Disney characters are on parade for 2008. The characters clockwise from left are Stitch, Jessica Rabbit, Roger Rabbit, Goofy, Lilo, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck. This pin is a rare example of merchandise of Roger and Jessica included with other Disney characters.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Pin Release - Halloween Series Witch Jessica

The Halloween Series Witch Jessica Rabbit was released October 6, 2008 on the Disney Store Website. It sold for $14.95 and is a Limited Edition of 250. This was one of the fastest Jessica pins to be sold out. Jessica is wearing a large witch hat with a tatter veil, pointy gloves, a red dress with light purple fishnet from her bust to her neck and fishnet stockings. She's sitting in a pose similar to her neon sign on a cauldron with green bubbles foaming around her. There is some printing done on the bubbles to add highlights and I believe her green eye is printed on as well. This was released alongside Witch Tinker Bell, Jack Skellington, Vampire Mickey Mouse, Undertaker Stitch, Headless Horseman and Chernabog. Even Vincent (from Tim Burton's first short film) made his pin debut.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Jessica's - Signature Store of a Toon Diva

For an updated look at the Jessica Rabbit store in celebration of what would have been a big anniversary, check out these articles:

Jessica Rabbit Store 25th Anniversary:
Part One: The Beginning
Part Two: The Building
Part Three: The Merchandise

Have you ever been obsessed with a cartoon character? We all have our favorite. Now, imagine finding out there is a store dedicated to selling merchandise of only that character! Well, if you happen to like Mickey, it's not a hard thing to grasp. But, if you liked a more obscure character, like Jessica Rabbit, it would have been nothing short of a miracle. Enough has been said on the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but what could be said for a character who wasn't even the star of the film getting her very own store!

Pleasure Island opened as a nightclub-based attraction for adults, but by day everyone was welcome. Disney began to focus attention on more park-exclusive merchandise. A few stores sold merchandise of the current Disney features, an exclusive Disney animation art gallery was located in the heart of the island and then of course, there was Jessica's.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Remembering Pleasure Island

Fun for all, and all for fun!



On May 1, 1989, conjoined with the opening of Disney's MGM Studios, a new nightclub attraction area called Pleasure Island made its debut. Located at Lake Buena Vista, it was also part of the Disney Village Marketplace shopping area. It was made up of some shops and various clubs. Once the sun went down, you had to be over 18 to enter and also pay a fee. This was the first Disney attraction to sell alcohol on its premises. Every night, up until 2005, Disney celebrated with a New Year's Eve style extravaganza using fireworks, a live performance and a countdown to midnight.

Disney made up its own folklore for the island's name, claiming Merriweather Adam Pleasure, nicknamed the Grand Funmeister, founded the island in 1911 and used warehouses for his business until he disappeared in the Arctic. A great storm hit after his absence and shut down the operations of the island. In the 1980's the site was discovered and converted into a new attraction in the memory of Adam Pleasure. A dancing moon-faced mascot was used as Pleasure Island's icon.

In reality, its name may just have been taken from the Pinocchio story of the island where children go and misbehave by doing adult activities, such as drinking and smoking, but, I'm sure that information would not have looked good in brochures. To popular belief, one big reason for the attractions construction was to compete with Church Street Station, an area of downtown Orlando which had several restaurants and nighttime attractions which brought in young adults. It's said that since the booming development over the years of the Downtown Disney area, similar to Universal Studios City Walk, the heyday of Church Street Station has passed.

Pleasure Island underwent major reconstruction in 2006 and still seemed to be lacking in the original spirit it once had. Attendance was dropping and many tactics were used to bring guests back in. It also became a free attraction, drawing in a lot of hang-outs, much to the dismay of many. The nightclubs located on the property though only admit those 21 and over. Some shops and buildings there remained vacant and the fabled story of Merriweather Pleasure had largely vanished. According to MousePlanet.com staff writer, Wade Sampson, the Jessica sign appeared to be "in a dumpster," but when I conducted an interview with the sign creator, Mark Marderosian, he said Disney still had it and at one point planned on putting it up for auction.

However, with wild rumors everywhere, Disney will shut down Pleasure Island for good today, September 28, 2008. It's unknown what Disney has in store for this area, but it's said they would like to have a better traffic flow between the Disney Village Marketplace and Down Town Disney.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Exclusive Jessica Rabbit Artist Interview - Mark Marderosian



It's an honor to have a very special guest, cartoonist Mark Marderosian, for an EXCLUSIVE interview found only on ImNotBad.com about Jessica Rabbit. Over the years, and with the current pin trading phenomena, Jessica has become such a popular Disney character. This very site is inspired by none other than her own signature store, Jessica's, and this man was a vital part of that operation. I'm sure there are tons of fans wanting to know more about Jessica Rabbit and such an important person who brought her to life.

Welcome to ImNotBad.com - A Jessica Rabbit Website

Since the release of the 1988 toon-noir film Who Framed Roger Rabbit I have remained a huge fan and remember first seeing it like it was yesterday. I was captivated by the commercial on TV, and even more so with the character of Jessica Rabbit. It was a movie I KNEW I had to see. I wasn't disappointed. The artistry and attention to detail are things still admired today. It's a showcase of beautiful hand-drawn animation and superb acting.

I began a Yahoo group in 2000 called Roger Rabbit's Toon Town, which naturally focused on my favorite movie. After a few years I started a Jessica Rabbit Yahoo Group, on February 14 of 2003. I was very happy to see that Jessica was gaining in popularity with several collectible pins being released. Eventually, more merchandise became available than we had ever seen since the film was released. So, the site stayed very active and the news was flowing as Jessica Rabbit merchandise kept coming out regularly.

The years went by and Jessica Rabbit pins became the hot new Disney collectible. I enjoyed a successful time on Yahoo Groups, but it did not exactly offer everything a website needed to thrive, so I knew the time would come when I'd have to venture out and have a real site created - and after five great years on Yahoo, I put plans in motion just before the 20th Anniversary of the film.

I am not at all familiar with html so I asked for a lot of help to get the site built. Where I really came in is with the site content. I have been collecting merchandise, photos and info about Jessica since 1988. By now I have an extensive database and archive. When I began this project, I didn't realize it would become such a monster. Renaming files, writing codes, selecting colors - it was all new to me. I am also very particular, so I knew exactly what I wanted - I just didn't know how to do it. I AM the biggest Jessica Rabbit fan you will find, but trying to create the site, I had Jessica on the brain more in the those months alone than in the past 20 years. I felt like I hit my peak! I needed a break, especially being suddenly faced with the task of doing the site on my own. However, I pushed through and really started to get this site in shape with more content.

It was time Jessica Rabbit got a site dedicated to her, and I hope ImNotBad.com will serve that purpose. I suppose she could be seen as my generation's Betty Boop, with her popularity increasing vastly over the years. So far, this is the only active site dedicated to Jessica Rabbit available on the internet. I plan to keep it going as long as I can and eventually evolve into something bigger and better one day. As of now, there are over half a million page views, interviews with official Disney Jessica Rabbit artists, merchandise reviews, videos, photos and up to date news. Hopefully, there is much more to come.

Stay Tooned!

CLICK HERE for a look back at the ImNotBad.com archive.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Pin Release - 4th of July Series

The 4th of July Series was released June 23 2008 on the Disney Shopping website. It sells for $12.95 and is a Limited Edition of 250. Roger and Jessica Rabbit are dress in colonial-period clothes and celebrating the 4th of July. The pin description on the pin package stats this is Roger as George Washington and Jessica as Betsy Ross.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Who Framed Roger Rabbit 20th Anniversary Watch

There is a Disney Park Exclusive Anniversary watch that was released. The watch comes in a colorful, round yellow box with the logo on the top, along with several line images of Roger and Jessica. The bottom also has a logo and is stamped as a Limited Edition of 500. There is also line art around the side, as well as a checkerboard pattern and color images of Roger's head and Jessica! The watch is inside, which is lined with a maroon felt. The face of the watch is Roger with his arm around Jessica, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit 20th next to them.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Pin Release - Roger Rabbit 20th Anniversary Series

The Who Framed Roger Rabbit 20th Anniversary Series was released June 16, 2008 on the Disney Shopping website. They sold for $12.95 and were a Limited Edition of 250 each. The series commemorates 20 years since the movie was released. Interestingly, every pin in the series features Jessica Rabbit, none feature Roger alone.


There are a total of eight pins in the series. The first pin is Jessica Rabbit out for a spin with Benny the Cab - but it doesn't appear she is enjoying the view.

For the second pin, Jessica Rabbit gives her husband, Roger, a big hug on this special anniversary. The secondary cartoon cast featured in the movie are in this pin - Bambi, Baby Herman, Dumbo, Pluto and Mickey Mouse.

The next pin shows Roger and Jessica Rabbit are tied up from their iconic ending scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.


The fourth pin shows Jessica Rabbit taking center stage at the Ink and Paint Club, with two penguin waiters waddling nearby.

In the fifth pin Jessica has to do what any good wife would - hit her husband over the head with a frying pan and lock him in the trunk of her car, so he doesn't hurt himself. Jessica is holding a frying pan in one hand and dragging her husband, Roger, by the ears.

The next pin Jessica Rabbit is laying on the movie logo to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.


The seventh pin depicts one of the more funny moments of Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Greasy Weasel gets a big surprise when frisking Jessica, a bear trap on his hand!

The last pin is one of the memorable moments of Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Eddie Valiant tries to saw off the handcuffs keeping him attached to Roger Rabbit. Although Jessica was not in this scene she is here on the pin behind Eddie.


Saturday, March 8, 2008

Pin Release - DSF Easter

The Disney Soda Fountain Easter pin was released on March 08, 2008 at the Disney Soda Fountain Studio Store. It sells for $14.95 and is a Limited Edition of 300. Jessica and Roger Rabbit always enjoy the Easter holiday. They are gathering painted eggs into a basket. The heart-shaped background is clear pink filled. Below reads "Easter 2008" and the bottom background is clear purple filled.

Monday, January 14, 2008

BREAKING NEWS ! Roger Rabbit Producer Talks Sequel ! ! !


Over at MTV Movies Blog, some time in December, Roger Rabbit producer Frank Marshall told MTV News that he's still "open" to the possibility of another film. The much rumored sequel to Roger kept falling apart in the mid-90s because legal issues and high production costs.

"It came pretty close. We shot a test. We had a script. But unfortunately, we didn't have computer generated animation quite yet -it was just too expensive," Marshall explained of the untitled sequel project, "Roger Rabbit 2." "If you think about it, in the original movie there's really only 48 minutes of animation and in the new movie - or in that movie - he was in everything. So it went from 48 minutes of animation to over 100 minutes of animation."

"I remember we shot the test to try and see how much we could do with digital props - We weren't even into digital characters yet," Marshall continued. "The idea was to see what we could do with digital props as opposed to what we did in the original movie where everything was puppeted - all the props were puppeted by strings and wires and poles."

For the first time ever, Marshall also revealed details of the plot of "Roger Rabbit 2," and if you thought Toontown was a trip, you should have seen where they were sending Roger next.