Tummy Trouble follows the misadventures of Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer), who is placed in charge of watching Baby Herman when his mother needs to run errands. Herman instantly throws a temper tantrum that results in Roger panicking, even more-so when Herman winds up accidentally swallowing his favorite rattle. In an effort to restore sanity to Herman's home, he must comfort Herman's stomach pain, control his incessant wailing, and restore order to their home, which rapidly descends into array. Also in the picture is a doctor, who tries to help the situation, but only winds up creating a dangerous playground upon which Roger and Herman wreak havoc. The result is chaotic and reckless as can be.
The Roger Rabbit short films possess similar qualities as Tom & Jerry shorts and the Looney Tunes bits that focus on Sylvester the Cat painstakingly trying to outwit Tweety Bird. The result is a brash and hectic parade of visual gags for seven minutes before a fourth-wall breaking sequence at the tail-end of the short. Tummy Trouble showcases this brand of fast-paced, blink-and-you-miss-it humor done right, with enough emphasis on the limitless boundaries of animation to make this a favorable entry in the genre. The beauty of animation is such ridiculousness like what is shown in this short can be conceived so shamelessly, and through a loving blend of chaos and a smoothly introduced (and flawlessly executed) live-action sequence, there's little not to love here.
Voiced by: Charles Fleischer, Lou Hirsch, and Kathleen Turner. Directed by: Rob Minkoff and Frank Marshall.
