VIDEO . . . WHAT’S NEW : ‘Roger Rabbit’ Hops Into Stores

THIS WEEK’S MOVIES

“Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (Touchstone, $22.99, PG) hopped into video stores Thursday. An even more impressive blend of animation and live action than “Mary Poppins,” the Robert Zemeckis-directed film made more than $150 million at theaters earlier this year.

The plot: Roger Rabbit enlists the help of a down-and-out private eye (Bob Hoskins) when he’s hunted for a crime he didn’t commit. With a great and welcome debt to the slam-bang style of cartoon directors Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, “Roger Rabbit” provides roller-coaster-ride entertainment for all of its 104 minutes. Devotees of the art of animation will want to examine how some of the tricks were done frame-by-frame, though that will be easier when the film is released on video disc sometime after Christmas.

“Pet Sematary” (Paramount, no list price, R) is a whole different animal--a black-humored horror film about the strange things that happen to a family after it moves near a pet burial ground. A big hit (more than $55 million at the box office), “Pet Sematary,” misspelling and all, is based on a Stephen King novel.

“Earth Girls Are Easy” (Vestron, $89.98, PG) is a silly spoof about an alien who lands in an Earth girl’s pool, starring Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum and Julie Brown.

“A Voyage Round My Father” (HBO, $89.99) is a 1983 British made-for-TV drama about a son who tries to come to terms with his elderly, blind father. Laurence Olivier, Alan Bates and Jane Asher lead the cast.

OTHER NEW VIDEOS

Rock out on video with these new tapes: “Def Leppard: In the Round, In Your Face” (PMV, $24.95), a 90-minute concert video from one of the most popular hard-rock bands of the ‘80s; “Robert Palmer: Super Nova” (EMI, $16.98), a 40-minute collection of clips from the veteran but more-popular-than-ever R&B;/rock singer; and “Queensryche--Video:mindcrime” (EMI, $16.98), a 40-minute conceptual video on the heavy-metal band.

Or work out with one of exercise-video’s favorites, Judi Sheppard Missett, whose newest diet-and-sweat tape is the 50-minute “Fitness Now!” (JCI, $14.95).