Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2

''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wolf. The film stars Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy, along with the voices of Charles Fleischer and an uncredited Kathleen Turner. Combining live-action and animation, the film is set in an alternate history Hollywood in 1947, where humans and cartoon characters (referred to as "toons") co-exist. Its plot follows Eddie Valiant, a private investigator with a grudge against toons, who must help exonerate Roger Rabbit, a toon framed for murder.

Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights for the story in 1981. Price and Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought in executive producer Steven Spielberg and his production company, Amblin Entertainment. Zemeckis was brought on to direct, and Canadian animator Richard Williams was hired to supervise the animation sequences. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators. While filming, the production budget rapidly expanded, and the shooting schedule ran longer than expected.

''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' was released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner in the United States on June 22, 1988. The film received critical acclaim for its visuals, humor, writing, performances, and groundbreaking combination of live-action and animation. It grossed over $351 million worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 1988, behind ''Rain Man''. It brought a renewed interest in the golden age of American animation, spearheading modern American animation and the Disney Renaissance. It won three Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects and received a Special Achievement Academy Award for Williams' animation direction.

In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

In 1947 Los Angeles, animated cartoon characters, or "toons", co-exist with humans, often employing their skills to entertain as film stars. Private detective Eddie Valiant, once a staunch ally of the toons alongside his brother and co-worker Teddy, has become a depressed alcoholic following Teddy's murder by an unknown toon five years earlier. Maroon Cartoon Studios owner R.K. Maroon, upset about the recent poor performance of his toon star Roger Rabbit, hires Eddie to investigate rumors that Roger's glamorous toon wife, Jessica, is having an affair with Marvin Acme, owner of both the Acme Corporation and Toontown, the animated metropolis in which toons reside.

After watching Jessica perform at The Ink and Paint Club, Eddie secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake. He shows the pictures to Roger, who becomes distraught and flees, refusing to believe Jessica was unfaithful. The next morning, Acme is found murdered and evidence at the scene implicates Roger as a suspect. Eddie meets Judge Doom, the sinister human judge of Toontown—having bribed the electorate to gain their votes—and his five weasel minions, the Toon Patrol. Doom confirms he plans to execute Roger using the "Dip", a chemical concoction of acetone, benzene, and turpentine which is capable of destroying the otherwise invulnerable toons.

Roger's toon co-star, Baby Herman, suggests to Eddie that Acme's missing will—which supposedly bequeaths Toontown to the toons—may have been the killer's true motive. Eddie returns to his office and finds Roger waiting. Roger insists he has been framed and Eddie reluctantly agrees to help after finding evidence of Acme's will; he hides Roger in a bar tended by his girlfriend, Dolores. Jessica tells Eddie that Maroon threatened Roger's career unless she posed for the compromising photos. Meanwhile, Dolores's research uncovers that Cloverleaf Industries recently bought the city's Pacific Electric railway system and will purchase Toontown at midnight unless Acme's will is found. Doom and the Toon Patrol find Roger, but he and Eddie escape with help from Benny, a toon taxi cab. Sheltering in a local movie theater, Eddie sees a newsreel of Maroon selling his studio to Cloverleaf.

While Eddie goes to the studio to interrogate Maroon, Jessica abducts Roger. Maroon denies involvement in Acme's murder, admitting he intended to blackmail Acme into selling his company as otherwise Cloverleaf would not buy the studio. Maroon is assassinated and Eddie spots Jessica fleeing the scene. Assuming she is the assailant, he reluctantly follows her into Toontown, choosing to discard the last of his alcohol. After saving Eddie from being shot by Doom, Jessica reveals her actions were to ensure Roger's safety and it was Doom who killed Acme and Maroon. Acme gave his will to Jessica for safety but, when she examined it, the paper was blank.

Doom and the Toon Patrol capture Jessica and Eddie, bringing them to Acme's factory. Doom reveals he is the sole shareholder of Cloverleaf and plans to erase Toontown with a Dip-spraying machine so he can build a freeway in its place, and decommission the railway system to force people to use it. When Roger unsuccessfully attempts to save Jessica, the couple is tied onto a hook in front of the machine's sprayer. Eddie distracts the weasels by performing a comedic vaudeville act full of pratfalls, causing them to die of laughter before he kicks their leader into the Dip. Doom is flattened by a steamroller while fighting with Eddie, but he survives, revealing he is actually a disguised toon and Teddy's murderer. Struggling against Doom's toon abilities, Eddie empties the machine's Dip supply, spraying and dissolving Doom to death. The machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a passenger train.

As police and toons gather at the scene, Eddie realizes that Acme's will was written on the blank paper in temporarily invisible ink, confirming the toons inherit Toontown. Having regained his sense of humor, Eddie happily enters Toontown alongside Dolores, Roger, Jessica, and the toons.

Cast

Live-action cast

* Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, a private investigator
* Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom, a judge of the Toontown Superior Court
* Stubby Kaye as Marvin Acme, the owner of the Acme Corporation and Toontown
* Joanna Cassidy as Dolores, a bar waitress who is Eddie's girlfriend
* Alan Tilvern as R.K. Maroon, the head of Maroon Cartoons
* Richard LeParmentier as Lt. Santino, a police lieutenant of the Los Angeles Police Department
* Richard Ridings as Angelo, a patron at the bar that Dolores works at who mocks Eddie's detective work
* Joel Silver as Raoul
* Paul Springer as Augie
* Mike Edmonds as Stretch
* Betsy Brantley as Jessica Rabbit's performance model
* Morgan Deare as an editor

Voice cast

* Charles Fleischer as:
** Roger Rabbit, a rabbit and cartoon short star
** Benny the Cab, a toon taxi cab
** Greasy, the second-in-command of the Toon Patrol
** Psycho, a member of the Toon Patrol
* Kathleen Turner (speaking voice) and Amy Irving (singing voice) as Jessica Rabbit (both uncredited), a human toon and Roger's wife
* Lou Hirsch as Baby Herman, a baby and Roger's co-star, who speaks normally when off set
* David Lander as Smart Ass, the leader of the Toon Patrol
* Fred Newman as Stupid, a member of the Toon Patrol
* June Foray as:
** Wheezy, a member of the Toon Patrol
** Lena Hyena, an unattractive toon human whom Eddie mistakes for Jessica
* Mel Blanc as:
** Bugs Bunny
** Daffy Duck
** Porky Pig
** Tweety
** Sylvester the Cat
* Joe Alaskey as Yosemite Sam
* Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse
* Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
* Tony Pope as:
** Goofy
** Big Bad Wolf
* Mae Questel as Betty Boop
* Russi Taylor as
** Minnie Mouse
** The Hummingbirds from ''Song of the South''
* Pat Buttram, Jim Cummings (imitating Andy Devine) and Jim Gallant (imitating Walter Brennan) as Eddie's toon bullets which he once received from Yosemite Sam
* Les Perkins as Mr. Toad from ''The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad''
* Mary T. Radford as Hyacinth Hippo from ''Fantasia''
* Nancy Cartwright as a Toon shoe who gets dissolved in Dip (uncredited)
* Cherry Davis as Woody Woodpecker
* Morgan Deare as Bongo the Gorilla, the bouncer of The Ink and Paint Club
* Peter Westy as Pinocchio
* Frank Welker as Dumbo and additional voices (uncredited)
* Richard Williams as Droopy
* April Winchell as Mrs. Herman and Baby Herman's "baby noises"
* Archival recordings of Frank Sinatra were used for the Singing Sword, whose character design is based on Sinatra.
* Jack Angel and Mickie McGowan as additional voices (uncredited)

Production

Development

Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights to Gary K. Wolf's novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' shortly after its publication in 1981. Ron W. Miller, then president of Disney, saw it as a perfect opportunity to produce a blockbuster.Stewart, p.72 Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were hired to write the script, penning two drafts. Robert Zemeckis offered his services as director in 1982, but Disney declined as his two previous films (''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' and ''Used Cars'') had been box-office bombs.Robert Zemeckis, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, Ken Ralston, Frank Marshall, Steve Starkey, DVD audio commentary, 2003, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Between 1981 and 1983 Disney developed test footage with Darrell Van Citters as animation director, Paul Reubens voicing Roger Rabbit, Peter Renaday as Eddie Valiant, and Russi Taylor as Jessica Rabbit. The project was revamped in 1985 by Michael Eisner, the then-new CEO of Disney. Amblin Entertainment, which consisted of Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, were approached to produce ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' alongside Disney. The original budget was projected at $50 million, which Disney felt was too expensive.

The film was finally green-lit when the budget decreased to $30 million, which at the time would have still made it the most expensive animated film ever produced. Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg argued that the hybrid of live-action and animation would "save" Walt Disney Feature Animation. Spielberg's contract included an extensive amount of creative control and a large percentage of the box-office profits. Disney kept all merchandising rights. Spielberg convinced Warner Bros., Fleischer Studios, Harvey Comics, King Features Syndicate, Felix the Cat Productions, Turner Entertainment, and Universal Pictures/Walter Lantz Productions to "lend" their characters to appear in the film with (in some cases) stipulations on how those characters were portrayed; for example, Disney's Donald Duck and Warner Bros.' Daffy Duck appear as equally talented dueling pianists, and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny also share a scene. Apart from the agreement, and some of the original voice artists reprising their roles, Warner Bros. and the various other companies were not involved in the production of ''Roger Rabbit''. Executives at Warner Bros. were displeased by animators using the Daffy design by Bob Clampett and demanded they use the design by Chuck Jones; in response Zemeckis had separate artists animate Daffy using Jones' design to satisfy Warner Bros., in order to have Clampett's design in the final film. The producers were unable to acquire the rights to use Popeye, Little Lulu, Casper, or the Terrytoons characters for appearances from their respective owners (King Features, Turner, Western Publishing, Harvey Comics, and Viacom).

Terry Gilliam was offered the chance to direct, but he found the project too technically challenging. ("Pure laziness on my part," he later admitted, "I completely regret that decision.") Robert Zemeckis was hired to direct in 1985, based on the success of ''Romancing the Stone'' and ''Back to the Future''. Disney executives were continuing to suggest Darrell Van Citters direct the animation, but Spielberg and Zemeckis decided against it. Richard Williams was eventually hired to direct the animation. Zemeckis wanted the film to exhibit "Disney's high quality of animation, Warner Bros.' characterization, and Tex Avery humor."Don Hahn, Peter Schneider, ''Waking Sleeping Beauty'' DVD commentary, 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Casting

Harrison Ford was Spielberg's original choice to play Eddie Valiant, but his price was too high. Chevy Chase was the second choice, but he was not interested. Bill Murray was also considered for the role, but due to his idiosyncratic method of receiving offers for roles, Murray missed out on it. Eddie Murphy reportedly turned down the role as he misunderstood the concept of toons and humans co-existing; he later regretted this decision. Robin Williams, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, Edward James Olmos, Wallace Shawn, Ed Harris, Charles Grodin and Don Lane were also considered for the role. Ultimately, Bob Hoskins was chosen by Spielberg because of his acting skill and because Spielberg believed he had a hopeful demeanor and he looked like he belonged in that era.

Paul Reubens originally auditioned for the role of Roger Rabbit and even provided his voice in an early 1983 screen test, but lost out. Eddie Deezen, who had worked with Zemeckis previously, also auditioned to play Roger, but did not get the part. The role was eventually given to Charles Fleischer. Before filming, Fleischer was asked to come up with a speech impediment for Roger. He gave Roger a lisp and the stammering catchphrase "P-p-p-please!" as a tribute to all the other famous cartoon characters with speech impediments, which was inspired by Huntz Hall's Sach Jones in ''The Bowery Boys''. He had invented the "cheek flutter" while performing the voice of B.B. in ''Deadly Friend''. His portrayal of Roger was also inspired by Screwy Squirrel. To facilitate Hoskins' performance, Fleischer dressed in a Roger Rabbit costume and "stood in" behind camera for most scenes. Williams explained Roger was a combination of "Tex Avery's cashew nut-shaped head, the swatch of red hair... like Droopy's, Goofy's overalls, Porky Pig's bow tie, Mickey Mouse's gloves, and Bugs Bunny-like cheeks and ears."

Kathleen Turner provided the uncredited voice of Jessica Rabbit, Roger Rabbit's wife.

Tim Curry auditioned for the role of Judge Doom, but was rejected because the producers found him too terrifying. Christopher Lee was also considered for the role, but turned it down. John Cleese also expressed interest for the role, but was deemed not scary enough. Peter O'Toole, F. Murray Abraham, Roddy McDowall, Eddie Deezen, and Sting (musician), Sting were also considered for the role. Christopher Lloyd was cast because he previously worked with Zemeckis and Spielberg on ''Back to the Future''. He compared his part as Doom to his previous role as the Klingon commander Kruge in ''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'', both overly evil characters which he considered "fun to play". He avoided blinking his eyes while on camera to portray the character.

Fleischer also voiced Benny the Cab, Psycho, and Greasy. Lou Hirsch, who voiced Baby Herman, was the original choice for Benny the Cab but was replaced by Fleischer.Robert Zemeckis, Richard Williams, Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer, Frank Marshall, Alan Silvestri, Ken Ralston, ''Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit'', 2003, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Writing

Price and Seaman were brought aboard to continue writing the script once Spielberg and Zemeckis were hired. For inspiration, the two writers studied the work of Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, especially Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. The Cloverleaf streetcar subplot was inspired by ''Chinatown (1974 film), Chinatown''. Price and Seaman said that "the Red Car plot, suburb expansion, urban culture, urban and political corruption really did happen," Price stated. "In Los Angeles, during the 1940s, car and tire companies Great American streetcar scandal, teamed up against the Pacific Electric Railway system and bought them out of business. Where the freeway runs in Los Angeles is where the Red Car used to be." In Wolf's novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'', the toons were comic-strip characters rather than movie stars.

During the writing process, Price and Seaman were unsure of whom to include as the villain in the plot. They wrote scripts that had either Jessica Rabbit or Baby Herman as the villain, but they made their final decision with the newly created character Judge Doom. Doom was supposed to have an animated vulture sit on his shoulder, but this was deleted due to the technical challenges this posed. Doom would also have a suitcase of 12 small, animated kangaroos that act as a jury (a play on "kangaroo court"), by having their Joey (marsupial)#Early development, joeys pop out of their pouches, each with letters, when put together would spell YOU ARE GUILTY. This was also cut for budget and technical reasons.Who Shot Roger Rabbit, 1986 script by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman

The Toon Patrol (Stupid, Smart Ass, Greasy, Wheezy, and Psycho) satirizes the Seven Dwarfs (Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey), who appeared in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937). Originally seven weasels were to mimic the dwarfs complement, but eventually two of them, Slimey and Sleazy, were written out of the script. Further references included The Ink and Paint Club resembling the Cotton Club (New York City), Harlem Cotton Club, while Zemeckis compared Judge Doom's invention of the Dip to eliminate all the toons to Adolf Hitler, Hitler's Final Solution. Doom was originally the hunter who killed Bambi's mother. Benny the Cab was first conceived to be a Volkswagen Beetle before being changed to a taxi cab. Ideas originally conceived for the story also included a sequence set at Marvin Acme's funeral, whose attendees included Eddie, Foghorn Leghorn, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Tom Cat, Tom and Jerry Mouse, Jerry, Heckle and Jeckle, Chip n' Dale, Felix the Cat, Herman and Katnip, Yakky Doodle, Mighty Mouse, Superman (1940s animated film series), Superman, Popeye

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