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Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: Difference between revisions

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Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (view source)

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His only hope is Eddie Valiant, an alcoholic human detective who [[Fantastic Racism|has refused to work for Toons]] ever since one killed his brother by [[Piano Drop|dropping a piano on his head]] during one of their cases. He winds up getting sucked into the investigation after Roger hides out at his apartment. Together, the two of them uncover something much bigger than either of them expected.
 
The film is (''very'') loosely based on [[Gary Wolf]]'s 1981 novel ''[[Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (Literature)|Who Censored Roger Rabbit?]]'' It also owes a lot to ''[[Chinatown]]''. The title of the film officially has no question mark at the end; rumor has it this is the [[Executive Meddling|result of a marketing survey]] which said films with question marks in the title make less money. The film is notable for being the biggest crossover of famous Western cartoon characters pre-50's than anything that has come before it (it is the first and only official time Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny appear in a scene together).
 
While the film was very well received by critics, it has not been without criticism, especially -- and surprisingly -- among actual Golden Age veterans and fans. [[Chuck Jones]] in particular, who worked on the film, ended up [[Creator Backlash|loathing the final product]], citing it as a obnoxious, witless misunderstanding of the old cartoons it set out to homage and even accused [[Robert Zemeckis]] of robbing [[Richard Williams]] of any creative input -- and for apparently ruining the piano sequence that he and Williams had planned together. Cartoon historian Michael Barrier derided the animation direction as "disastrous", and [[Noteworthy Disney Staff|Frank Thomas]] of [[Disney's Nine Old Men]] was strongly disappointed in [[Richard Williams]] failing to have any actual pathos come from the main character himself. [[John Kricfalusi]] has also not spoken highly of it, thinking that it had "great animators" but was "misdirected", "filled with takes and zany movement but no character or wit." Although not confirmed, its rumored that [[Ralph Bakshi]] loathes the film only because [[Cool World|one of his films]] ended up being a [[They Copied It, So It Sucks|copycat]] of the film from what he originally envisioned it as.
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* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: Lena Hyena herself makes an appearance and attempts to pursue Eddie.
* [[Action Survivor]]: Eddie Valiant -- a good and smart one.
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The original book, ''[[Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (Literature)]]'', was about Valiant originally hired by Roger to investigate his bosses' broken promises. When Roger is murdered (or "censored"), Eddie investigates things with the help(?) of Roger's antagonistic wife, Jessica. The movie was basically "An anti-hero and a toon, forced together in a strange bedfellows kind of way, investigate ''someone else's'' death, with a plot built around the Los Angeles Streetcar Conspiracy."
** All other books that followed [[Retcon|retconned]] this into [[All Just a Dream|Jessica Rabbit having a dream]].
* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Inverted. Book!Eddie, as a parody of a pulp hero, is noted by several characters as being very attractive. Movie!Eddie, as a parody of a noir hero, is beaten down and schlubby.
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* [[Plot-Triggering Death]]: Marvin Acme's.
* [[Portable Hole]]: Portable Holes is an Acme Product. During the film's climax, Eddie became pinned against a steel drum by a cartoon magnet while fighting the Big Bad; he freed himself by wrapping a Portable Hole completely around the magnet, causing the magnet to break in half.
* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: Apart from the premise of Toons living alongside humans, a few characters, and a similar set-up (Toon rabbit suspected of killing a human and enlists help from a human private eye) the movie really doesn't have much to do with ''[[Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (Literature)]].''
* [[Pretend Prejudice]]: Eddie's attitude to Toons in general.
* [[Proscenium Reveal]]: The cartoon short starring Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman at the start of the movie is cut short by a human director calling "Cut!" This is followed by shots establishing that the animated characters are working on a live-action soundstage, thus setting up the concept of humans and toons living in the same world.
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* [[Tiny Guy, Huge Girl]]: Roger and Jessica. Also, Eddie and Dolores, rather less pronounced.
* [[Took a Level In Kindness]]: Both Roger and Jessica, compared to the original book. Eddie's about the same in both versions.
* [[Toon Town]]: The [[Trope Namers]] (or [[Trope Codifier]], depending on [[Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (Literature)|how you look at it...]])
* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Roger and Jessica... from a human's point of view. From the Toons' point of view, Jessica lucked into a real catch with Roger.
{{quote|'''Eddie:''' ''(mouth hanging open)'' She's married to [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife|Roger Rabbit?!]]
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