Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American live-action/animated fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. The film is based on Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? The film stars Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy. Combining live-action and animation, the film is set in Hollywood during the late 1940s, where animated characters and people co-exist. The story follows Eddie Valiant, a private detective who must exonerate "Toon" Roger Rabbit, who is accused of murdering a wealthy businessman.

Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights for Who Framed Roger Rabbit 's story in 1981. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. 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 the film, 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 began to rapidly expand and the shooting schedule ran longer than expected.

Disney released the film through its Touchstone Pictures division on June 22, 1988, to critical and commercial success, becoming a blockbuster. The film brought a renewed interest in the Golden Age of American animation, spearheading modern American animationand the Disney Renaissance.

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

Plot
In 1947 Los Angeles, "toons" act in theatrical cartoon shorts as with live-action films; they regularly interact with real people and animals and reside in Toontown. Private detective Eddie Valiant and his brother, Teddy, once worked closely with the toons on several famous cases, but after Teddy was killed by a toon, Eddie lapsed into alcoholism and vowed never to work for toons again.

R.K. Maroon, head of Maroon Cartoon Studios, is concerned about the recent poor performances of one of his biggest stars, Roger Rabbit. Maroon hires Valiant to investigate rumors about Roger's voluptuous toon wife Jessica being romantically involved with businessman and gadget inventor, Marvin Acme, owner of both Acme Corporation and Toontown. After watching Jessica perform at the underground Ink and Paint Club, Valiant secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake in her dressing room, which he shows to Roger. Maroon suggests to Roger that he should leave Jessica, but a drunken Roger refuses and flees.

The next morning, Acme is discovered dead at his factory by the Los Angeles Police Department with a safe dropped on his head, and evidence points to Roger being responsible. While investigating, Valiant meets Judge Doom, Toontown's superior court judge, who has created a substance capable of killing a toon: a toxic "dip" made of turpentine, acetone, and benzene. Valiant runs into Roger's toon co-star, Baby Herman, who believes Roger is innocent and that Acme's missing will, which will give the toons ownership of Toontown, may be the key to his murder. Valiant finds Roger, who begs him to help exonerate him, hiding in his office. Valiant reluctantly hides Roger in a local bar, where his ex-girlfriend, Dolores, works. Jessica approaches Valiant and says that Maroon forced her to pose for the photographs so he could blackmail Acme.

Doom and his toon weasel henchmen discover Roger, but he and Valiant escape with Benny, an anthropomorphic taxicab. They flee to a theater, where Valiant tells Roger that a toon killed Teddy when they were investigating a bank robbery by dropping a piano on his head. As they leave with Dolores, Valiant sees a newsreel detailing the sale of Maroon Cartoons to Cloverleaf, a mysterious corporation that bought the city's trolley network shortly before Acme's murder. Valiant goes to the studio to confront Maroon, leaving Roger to guard outside, but Jessica knocks Roger out and puts him in the trunk. Maroon tells Valiant that he blackmailed Acme into selling his company so he could sell the studio, but is killed before he can explain the consequences of the missing will. Valiant spots Jessica fleeing the scene, and assuming she is the culprit, follows her into Toontown. Jessica reveals that Doom killed Acme and Maroon and gave her his will for safekeeping, but she discovered that the will was blank. She and Valiant are captured by Doom and the weasels.

At the Acme factory, Doom reveals his plot to destroy Toontown with a machine loaded with dip to build a freeway, the only way past Toontown since Cloverleaf (which Doom owns) has bought out Los Angeles' Pacific Electric Railway. Roger unsuccessfully attempts to save Jessica, and the couple is tied onto a hook in front of the machine's hose. Valiant performs a comedic vaudeville act, causing the weasels to die of laughter; Valiant kicks their leader into the machine's dip vat, killing him. Valiant fights Doom, who is flattened by a steamroller, but survives, revealing him as a toon. Doom reveals that he killed Teddy. Valiant uses a toon mallet with a spring-loaded boxing glove and fires it at a switch that causes the machine to empty its dip onto Doom, dissolving him.

The empty machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a train. Toons run in to regard Doom's remains, and Roger discovers that he inadvertently wrote his love letter for Jessica on Acme's will, which was written in invisible ink. Roger shocks Valiant with a joy buzzer, and Valiant gives him a kiss, having regained his sense of humor. Valiant happily enters Toontown with Dolores, and Roger with Jessica, followed by the other toons.

Cast
April Winchell provides the voice of Mrs. Herman and the "baby noises". Additionally, Richard LeParmentier has a minor role as Santino, a lieutenant of the Los Angeles Police Department. Joel Silver has a cameo appearance as Raoul J. Raoul, a director frustrated with Roger Rabbit's antics. David Lander voices Smart Ass, the leader of the weasels, Fred Newman voices Stupid, and June Foray voices Wheezy. Foray also voiced Lena Hyena, a hag toon woman who resembles Jessica Rabbit and provides a comical role which shows her falling for Eddie and pursuing him.
 * Bob Hoskins, as Eddie Valiant, is an alcoholic private investigator who resents Toons. Executive producer Spielberg's first choice for the role was Harrison Ford, but Ford's price was too high. Bill Murray was also considered for the role, but due to his method of receiving offers for roles, he missed out.[8] Eddie Murphy reportedly turned down the role and later regretted it.
 * Christopher Lloyd, as Judge Doom, is the cold-blooded and power-hungry judge of Toontown District's Superior Court. Lloyd was cast because he previously worked with Zemeckis and Amblin Entertainment in Back to the Future. Lloyd compared his part as Doom to his previous role as the Klingon commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, both being overly evil characters which he considered being "fun to play".[10] Lloyd avoided blinking his eyes while on camera to perfectly portray the character.[11]
 * Charles Fleischer as the voice of Roger Rabbit, an A-list Toon working for Maroon Cartoons, who is framed for the murder of Marvin Acme, and requests Eddie's help in proving his innocence. To facilitate Hoskins' performance, Fleischer dressed in a Roger bunny suit and "stood in" behind camera for most scenes.[12] Animation director Williams explained Roger Rabbit 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."[13]
 * Fleischer also voices Benny the Cab and two members of Doom's weasel gang, Psycho and Greasy. Lou Hirsch, who supplied the voice for Baby Herman, was the original choice for Benny the Cab, but was replaced by Fleischer.[12]
 * Stubby Kaye, as Marvin Acme, is the jester-like owner of the Acme Corporation. This was Kaye's last film before his retirement in 1988.
 * Joanna Cassidy, as Dolores, is Eddie's on-off girlfriend who works as a waitress.
 * Kathleen Turner provides the uncredited voice of Jessica Rabbit, Roger Rabbit's beautiful and flirtatious Toon wife,[14] She loves Roger because, as she says, "he makes me laugh". Amy Irving supplied the singing voice, while Betsy Brantley served as the stand-in.
 * Alan Tilvern, in his final film role, portrays R.K. Maroon, the short-tempered and manipulative owner of "Maroon Cartoon" studios.
 * Lou Hirsch provides the voice of Baby Herman, a mentally middle-aged smoker baby and co-star in Maroon Cartoons. Williams said Baby Herman was a mixture of "Elmer Fuddand Tweety crashed together".[13]

Mel Blanc voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, and Sylvester (Roger Rabbit was one of the final productions in which Blanc voiced his Looney Tunes characters before his death the following year). Joe Alaskey voiced Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn (in place of the elderly Blanc), Wayne Allwine voiced Mickey Mouse, Tony Anselmovoiced Donald Duck (with an archival recording of Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald, used at the beginning of the scene), Tony Pope voiced Goofy (also partially voiced by Bill Farmer[16]) and The Big Bad Wolf, Mae Questel reprised her role of Betty Boop, Russi Taylor voiced Minnie Mouse and some birds, Pat Buttram, Jim Cummings, and Jim Gallant voiced Valiant's animated bullets, Les Perkins voiced Mr. Toad, Mary Radford voiced Hyacinth Hippo from Fantasia, Nancy Cartwright voiced the dipped shoe, Cherry Davis voiced Woody Woodpecker, Peter Westy voiced Pinocchio, and Frank Welker voiced Dumbo. Animation director Richard Williams voiced Droopy.