Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) Review

“Walt sent me”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

I think what a lot of people don't understand is that noirs don't have to look the same, which I believe was proven with Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. 


PLOT


Based on Gary K Wolf’s novel, ‘Who Censored Roger Rabbit?’, The 1988 film takes place in a fictional 1947 where cartoons are alive and live in Toontown next to Hollywood. Eddie Valiant used to be a private investigator for toons before a villainous one dropped a piano on him and his brother Teddy, which he survived. Now catering his services to humans only, he is offered $50 upfront by Maroon Cartoon Studios owner RK Maroon (Alan Tilvern) to investigate an affair involving toon lounge singer Jessica Rabbit and Acme Corporation owner Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye); He is promised another $50 once the job is done. He offers him this because Jessica's husband Roger has been giving poor performances lately and wants to motivate him to get his mojo back. Eddie does see her perform at the Ink and Paint Club and catches her unfaithful with Marvin via patty-cake. Roger would predictably be upset when seeing the pictures Valiant took, but vows to still be happy with her once he flees. When Marvin is found dead by morning, the rabbit is quickly implicated. The current human judge of Toontown named Doom vows to find & execute him with his weasel minions of Toon Patrol, because after bribing the electorate for the votes of being judge, he created a chemical concoction that is capable of killing toons that were thought to be invulnerable in the human world, dubbed 'The Dip'. Eddie is then visited by Roger's co star Baby Herman (Lou Hersch) who doesn't think Roger is a murderer because the killer's motive had to have gone to access of Marvin's will that bequeaths Toon Town to all toons. Roger then confronts Eddie to assure him he didn't kill Acme because all he did that was write a love letter to Jessica, expressing his forgiveness. He reaches out to him wanting his help to clear his name since he knew his past work. Valiant only agrees to since he did find the will in the pictures he took, but was missing at the crime scene. When he hides the rabbits from Toon Patrol in a bar tended by his girlfriend Dolores, Jessica confronts him as well who explains she was threatened by Maroon to pose for the photos he took to save her husband's career. Dolores would interrupt their exchange to share her own research that Cloverleaf Industries has recently bought Pacific Electric's railway system and will buy Toontown next if Acme's will isn't found. When Roger blows his cover and gets spotted by Judge Doom, Eddie helps him escape and they flee with a toon taxi cab named Benny. Benny drops them off at a theater to briefly hide and during this period, Eddie shares he used to love Toontown &toons overall before what happened to his brother and the only thing he remembered from the one that killed him was a squeaky voice & having red eyes. When hearing a newsreel of Maroon selling his studio Cloverleaf, he suspects Maroon responsible for murder. He confronts him at said studio by night and he admits to the blackmail for the sake of wanting to buy Acme Corporation from him, but swears he didn't kill Marvin either because Cloverleaf would've not bought his own if he didn't do it. Before he can explain what Cloverleaf is doing, he is killed by another shooter. When looking outside, he only sees Jessica outside driving away with her husband she knocked unconscious. With no other choice, he follows her to Toontown only for her to save him from Judge Doom, the real perpetrator who killed both Maroon & Acme. As they leave Toontown together with another ride from Benny, she admits to have taken Roger to protect him from Doom and she dismissed Marvin's will when it was only blank paper. Once back to the human world, Doom captures them both by melting Benny's tires with Dip. He takes them both to Acme's factory, whereas Roger who broke out of his wife's car after regaining consciousness, finds Benny and follows Doom. He tries to intervene, only for him to get himself & Jessica hanged on a hook to be sprayed with Dip, coming from a vehicular machine. Doom explains that as Cloverleaf’s sole shareholder, he bought Pacific Pacific Electric and will use the Dip machine to destroy Toontown for the sake of profiting off of freeways, knowing humans will have to use it without any other source of transportation. Eddie buys the toon couple some time by reviving his funny bone and performing a vaudeville act that makes Toon Patrol laugh to death. He does kill the leading weasel Smart Ass (David Lander) by kicking him into a pool of Dip. He does seem to kill Doom as well by luring him into a steamroller and be flattened by it. That doesn't end up working due to Doom being not just any toon, but the same red eyed toon that killed Teddy. Eddie is able to kill him for good when exposing him to the sprayer, wasting the whole supply in the process. He then crashes the machine by directing it to a bric wall that takes it to Toontown. The machine would be destroyed when being struck by a toon train. He saves the Rabbits by spraying down the Dip with water. When the police arrive to the scene as well as the toons wondering how Doom looked without the disguise, Eddie realizes Acme's will was written on paper with Disappearing-Reappearing Ink and confirms it when Roger reads his love letter to be written on the same paper. The film ends with Eddie & Dolores happily entering Toontown with the Rabbits.


THOUGHTS


This may not be the last the first nor last hybrid film, where live action actors and animated characters are simultaneously onscreen, but I believe Director Robert Zemeckis and writers Jeffrey Pierce & Peter S Seaman got to helm the best of its kind due to the fluency. With a perfect score from Alan Silvestri, you almost feel like you’re part of the world you never thought to be possible. This is the dream every kid desired in the 80s where all the Warner Bros. and Walt Disney owned characters at that point in time crossed over in the same vicinity and it’s so cool to witness. It’s already a big laugh to see Donald Duck & Daffy Duck have a piano standoff, but Mickey Mouse & Bugs Bunny skydiving was mind blowing and it sure was pleasing. Hell, I’m still laughing with Tweety Bird making Eddie fall off a building when he was hanging on for dear life and Droopy being a poor busboy for not warning Eddie how the elevator functions for humans. I’m still trying to fathom the existence of a sword singing Frank Sinatra every time I think about it. While those moments are for sure meant for kids watching, this story is mostly meant for adults because it ain’t regular when you see a toon baby smoking cigars or have Jessica be depicted as attractive. On both ends of the spectrum, the audience is hooked with a wild narrative. With both intended crowds onboard from start to finish, I’m always left impressed with the fact this teaches viewers to always maintain happiness when going through dark times because it will always help you overcome adversity no matter the form. People still create and watch cartoons because having a laugh has been that helpful no matter the background you come from. The toons are aware of the point of their existence and are grateful to make a difference like so, which make it easy for us to root for them to live on. And if their success with multiple studios doesn’t prove so, their impact on a single human really makes the difference. Bob Hoskins had what felt like the role of a lifetime because as he nails the believable motions that sell the idea that toons are in the same vicinity as him, he makes Eddie Valiant a protagonist to root for because as his stubbornness comes from loss, he’s still someone who still chooses to do good when the action calls to him. He goes out of his way to help Roger before the stakes are discovered because within the given time, he sees how harmless he is compared to actual threats. In fact, we love Roger to this day because we all aspire to be as confident as he is, no matter how much levels of hyper-active can come with it. And this is pulled off excellently thanks to Charles Fleischer’s fantastic voice performance, who also provides the voice of the gruff yet resourceful Benny. That said confidence is also what we wish to have to be as lucky as him for not only finding good friends, but also being grateful to have such a counterpart whether they’re an equal or complete opposite of it. I think besides the unusual beauty Jessica is defined off of, or just be in awe of sharing Amy Irving’s singing voice, Kathleen Turner makes her her own icon for being a selfless who uses her identity as a tool. She’s so easily attracted to Roger off of making her laugh, which proves being yourself is enough to establish a relationship. The rabbit ain’t the only one who has somebody since Eddie does as well, who have their ups and downs but manage when trusting each other. Joanna Cassidy makes Dolores memorable as well because she’s assertive to get Eddie on track with what he’s gotta do. Valiant loves her so much even though he doesn’t say it because she makes him want to do better and she still stays by his side when he’s at his lowest because she remembers how much good he has within. If that doesn’t define ‘ride or die’, I don’t know what does. With all the good surrounding this plot, it’s not a surprise the noir vibe really kicks in with an interesting villain. Having been so lovable thanks to Taxi and Back to the Future, Christopher Lloyd gives a 180 as Judge Doom and is so believable in portraying one of the most soulless of all. He is bad because he knows he can be. He has based his life of greed and takes it to the point of willing to kill his own kind for a profit. Simple when written but terrifying to say aloud because you can’t believe anyone would go as as far as him. It is ironic that he’d be defeated by his creation, but the fact people know how to make Dip only opens the possibility of someone to copy his goals. As long as good people like Eddie are still around, that won’t ever happen. I’ve said enough to suggest ignoring reality is have a blast, but there were multiple things that still confuse me upon re-watching. Like for starters, why would there be a ‘volcano heat’ level for that oven in the cold open? The fact I don’t know if that’s a prop or something that is sold in Toontown drives me crazy. And having only chili sauce on a shelf next to all those pots is kinda weird because storywise for the skit, it could’ve just been in the cabinet for Baby or Roger to stumble into. And is it really slave labor for toons like Dumbo to be paid in peanuts? I gotta point this out because most of the toons probably live in the human world and have to make actual money if they were to stay. And how come the usual patrons at Dolores’ bar don’t already know what happened to Teddy? If Eddie goes there so much, it should be common knowledge for the regulars, whether or not we need the exposition for Eddie’s backstory. It also sucks for Betty Boop to not get much gigs once cartoons transitioned to color. But if most characters like Mickey Mouse are able to transition with no problem, there should be an explanation on why some can’t. It is a miracle to have spotted the will in the picture for Eddie to confirms its existence, but why would Acme have it in the front? He should’ve hid it in a covered pocket if he didn’t want anyone suspicious to pickpocket him. I don’t even think it was smart for Eddie to try sawing off the handcuffs from the wrist when he could’ve cut it from the middle, before Roger revealed he could’ve removed himself from them sooner. Judge Doom’s biggest mistake in his scheme is allowing Roger to drink human alcohol, knowing toons digest it differently. Since he’s a toon himself, he should’ve known Roger would’ve responded badly. If anything else, it would be allowing Eddie to live long enough to see the Rabbits die when the weasels could’ve just shot him and avoid any chances. And I know going back home would’ve been easier for Eddie to get captured, but he was high on luck no one other than Dolores went to the same row of theater seats he and Roger went since they snuck in. I also respect him overcoming his alcoholism when using a toon bullet to destroy his last bottle of booze, but they were sure pointless when they couldn’t track down Doom. If you can still ignore these things though, you’ll still enjoy this movie for what it is. In conclusion, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is a classic hybrid film for finding multiple layers of creativity in the than standards of filmmaking & storytelling as a whole. If you seek a different spin of noirs, see this now.