With the preponderance of CGI today, we take it for granted when physically impossible things play out across the big screen. During each re-watch, I'm staggered anew by how incredibly impressive this masterpiece is. In fact, it only improves over the years. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is that rare breed of film: a childhood favorite that stands up to the test of time. With Roger's life and the whole of Toontown hanging in the balance, Detective Valiant finds himself pulled back into the world of the Toons-whether he likes it or not. But then, Roger turns up at his office professing his innocence, convinced he's being framed, and Eddie learns that Acme had a will leaving Toontown to the Toons-a will that's gone missing. His involvement with the case was over once he turned in those photos. He calls it 'The Dip',” explains Lieutenant Santino (Richard LeParmentier).Īt first, Eddie's plenty happy to leave the Acme murder to the police. “Remember how they always thought there wasn't a way to kill a Toon? Well, Doom found a way. The unsettling Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is determined to make an example of Roger, so he sends his weasel Toon henchmen to capture him so he can give him “The Dip.” Given Roger's dramatic reaction to Eddie's pictures, it follows that the Maroon star must be the killer. When Eddie pulls through, though, and delivers some racy snapshots of Jessica playing patty-cake (literally-that's not an innuendo) with Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), the goofy genius behind Acme Products and the sole owner of Toontown, he couldn't predict what would follow.īy the next morning, Acme has been murdered via falling safe, so naturally the police are looking for a Toon. Maroon wants Eddie to get photos of Jessica in the act so he can show Roger hard proof and convince him to kick his unfaithful wife to the curb. He reluctantly takes the case-seems that Maroon Cartoons star Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer) has been off his A-game thanks to the indiscretions of his sultry wife Jessica Rabbit (voiced by an uncredited Kathleen Turner). He “doesn't do Toons.” Not anymore.Ī hundred dollars is nothing to sniff at in 1947, however, and in true gumshoe fashion, the hard-drinking, down-on-his-luck Eddie's got plenty of bills to pay. Maroon (Alan Tilvern), the head of Maroon Cartoons, comes to Valiant with a job, Eddie's first instinct is to say no. Years ago, a Toon dropped a piano on his partner and brother, Teddy, and ever since that terrible day, Detective Valiant has been a sour, curmudgeonly grump. Private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) has a chip on his shoulder the size of Gibraltar when it comes to Toons: those brightly-colored, two-dimensional characters that routinely smash through walls, break plates over their heads, and burst into frequent song and dance numbers-anything to make people laugh.Įddie's not laughing, though. It's a Technicolor dream world with inhabitants that are downright animated… This Hollywood, however, is different in one very significant way: there's a strange neighborhood on its fringe called Toontown. It's a familiar setting to any fan of noir. THE SETTING: An alternate 1940's Hollywood.ġ947, Hollywood. THE LOVE INTEREST(S): Loyal “Girl Friday” Dolores and femme fatale Jessica. THE HERO(ES): Private eye Eddie Valiant and the eponymous Toon.
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