List of Who Framed Roger Rabbit media
Encyclopedia
This is a list of media related to the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit
from 1988. This media includes books, animated shorts, comic books and a video game.
nor a prequel
to Who Censored Roger Rabbit? or the film adaptation by Disney
. It is a spin-off story
with the same characters, just different situations. This style is like Looney Tunes
, where the episodes hold no continuity.
The novel contains most of the original main cast members, such as Roger Rabbit, Eddie Valiant, Jessica Rabbit
, and Baby Herman. The personalities of each of these characters reflect more of their movie selves from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, such as Jessica's devotion to Roger and the rabbit's own more cartoony quirks, such as his speech impediment.
toon adaptation and how he has a chance to play the lead as Rhett Butler
. However, the Telltale News, a newspaper that tends to Toons, prints an article about Jessica Rabbit
and her relationship with Clark Gable
. Valiant primarily declines, stressing that he promised his wife, 'Doris' (who seems to be Dolores from the movie), that he wouldn't take such work anymore. However, he takes the job because of the quote Roger announces.
From this simple case, the story branches out to the murders
of Kirk Enigman (another candidate for the part of Rhett Butler), Baby Herman, and Dodger Rabbit (Roger Rabbit's evil cousin).
series by Disney Comics
starring characters from the 1988 film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit
, as well as following continuity from the film. It spawned a spin-off series entitled Roger Rabbit's Toontown, which lasted five issues.
The series continues the adventures of Roger Rabbit, who has since returned to working for Maroon Cartoons, now under C.B. Maroon (a character introduced in the graphic novel, Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom). The comics were usually split into two stories, with one main feature focussing on Roger's adventures, and a back-up feature presented to look like an actual animated subject.
Curiously, while characters like Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman and Benny the Cab all appeared in the stories, Eddie Valiant was seldom seen, replaced by a new detective character named Rick Flint. This was explained in the first issue: Roger had a new case for he and Eddie to team up on. Eddie told Roger he wouldn't be able to help him that since defeating Judge Doom twice, there was renewed interest in Eddie's services as a detective and was too busy with various caseloads. So to not leave Roger on his own, Eddie referred him to a "new kid" private detective, Rick Flint. The actual editorial reason for omitting Eddie Valiant from the comic was not having the likeness rights to make Eddie resemble Bob Hoskins. Two other new characters introduced were Lenny, a toon plane who was Benny's cousin, and Mel, who was Roger's sentient mailbox.
The series had a one-off 3D strip as part of the Disney's Comics in 3-D
series, which reprinted the back-up features of earlier comics and converted them into 3D. The comic-book line lasted 18 issues, and continued until the implosion of Disney Comics
.
. It features Roger and his supporting characters from Disney and Amblin Entertainment's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Every issue began with a Roger Rabbit story and his supporting characters such as his wife Jessica, his co star Baby and his taxi cab friend Benny round out the comic. This comic book lasted for five issues from May to August 1991.
This comic book is similar to the Roger Rabbit version of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
.
The comic opens with a documentary about the origin of Judge Doom. The documentary mentions the original character cel
used to create Doom. Eddie Valiant is given credit for ending Doom's reign of terror by dissolving him in a puddle of Dip, stated as 'A victim of his own evil creation', and putting a stop to his plans to erase Toontown and build a freeway where it would have once stood.
A weasel is shown watching the documentary which is Slimy. He goes with two other weasels one of them is Flasher and the other we call Ragtag to find the original cel of Doom. They manipulate some animators
to bring Doom back to life. With time, Doom remembers everything that happened to him, and now wants revenge against both Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit for ruining his plans.
Meanwhile, Eddie Valiant is called by C.B. Maroon, the new executive of Maroon Cartoons, who announces they are reopening the studio, and pays Valiant $500 to run a search on the background of Roger Rabbit. Valiant finds Roger's records clean as a whistle.
Meanwhile, Roger and Jessica Rabbit are enjoying life at home as much as possible, despite Roger's unemployment following the close of Maroon Cartoon Studios. Roger gets a call from Maroon Cartoons, saying they are reopening the studio, and that they want Roger to come work for them. Roger accepts the offer, and the next day, Roger meets C.B. Maroon, who starts Roger off with a very low-budget film (depicted in a Hanna-Barbera
-esque style). Roger angrily objects to his part in the film, and is fired ("Get me that other rabbit with the tiger for a buddy!
").
The next day, Roger finds dozens of scandalous, untrue headlines centered on himself. He turns to Valiant to find out why this is happening. Valiant first meets with C.B. Maroon, and questions him about firing Roger. Maroon reveals himself as Doom, tells his plan to ruin Roger's reputation and then kill him. He and the weasels knock Valiant out and lock him up in a storage locker, where Valiant meets the real C.B. Maroon. Doom, as C.B. Maroon, puts Maroon Studios up for auction, and the studio will be officially sold at noon.
Meanwhile, Roger and Jessica are about to leave for Simi Valley, but first go to Valiant's office to say goodbye, only to find the office ransacked. Jessica finds indentations of the address Valiant wrote on the last piece of paper he used. Rushing to the address, they find and rescue Eddie Valiant and C.B. Maroon. They leave to save Maroon Studios. Valiant sprays him and his weasels with the Dip-filled gag squirt gun, and before dissolving, "Maroon" reveals himself to be Doom.
The real C.B. Maroon announces he is reopening Maroon Cartoon Studios, and will be providing all the toon employees with work, including Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman with a line-up of new animated short films, starting with Tummy Trouble.
(this was also included on the original video release of the film), Roller Coaster Rabbit shown in front of the hit Dick Tracy and Trail Mix-Up shown in front of the Amblin produced A Far Off Place
(starring a then unknown Reese Witherspoon
).
Disney released Tummy Trouble in an effort to build up the Roger Rabbit character so he could be a draw in Disney theme parks and for merchandising. Paired with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, it took in $14 million (US) on opening weekend. It was the first cartoon short Disney had produced in 25 years to run with a feature film, since Goofy's Freeway Trouble in 1965. The short took 70 animators nine months to produce.
Tummy Trouble was produced at the main Walt Disney Feature Animation studio in Burbank, California
, while Roller Coaster Rabbit and Trail Mix-Up were produced at the satellite studio located at Disney-MGM Studios
in Orlando, Florida
.
In 1995, a VHS tape of the three shorts was released under the title It's Roger Rabbit, bundled with the Who Framed Roger Rabbit movie. A nearly identical video was released by itself in 1996 under the title Disney and Steven Spielberg present The Best of Roger Rabbit. The three shorts are also included in the 2003 special edition DVD of Who Framed Roger Rabbit released under
Walt Disney Studios Entertainment's Vista Series title.
. It was directed by Rob Minkoff
, executive-produced by Amblin Entertainment founders (Steven Spielberg
, Kathleen Kennedy
, and Frank Marshall), and produced by Disney animator Don Hahn
, who would later serve as the famous producer of Beauty and the Beast
in 1991. It was attached to the theatrical release of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
on June 23, 1989, and was also tied to that film in subsequent VHS releases.
Roger is placed in charge of watching Baby Herman when his mother needs to step out for an hour; as soon as she leaves, Herman breaks into a heavy crying fit which Roger doesn't seem to be able to break until he pulls out Herman's favorite rattle
, which immediately garners Herman's attention. After a brief second of shaking it, Herman swallows the rattle, prompting Roger to rush the baby to the emergency room. Roger is overcome with guilt when he visits but quickly realizes Herman wants to drink from a milk bottle in the room; after Roger burps Herman, he hiccups the rattle, but in Roger's joyous celebration he accidentally swallows it, causing Baby Herman to become upset he lost his toy. Roger begins to dance, his hips rattling with the toy and giving Baby Herman some amusement, but a doctor bursts in and mistakes Roger for Baby Herman and preps him for emergency surgery.
While he's gone, Herman spies Jessica Rabbit pushing a cart of milk bottles and gives chase, eventually following a runaway milk bottle into the emergency room where Roger is strapped to the table while the surgeons had disappeared for a lunch break. Herman mistakes a large surgical laser for a bottle and climbs up onto it, nearly dissecting Roger in the process. The laser detaches itself from the ceiling and flings a table of scalpel
s at Roger, who avoids them, but is electrocuted in the process. The laser flies around the room and lodges itself under Roger's stretcher and he and Herman both eject from the emergency room, causing Roger to gag up the rattle and Baby Herman to again swallow it, before crashing into a wheelchair, they then fly down the hall and into an open elevator shaft due to wet floors causing the wheelchair they landed on to skid out of control. Baby Herman's diaper parachutes him safely to a floor while Roger ends up getting crushed by an elevator while trying to catch Herman. Eventually they end up in a room with piles of gas pumps which are ignited and the pair are launched miles into the air. As they fall, Herman coughs up the rattle and Roger swallows it again. As they crash back into the hospital, Roger crashes through several floors before landing smack down on the receptionist floor in the hospital. As he recovers, Baby Herman lands on Roger, causing him to cough up the rattle again, finally ending their adventure. But Roger's celebration is short lived when he sees the bill for their rampant destruction and passes out. Herman then crawls over to the rattle and as the screen fades to black there is a gulping sound as he again swallows the rattle.
An adaptation of this short appeared in the graphic novel
Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom.
The cartoon characters that make cameo appearances in this short include: Mickey Mouse
, Donald Duck
(picture), the Three Little Wolves
(portrait), The Mad Doctor
(picture), and Droopy (as the elevator man).
reprises his role as director in this short, as well as Spielberg, Kennedy, and Marshall reprising their roles as executive producers. The short was released in 1990, Spielberg originally wanted the short to appear with Arachnophobia
, Hollywood Pictures
's first feature and co-produced by Amblin, but this short would eventually be attached to the US theatrical release of Touchstone's Dick Tracy on June 15, 1990 at the insistence of Michael Eisner. It was also released in theaters in the UK with Toy Story
in 1995, taking the place of a canceled Roger Rabbit short intended to be shown before that movie.
The second of the Roger Rabbit shorts features our hero at the fair with Baby Herman and Mrs. Herman (Baby Herman's mother). Baby Herman loses his red balloon and Roger goes to get him a new one. Before he returns, however, Baby Herman sees another red balloon at a dart game and goes to try to get it. When Roger comes back to give Baby his balloon, he finds that he is gone, and the chase begins. Firstly Baby Herman finds himself following the balloon into a field homed to a grazing bull. Roger soon follows the youngster. Baby Herman walks through directly underneath the bull, he notices a round balloon-like object and grasps it unknown to him that it was in fact the bull's scrotum. The grazing creature snaps, Roger picks up Baby Herman but just happens to be looking the bull in the eyes. The animal hurls Roger and baby into the air sending him flying out of the field and the two land crashing into a roller coaster carriage which is traveling slowly up. The next stage of this short the carriage continues to climb a tall hill in the track. The two reach the top of the drop which is exaggerated to reach beyond the clouds and into space. Roger looks down and sees the world. Moments later the carriage drops down thousands of meters. The speed of the drop is maintained throughout the remainder of the chase. After a few twist and turns (in the track) a shot of Jessica Rabbit appears where she is tied down to the tracks, unable to move. She calls out to be saved before Roger and Baby Herman's carriage crushes her. As the cart draws near, it topples over and fortunately bounces over Jessica avoiding her completely. The camera 'moves' along and beside her appears Droopy for a quick one-liner. The story then continues. Roger grasping onto Baby Herman, tumbling and losing their carriage leaving Roger sliding along the tracks with his feet, gradually gaining friction causing his feet to catch fire. The tracks run into a dark tunnel and then stumbles across a 'wrong way sign'. Finally Herman and Roger crash through the sign and into a real-life filming studio. A direct reference to the reality/cartoon cross-over in the feature film.
The cartoon characters that make cameo appearances in this short include: Mickey Mouse
(as a doll), Pinocchio
(on a poster), Ariel (in silhouette on a poster), Clarabelle Cow
(as a psychic), and Droopy (dressed as Snidely Whiplash
from the Dudley Do-Right
TV cartoons).
on March 12, 1993. This is also the first only short not to be directed by Rob Minkoff, but by Barry Cook instead (although Minkoff remained involved in the short, serving as a co-executive producer). The short features Roger Rabbit, Baby Herman and Mrs. Herman at the park setting up camp. Mrs. Herman plans to go hunting and leaves Roger in charge of watching Baby Herman. Trouble begins when Baby wanders off in the dangers of the forest and Roger has to go and save him, leading to multiple calamities such as Roger panicking at the sight of a bug and spraying so much insecticide (named Mink-Off) that many trees die. Later, Baby Herman follows a bee up to a beehive, and Roger tries to save him. The beehive falls on Roger's head, causing him to get stung multiple times. The bees proceed to chase him, so Roger runs into a lake, where he panics at the sight of a shark's dorsal fin (which is actually controlled by Droopy).
Later, Baby Herman follows a beaver (mistaking him for a dog), and Roger chases after them. Baby Herman follows the beaver up a pile of logs, and Roger follows, only to have the log that Baby and the beaver are on taken to the sawmill. This ends up with Roger being shredded by a sawmill (and the result is 13 tiny Rogers, which then join again into a regular-sized Roger, who follows Baby Herman (still following the beaver) onto a conveyor belt with logs.) It ends up with the logs being thrown down a log flume, eventually landing in a river. The log Roger, Baby and the beaver are on crashes into a bear, who ends up on the log. Then the four fall off a waterfall. Roger's head gets stuck in a twig sticking out of the waterfall, and he catches Baby Herman (holding on to the beaver), and the bear grabs onto Roger's legs. The combined weight rebounds, sending all four flying, landing on a large boulder.
The boulder proceeds to roll down a hill, knocking over a tree trunk (with the same sound effects as a bowling pin), and then flying off a cliff. Eventually, Roger, the bear, the log, the beaver, the boulder, and Baby Herman all land on top of Old Predictable Geyser in that order. Then, Old Predictable Geyser erupts, sending Roger, the bear, the log, the beaver, the boulder, and Baby Herman flying out of the studio, above Hollywood, before landing on Mount Rushmore, destroying it. Everyone is battered and beaten, and Baby Herman yells at Roger for destroying Mount Rushmore. Roger sticks a flag (made of his pants) in the ground and salutes, but then the Earth deflates.
The cartoon characters that make cameo appearances in this short include: Mickey Mouse
(as a bee), Tinker Bell from Peter Pan
(as a bee), Evinrude from The Rescuers
(as a bee), The Genie from Aladdin (as a bee), Mr Magoo (as a bee), the boy from Off His Rockers (on a wanted poster), Bullwinkle J. Moose
(as the moose on the chocolate moose box), Ariel from The Little Mermaid
(on a poster attached to a tree) and Droopy (as a scuba diver).
by LJN
. The NES version has received almost universally poor reviews. Another version was published by Capcom
for the Game Boy
, and was a completely different game. Yet another different game with the same title was released for personal computers such as Amiga
, Apple IIGS
, Commodore 64
, and DOS
in 1988. There also exists a game with a different title Hare Raising Havoc
by BlueSky Software
.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
from 1988. This media includes books, animated shorts, comic books and a video game.
Books
- Who Censored Roger Rabbit?Who Censored Roger Rabbit?Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is a mystery novel written by Gary K. Wolf in 1981, later adapted into the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit .-Plot:Eddie Valiant is a hard-boiled private eye, and Roger Rabbit is a second-banana cartoon character...
by Gary K. Wolf is the book on which the film is nominally based. ISBN 0-345-30325-3
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? by Martin Noble is the novelization of the film of the same name. ISBN 0-352-32389-2
Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?
Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? is a mystery/humor novel written by Gary K. Wolf released in 1991 (ISBN 0-679-40094-X). The book is neither a sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
nor a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to Who Censored Roger Rabbit? or the film adaptation by Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
. It is a spin-off story
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
with the same characters, just different situations. This style is like Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
, where the episodes hold no continuity.
The novel contains most of the original main cast members, such as Roger Rabbit, Eddie Valiant, Jessica Rabbit
Jessica Rabbit
Jessica Rabbit is a fictional character from the Roger Rabbit film-and-novel franchise.Jessica Rabbit may also refer to:* Jessica Rabbit vibrator, a sex toy* Melyssa Ford , Canadian model-See also:...
, and Baby Herman. The personalities of each of these characters reflect more of their movie selves from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, such as Jessica's devotion to Roger and the rabbit's own more cartoony quirks, such as his speech impediment.
Plot summary
The story starts out with Eddie Valiant at the front door of Roger Rabbit's house. Almost immediately after he is let inside the house, Roger tells him about the upcoming Gone with the WindGone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
toon adaptation and how he has a chance to play the lead as Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.-Role:In the beginning of the novel, we first meet Rhett at the Twelve Oaks Plantation barbecue, the home of John Wilkes and his son Ashley and daughters Honey and India Wilkes...
. However, the Telltale News, a newspaper that tends to Toons, prints an article about Jessica Rabbit
Jessica Rabbit
Jessica Rabbit is a fictional character from the Roger Rabbit film-and-novel franchise.Jessica Rabbit may also refer to:* Jessica Rabbit vibrator, a sex toy* Melyssa Ford , Canadian model-See also:...
and her relationship with Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
. Valiant primarily declines, stressing that he promised his wife, 'Doris' (who seems to be Dolores from the movie), that he wouldn't take such work anymore. However, he takes the job because of the quote Roger announces.
From this simple case, the story branches out to the murders
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
of Kirk Enigman (another candidate for the part of Rhett Butler), Baby Herman, and Dodger Rabbit (Roger Rabbit's evil cousin).
Children's picture books
- Roger Rabbit: A Different Toon by Justine Korman ISBN 0-307-11733-2
- Roger Rabbit: Make the World Laugh by Justine Korman ISBN 0-307-11734-0
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit: The Movie Storybook by Justine Korman (1988) ISBN 0-307-65847-3
Roger Rabbit
Roger Rabbit was a comic bookComic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series by Disney Comics
Disney Comics
Disney Comics was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company which ran from 1990 to 1993. In the USA, Disney only licensed their comic books to other publishers prior to 1990...
starring characters from the 1988 film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
, as well as following continuity from the film. It spawned a spin-off series entitled Roger Rabbit's Toontown, which lasted five issues.
The series continues the adventures of Roger Rabbit, who has since returned to working for Maroon Cartoons, now under C.B. Maroon (a character introduced in the graphic novel, Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom). The comics were usually split into two stories, with one main feature focussing on Roger's adventures, and a back-up feature presented to look like an actual animated subject.
Curiously, while characters like Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman and Benny the Cab all appeared in the stories, Eddie Valiant was seldom seen, replaced by a new detective character named Rick Flint. This was explained in the first issue: Roger had a new case for he and Eddie to team up on. Eddie told Roger he wouldn't be able to help him that since defeating Judge Doom twice, there was renewed interest in Eddie's services as a detective and was too busy with various caseloads. So to not leave Roger on his own, Eddie referred him to a "new kid" private detective, Rick Flint. The actual editorial reason for omitting Eddie Valiant from the comic was not having the likeness rights to make Eddie resemble Bob Hoskins. Two other new characters introduced were Lenny, a toon plane who was Benny's cousin, and Mel, who was Roger's sentient mailbox.
The series had a one-off 3D strip as part of the Disney's Comics in 3-D
Disney's Comics in 3-D
Disney's Comics in 3-D was a two-part comic book series made by The Walt Disney Company in 1992.Unlike most comic books, the stories are drawn in 3-D stereo...
series, which reprinted the back-up features of earlier comics and converted them into 3D. The comic-book line lasted 18 issues, and continued until the implosion of Disney Comics
Disney Comics
Disney Comics was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company which ran from 1990 to 1993. In the USA, Disney only licensed their comic books to other publishers prior to 1990...
.
Roger Rabbit's Toontown
Roger Rabbit's Toontown was a comic book published by Disney ComicsDisney Comics
Disney Comics was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company which ran from 1990 to 1993. In the USA, Disney only licensed their comic books to other publishers prior to 1990...
. It features Roger and his supporting characters from Disney and Amblin Entertainment's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Every issue began with a Roger Rabbit story and his supporting characters such as his wife Jessica, his co star Baby and his taxi cab friend Benny round out the comic. This comic book lasted for five issues from May to August 1991.
This comic book is similar to the Roger Rabbit version of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
Graphic novels and trade paperbacks
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (based on the movie)
- Roger Rabbit: Tummy Trouble (based on the animated short)
- Roger Rabbit: Who Framed Rick Flint (trade paperback featuring a story line from the Roger Rabbit comic series) ISBN 0-307-21803-1
Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom
Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom (ISBN 0-871-35593-0) is a graphic novel sequel that takes place between the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Roger Rabbit short film Tummy Trouble. It also helped to set the scene for the Roger Rabbit comic-book series by Disney ComicsDisney Comics
Disney Comics was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company which ran from 1990 to 1993. In the USA, Disney only licensed their comic books to other publishers prior to 1990...
.
Plot summary
The comic opens with a documentary about the origin of Judge Doom. The documentary mentions the original character cel
Cel
A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate...
used to create Doom. Eddie Valiant is given credit for ending Doom's reign of terror by dissolving him in a puddle of Dip, stated as 'A victim of his own evil creation', and putting a stop to his plans to erase Toontown and build a freeway where it would have once stood.
A weasel is shown watching the documentary which is Slimy. He goes with two other weasels one of them is Flasher and the other we call Ragtag to find the original cel of Doom. They manipulate some animators
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
to bring Doom back to life. With time, Doom remembers everything that happened to him, and now wants revenge against both Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit for ruining his plans.
Meanwhile, Eddie Valiant is called by C.B. Maroon, the new executive of Maroon Cartoons, who announces they are reopening the studio, and pays Valiant $500 to run a search on the background of Roger Rabbit. Valiant finds Roger's records clean as a whistle.
Meanwhile, Roger and Jessica Rabbit are enjoying life at home as much as possible, despite Roger's unemployment following the close of Maroon Cartoon Studios. Roger gets a call from Maroon Cartoons, saying they are reopening the studio, and that they want Roger to come work for them. Roger accepts the offer, and the next day, Roger meets C.B. Maroon, who starts Roger off with a very low-budget film (depicted in a Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
-esque style). Roger angrily objects to his part in the film, and is fired ("Get me that other rabbit with the tiger for a buddy!
Crusader Rabbit
Crusader Rabbit is the first animated series produced specifically for television. The concept was test marketed in 1948, while the initial episode - Crusader vs. the State of Texas - aired on KNBH in Los Angeles, California on August 1, 1950....
").
The next day, Roger finds dozens of scandalous, untrue headlines centered on himself. He turns to Valiant to find out why this is happening. Valiant first meets with C.B. Maroon, and questions him about firing Roger. Maroon reveals himself as Doom, tells his plan to ruin Roger's reputation and then kill him. He and the weasels knock Valiant out and lock him up in a storage locker, where Valiant meets the real C.B. Maroon. Doom, as C.B. Maroon, puts Maroon Studios up for auction, and the studio will be officially sold at noon.
Meanwhile, Roger and Jessica are about to leave for Simi Valley, but first go to Valiant's office to say goodbye, only to find the office ransacked. Jessica finds indentations of the address Valiant wrote on the last piece of paper he used. Rushing to the address, they find and rescue Eddie Valiant and C.B. Maroon. They leave to save Maroon Studios. Valiant sprays him and his weasels with the Dip-filled gag squirt gun, and before dissolving, "Maroon" reveals himself to be Doom.
The real C.B. Maroon announces he is reopening Maroon Cartoon Studios, and will be providing all the toon employees with work, including Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman with a line-up of new animated short films, starting with Tummy Trouble.
Animated shorts
Roger Rabbit was featured in a series of cartoon shorts following the popularity of the movie. These shorts were presented in front of various Touchstone/Disney features in an attempt to revive short subject animation as a part of the movie-going experience. These shorts include Tummy Trouble released in front of the blockbuster Honey, I Shrunk The KidsHoney, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
(this was also included on the original video release of the film), Roller Coaster Rabbit shown in front of the hit Dick Tracy and Trail Mix-Up shown in front of the Amblin produced A Far Off Place
A Far Off Place
A Far Off Place is a Walt Disney Pictures and Amblin Entertainment film from 1993, starring Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Randall, Jack Thompson and Maximilian Schell. The filming locations were in Namibia and Zimbabwe...
(starring a then unknown Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
).
Disney released Tummy Trouble in an effort to build up the Roger Rabbit character so he could be a draw in Disney theme parks and for merchandising. Paired with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, it took in $14 million (US) on opening weekend. It was the first cartoon short Disney had produced in 25 years to run with a feature film, since Goofy's Freeway Trouble in 1965. The short took 70 animators nine months to produce.
Tummy Trouble was produced at the main Walt Disney Feature Animation studio in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, while Roller Coaster Rabbit and Trail Mix-Up were produced at the satellite studio located at Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
.
In 1995, a VHS tape of the three shorts was released under the title It's Roger Rabbit, bundled with the Who Framed Roger Rabbit movie. A nearly identical video was released by itself in 1996 under the title Disney and Steven Spielberg present The Best of Roger Rabbit. The three shorts are also included in the 2003 special edition DVD of Who Framed Roger Rabbit released under
Walt Disney Studios Entertainment's Vista Series title.
Tummy Trouble
This is the first of three animated Roger Rabbit shorts, produced after the 1988 film, Who Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
. It was directed by Rob Minkoff
Rob Minkoff
Robert R. "Rob" Minkoff is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing the Academy Award–winning animated feature The Lion King ....
, executive-produced by Amblin Entertainment founders (Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Kathleen Kennedy
Kathleen Kennedy
Kathleen Kennedy may refer to:*Kathleen Kennedy *Kathleen Kennedy , American journalist, former news anchor for CNN Headline News*Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, sister of U.S. President John F. Kennedy...
, and Frank Marshall), and produced by Disney animator Don Hahn
Don Hahn
Don Hahn is an American film producer who has produced some of the most successful Walt Disney animated films of the past 20 years. He currently owns his own film production company called Stone Circle Pictures.-Early life:...
, who would later serve as the famous producer of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
in 1991. It was attached to the theatrical release of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
on June 23, 1989, and was also tied to that film in subsequent VHS releases.
Roger is placed in charge of watching Baby Herman when his mother needs to step out for an hour; as soon as she leaves, Herman breaks into a heavy crying fit which Roger doesn't seem to be able to break until he pulls out Herman's favorite rattle
Rattle
Rattle may mean*Rattle *RATTLE magazine, an American poetry journal*Bird-scaring rattle, a Slovene device used to drive birds off vineyards and a folk instrument*Ratchet , a percussion instrument*Death rattle...
, which immediately garners Herman's attention. After a brief second of shaking it, Herman swallows the rattle, prompting Roger to rush the baby to the emergency room. Roger is overcome with guilt when he visits but quickly realizes Herman wants to drink from a milk bottle in the room; after Roger burps Herman, he hiccups the rattle, but in Roger's joyous celebration he accidentally swallows it, causing Baby Herman to become upset he lost his toy. Roger begins to dance, his hips rattling with the toy and giving Baby Herman some amusement, but a doctor bursts in and mistakes Roger for Baby Herman and preps him for emergency surgery.
While he's gone, Herman spies Jessica Rabbit pushing a cart of milk bottles and gives chase, eventually following a runaway milk bottle into the emergency room where Roger is strapped to the table while the surgeons had disappeared for a lunch break. Herman mistakes a large surgical laser for a bottle and climbs up onto it, nearly dissecting Roger in the process. The laser detaches itself from the ceiling and flings a table of scalpel
Scalpel
A scalpel, or lancet, is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, and various arts and crafts . Scalpels may be single-use disposable or re-usable. Re-usable scalpels can have attached, resharpenable blades or, more commonly, non-attached, replaceable...
s at Roger, who avoids them, but is electrocuted in the process. The laser flies around the room and lodges itself under Roger's stretcher and he and Herman both eject from the emergency room, causing Roger to gag up the rattle and Baby Herman to again swallow it, before crashing into a wheelchair, they then fly down the hall and into an open elevator shaft due to wet floors causing the wheelchair they landed on to skid out of control. Baby Herman's diaper parachutes him safely to a floor while Roger ends up getting crushed by an elevator while trying to catch Herman. Eventually they end up in a room with piles of gas pumps which are ignited and the pair are launched miles into the air. As they fall, Herman coughs up the rattle and Roger swallows it again. As they crash back into the hospital, Roger crashes through several floors before landing smack down on the receptionist floor in the hospital. As he recovers, Baby Herman lands on Roger, causing him to cough up the rattle again, finally ending their adventure. But Roger's celebration is short lived when he sees the bill for their rampant destruction and passes out. Herman then crawls over to the rattle and as the screen fades to black there is a gulping sound as he again swallows the rattle.
An adaptation of this short appeared in the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom.
The cartoon characters that make cameo appearances in this short include: Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
, Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
(picture), the Three Little Wolves
Three Little Wolves (film)
Three Little Wolves is a Silly Symphonies cartoon. Released on April 18, 1936, and directed by Dave Hand. It was the third Silly Symphony cartoon starring the Three Little Pigs...
(portrait), The Mad Doctor
The Mad Doctor
The Mad Doctor is a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon which was released in 1933.- Plot :The plot centers on the title character, a mad scientist, Dr. XXX, who has captured Mickey's dog, Pluto...
(picture), and Droopy (as the elevator man).
Roller Coaster Rabbit
Rob MinkoffRob Minkoff
Robert R. "Rob" Minkoff is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing the Academy Award–winning animated feature The Lion King ....
reprises his role as director in this short, as well as Spielberg, Kennedy, and Marshall reprising their roles as executive producers. The short was released in 1990, Spielberg originally wanted the short to appear with Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia (film)
Arachnophobia is a 1990 American comedy horror film directed by Frank Marshall and starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. It was the first film released by Hollywood Pictures....
, Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures is one of The Walt Disney Company's several alternate movie divisions. Like Disney's Touchstone Pictures brand, it produces films for a more mature adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures.-History:...
's first feature and co-produced by Amblin, but this short would eventually be attached to the US theatrical release of Touchstone's Dick Tracy on June 15, 1990 at the insistence of Michael Eisner. It was also released in theaters in the UK with Toy Story
Toy Story
Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's first feature film as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely with CGI. The film was directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen...
in 1995, taking the place of a canceled Roger Rabbit short intended to be shown before that movie.
The second of the Roger Rabbit shorts features our hero at the fair with Baby Herman and Mrs. Herman (Baby Herman's mother). Baby Herman loses his red balloon and Roger goes to get him a new one. Before he returns, however, Baby Herman sees another red balloon at a dart game and goes to try to get it. When Roger comes back to give Baby his balloon, he finds that he is gone, and the chase begins. Firstly Baby Herman finds himself following the balloon into a field homed to a grazing bull. Roger soon follows the youngster. Baby Herman walks through directly underneath the bull, he notices a round balloon-like object and grasps it unknown to him that it was in fact the bull's scrotum. The grazing creature snaps, Roger picks up Baby Herman but just happens to be looking the bull in the eyes. The animal hurls Roger and baby into the air sending him flying out of the field and the two land crashing into a roller coaster carriage which is traveling slowly up. The next stage of this short the carriage continues to climb a tall hill in the track. The two reach the top of the drop which is exaggerated to reach beyond the clouds and into space. Roger looks down and sees the world. Moments later the carriage drops down thousands of meters. The speed of the drop is maintained throughout the remainder of the chase. After a few twist and turns (in the track) a shot of Jessica Rabbit appears where she is tied down to the tracks, unable to move. She calls out to be saved before Roger and Baby Herman's carriage crushes her. As the cart draws near, it topples over and fortunately bounces over Jessica avoiding her completely. The camera 'moves' along and beside her appears Droopy for a quick one-liner. The story then continues. Roger grasping onto Baby Herman, tumbling and losing their carriage leaving Roger sliding along the tracks with his feet, gradually gaining friction causing his feet to catch fire. The tracks run into a dark tunnel and then stumbles across a 'wrong way sign'. Finally Herman and Roger crash through the sign and into a real-life filming studio. A direct reference to the reality/cartoon cross-over in the feature film.
The cartoon characters that make cameo appearances in this short include: Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
(as a doll), Pinocchio
Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
(on a poster), Ariel (in silhouette on a poster), Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow is a Disney fictional character within the Mickey Mouse universe of characters. Clarabelle Cow was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends and is usually depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although she has also...
(as a psychic), and Droopy (dressed as Snidely Whiplash
Snidely Whiplash
Snidely Whiplash is the cartoon arch-villain to Dudley Do-Right in the tongue-in-cheek Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties segments of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show by American animation pioneer Jay Ward....
from the Dudley Do-Right
Dudley Do-Right
Dudley Do-Right, created by Alex Anderson, is the eponymous hero of a segment on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show which parodied early 20th century melodrama and silent film in the form of the Northern genre....
TV cartoons).
Trail Mix-Up
Trail Mix-Up, the third and last of the Roger Rabbit shorts, was attached to the theatrical release of Disney/Amblin's A Far Off PlaceA Far Off Place
A Far Off Place is a Walt Disney Pictures and Amblin Entertainment film from 1993, starring Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Randall, Jack Thompson and Maximilian Schell. The filming locations were in Namibia and Zimbabwe...
on March 12, 1993. This is also the first only short not to be directed by Rob Minkoff, but by Barry Cook instead (although Minkoff remained involved in the short, serving as a co-executive producer). The short features Roger Rabbit, Baby Herman and Mrs. Herman at the park setting up camp. Mrs. Herman plans to go hunting and leaves Roger in charge of watching Baby Herman. Trouble begins when Baby wanders off in the dangers of the forest and Roger has to go and save him, leading to multiple calamities such as Roger panicking at the sight of a bug and spraying so much insecticide (named Mink-Off) that many trees die. Later, Baby Herman follows a bee up to a beehive, and Roger tries to save him. The beehive falls on Roger's head, causing him to get stung multiple times. The bees proceed to chase him, so Roger runs into a lake, where he panics at the sight of a shark's dorsal fin (which is actually controlled by Droopy).
Later, Baby Herman follows a beaver (mistaking him for a dog), and Roger chases after them. Baby Herman follows the beaver up a pile of logs, and Roger follows, only to have the log that Baby and the beaver are on taken to the sawmill. This ends up with Roger being shredded by a sawmill (and the result is 13 tiny Rogers, which then join again into a regular-sized Roger, who follows Baby Herman (still following the beaver) onto a conveyor belt with logs.) It ends up with the logs being thrown down a log flume, eventually landing in a river. The log Roger, Baby and the beaver are on crashes into a bear, who ends up on the log. Then the four fall off a waterfall. Roger's head gets stuck in a twig sticking out of the waterfall, and he catches Baby Herman (holding on to the beaver), and the bear grabs onto Roger's legs. The combined weight rebounds, sending all four flying, landing on a large boulder.
The boulder proceeds to roll down a hill, knocking over a tree trunk (with the same sound effects as a bowling pin), and then flying off a cliff. Eventually, Roger, the bear, the log, the beaver, the boulder, and Baby Herman all land on top of Old Predictable Geyser in that order. Then, Old Predictable Geyser erupts, sending Roger, the bear, the log, the beaver, the boulder, and Baby Herman flying out of the studio, above Hollywood, before landing on Mount Rushmore, destroying it. Everyone is battered and beaten, and Baby Herman yells at Roger for destroying Mount Rushmore. Roger sticks a flag (made of his pants) in the ground and salutes, but then the Earth deflates.
The cartoon characters that make cameo appearances in this short include: Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
(as a bee), Tinker Bell from Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1953 film)
Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...
(as a bee), Evinrude from The Rescuers
The Rescuers
The Rescuers is a 1977 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on June 22, 1977. The 23rd film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film is about the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse organization headquartered in New York and shadowing...
(as a bee), The Genie from Aladdin (as a bee), Mr Magoo (as a bee), the boy from Off His Rockers (on a wanted poster), Bullwinkle J. Moose
Bullwinkle J. Moose
Bullwinkle J. Moose is a fictional character in the 1959–1964 animated television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, often collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle, produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott...
(as the moose on the chocolate moose box), Ariel from The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
(on a poster attached to a tree) and Droopy (as a scuba diver).
Video game
A video game with the same title, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, was released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment SystemNintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
by LJN
LJN
LJN was an American toy company and video game publisher. It created toy lines and video games based on movies, television shows, and celebrities. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and later in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.-Founding:...
. The NES version has received almost universally poor reviews. Another version was published by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, and was a completely different game. Yet another different game with the same title was released for personal computers such as Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, and DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
in 1988. There also exists a game with a different title Hare Raising Havoc
Hare Raising Havoc
Hare Raising Havoc is a side-scrolling puzzle adventure game developed by BlueSky Software in 1991 for the Amiga and DOS. Disney Software published the game. It is a spin-off of the 1988 Disney film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.-Plot:...
by BlueSky Software
BlueSky Software
BlueSky Software was an American software company situated in California formed in 1988 and had a successful run for 12 years before closing down in March 2001, when parent company Interplay was in financial trouble.- Atari 7800 :* Basketbrawl...
.