AN IN-DEPTH AND PECULIAR STORY OF ROGER RABBIT

Briana Garland

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a cult classic film aimed at mature audiences and was the first hybrid film to successfully blend animation and live action. Although it was a box office success, the film depicts racism through its characters, particularly Roger Rabbit and Jessica Rabbit.

In order to fully appreciate the film, readers must first understand its origins. Gary K. Wolf is the author of the mystery book Who Censored Roger Rabbit? Disney and Amblin Entertainment later turned it into Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It was first released on June 6, 1981. The story's plot revolves around a typical whodunit mystery, with Eddie and Roger working together to decipher the mysteries that lie beneath this world of cartoons and men. Eddie describes the events in the movie as "a tale of money, sex, and murder."

The world that Wolf created is quite bizarre. It’s set in the modern day of the early eighties, where humans live side by side with Toons. These are a strange race of creatures that have been around as long as humanity can remember, even being present at the landing of the Mayflower. But the Toons in this world are very different from the Toons in the film. Here, the Toons primarily speak through physical speech bubbles, which float around them. They convey their emotions through the font and size of their words, forcing humans to read their every thought. By using tremendous willpower, Toons can suppress their word balloons and speak audibly, but few can actually accomplish this. They can also, under immense concentration, create duplicates of themselves that fall apart after a few hours called Dopels, which primarily serve as stunt doubles for the Hollywood Toons. Cartoons are incredibly resilient and entirely elastic—dropping safes on top of them won't do anything other than cause cartoon birds to tweet erratically about their heads and send swirling rings of color through their eyes. Typically, all they want is to smile and make people laugh. A Technicolor sing-along utopia called Toontown, which is not subject to the rules of physics and is only seldom visited by humans, is where they call home. They also have their own neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Both Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Los Angeles' transit networks are cleverly imagined parallel histories of the motion picture industry that created cartoon animation. And through all of this, a story about gentrification, neighborhood redevelopment, and urban planning power grabs is told, as is a story about class. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a dark and somber film about the marginalization of a class of people considered to be lower-class, despite its hand-drawn aesthetic, anti-gravity antics, goofy sound effects, and endless comedy. in Roger Rabbit, the Toons are unmistakably second-class citizens. The seductive animated woman Jessica, whose main gig is singing in front of a throng of hungry human males at a cabaret, is the best example of how their presence is only desired in the human world because it is entertaining; otherwise, it is excessive and inconvenient. When they're not entertaining, they spend their time in a tycoon-owned area that is unique to them and unstable as a result. It turns out that Marvin Acme left Toontown to the locals in his will, and Judge Doom has been looking for his will to revoke it and take control of the community.

The movie required brand-new techniques and technology that had never been used before, which was a significant bet for the studios. Although animation and live-action have previously been combined in movies like Pete's Dragon, Mary Poppins, or even when Jerry the Mouse danced with Gene Kelly, there had never been such a strong connection between the two until this picture. In addition to several incidents of humans grasping or otherwise physically harming the Toons, there was also the Toon Baby Herman holding a real cigar. In addition, there was also a Toon octopus tending a bar with real objects in each of its eight tentacles.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was first filmed as a live-action movie, and then the animators took over by adding Toons later. According to director Robert Zemeckis, this was the only way to make a live-action world in which animated characters also exist (“Weise, Cineblend.”) The animators had black and white prints of still frames from the film's principal photography, which they would lay beneath the paper they were sketching the animated parts onto when it came time to insert Roger Rabbit and other Toons into the live-action world of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In order to blend the animated components into the live-action sequences, the drawings were sent to the illustrious visual effects studio Industrial Light & Magic after being photographed one frame at a time (as is customary with hand-drawn animation). The 104-minute film required the inclusion of all 55 minutes of animated shots, which necessitated a convoluted post-production process that took roughly 14 months to complete. Roger Rabbit and company were able to maintain the same look and feel of vintage cartoons and still feel genuine in a three-dimensional world by rendering these two-dimensional creatures "2.5-dimensional," as Richard Williams put it.

Perhaps the most amazing feat that Who Framed Roger Rabbit is famous for (particularly by modern standards) is managing to include a number of well-known cartoon characters owned by various firms in a single film made by the Disney affiliate, Touchstone. Warner Bros. had one specific request, according to a 2018 piece in The Hollywood Reporter: that each of its legendary Looney Tunes characters be given equal screen time as Disney mainstays. Producer Steven Spielberg was able to secure the required permits for just $5,000 per character. The very appropriate pairings of Daffy Duck and Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse in their respective scenarios, it turns out, were driven by legal considerations.

Even though Roger Rabbit is only an animated creature, actor Charles Fleischer's portrayal of him brought his soul to life on the actual movie set (Oscars.org). All of the voice actors from the Who Framed Roger Rabbit cast were present to help give their characters an on-set presence, but only the stand-up comedian at the time best known from the A Nightmare on Elm Street cast) insisted on showing up in costume, as can be seen in behind-the-scenes footage from the Behind the Ears featurette. Fleischer's Roger Rabbit costume led some onlookers at the studio commissary to believe that this was how the character would seem on camera and that the movie was doomed to fail, even though this was just a character-building tactic.

According to Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston on Behind the Ears (Weise, CinemaBlend), Disney organized screenings of an incomplete version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit for test audiences that were primarily made up of 17- to 18-year-olds who left during the fully animated opening segment. The future Academy Award-winning director (who had final cut on the picture) did not let that deter him from leaving the film be and making no changes despite Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of Disney, telling him that he "saw [his] life flash before [his] eyes'' in response, according to Robert Zemeckis (Who Framed Me: The Belief of Robert Zemeckis). With a $70 million budget and a worldwide gross of more than $300 million, Roger Rabbit's potential for success was realized. It also earned Oscars for film editing, sound editing, and visual effects.

Despite being a fictional film, it depicts the realities of racism in Los Angeles and Hollywood. Individuals of color face discrimination at work and from the police, all of which contribute to their internalized oppression compared to Toons shown throughout the film. The Toons serve as a representation of a marginalized group in this film, showing how members of certain groups can become self-conscious due to internalized racism. The acceptance of harmful societal stereotypes and views about themselves by marginalized racial populations is known as internalized racism (Speight, 129). Judge Doom, Jessica Rabbit, and Roger Rabbit have all internalized stereotypes about cartoons and now think they are worthless. Humans make decisions for the Toons because they think they know what is right for them. Acme is another example of this since he is Toontown's human owner. Acme is in charge of Toontown because humans think that the Toons can't take care of themselves. The Toons' discrimination prevents them from having any kind of independence in their social and professional life. The Toons also seem to question Acme’s actions. At the end of the movie, the Toon Baby Herman asks, “If Acme was such a genius why didn’t he leave his will where we could find it?” Acme tried to be an ally to the Toons, but he still harmed this community. This exposes how allies to marginalized communities make mistakes when they do what they think is right instead of listening to the people who are oppressed (Velazquez, Podcast Transcription: Internalized Racism in Who Framed Roger Rabbit ).

Roger Rabbit allows Eddie Valiant, a private investigator, and the directors to mistreat him. The movie's opening establishes how Roger will be treated disrespectfully throughout. The director verbally humiliates Roger when Roger records a scene incorrectly by declaring, "I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about the refrigerator". In this case, Roger's life is devalued by the director's remarks. The director declares that Roger is only worth the price of a refrigerator because he ruined the scene. Roger then strikes himself in an effort to get the director's approval. The fact that Roger physically beats himself after taking the director's verbal abuse shows how low his self-worth is in this early scene. Roger has come to believe that Toons are only valuable when they are used to benefit humans. While Roger is treated unfairly at work, his superiors also want to have a say in his personal life by interfering in his marriage. To find out if Roger's wife is having an extramarital affair with Martin Acme, R.K. Maroon hires Eddie Valiant. Later, the audience learns that Jessica was made to lie about having a relationship. This indicates how neither Roger nor Jessica have control over their own lives.

Jessica Rabbit thinks she is wrong because of the way her cartoon form is depicted, in her opinion. The way she was drawn was so she could bring flirtatious appeal to male audiences to make a bigger profit as a Toon, ironically stating, "I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way." Jessica Rabbit experiences internalized persecution because of how she looks. Jessica has come to feel that her physique isn't the right shape. You don't understand how difficult it is to be a woman with my appearance, she informs Eddie. Jessica is perceived as cunning by everyone she meets due to her appearance. Eddie is shocked to learn that Jessica is Roger's wife and believes that she must be cheating on him. Although Jessica was coerced into staging a relationship with Maroon. Jessica took this action to defend Roger. Jessica wants to serve her husband in whatever way she can, disproving the claims of others that she is a promiscuous woman. Jessica experiences prejudice for being a Toon and a woman. Betty Boop also experiences this kind of prejudice. Due to her advanced years, Betty is no longer able to earn a living as a performer. This shows how Hollywood, and more notably the film business, treats women. Women lose all value to directors as they age. This reveals the tremendous expectations that are put on women. Although Betty and Jessica's appearance makes it possible for them to work as entertainers, it also causes discrimination against them because they are Toons and women.

The prejudices towards Toons are also on display when Roger is falsely accused of killing Acme. Although paint was discovered at the crime site, there was no proof that it came from Roger's gloves. Since Roger is a Toon, the police, who have already identified him as the murderer, don't take him seriously. The police's lack of assistance to marginalized populations is demonstrated in this film. Since the police don't treat the Toons fairly, they challenge them with a form of "racial" profiling. This Toon bias is used by Judge Doom, the real murderer who is actually a toon posing as a human, to keep people from suspecting him. Doom takes advantage of the unfavorable perceptions of Toons to have Roger falsely accused of murder. The fact that they are frequently treated with hostility when dealing with the police system illustrates the harsh reality that Black Americans and other people of color face in the United States. Doom, who has completely changed his appearance, wants to kill all the Toons since he doesn't value their lives. Discrimination becomes apparent in Roger Rabbit as those who experience it begin to feel inferior to society. Los Angeles and Hollywood are often seen as bright, idyllic places, but this film shows how oppressed populations are treated unfairly by powerful sectors. The film industry falls under this category.

Doom uses this newly acquired power to command other Toons, such as the weasels, while claiming to be human. Before becoming human, Doom had no control over anyone, but now that he is, he abuses that power against other Toons. Doom strikes and yells at the weasels while mistreating them. The weasel then turns violent toward other Toons as a result of this. This illustrates the cycle of violence that takes place in a community that is disenfranchised. As a result of seeking the kind of authority that is held over them, people of the same group may harm one another as a result of tyranny. Doom had to completely alter his personality once he began to pose as a human, including never laughing. Cartoon characters are typically thought to be stupid and careless. Doom altered himself to become a serious person after viewing Toons through human eyes. Doom, however, is still unsure of who he is since, at the conclusion of the film, he confesses to Eddie and the other characters that he is a Toon.

Doom's intention to destroy Toontown is motivated by his ambition to become a human. Toontown would be destroyed as part of Doom's plan to build a motorway that would connect to hotels and fast food restaurants. All of this was done to help people. Both Roger and Doom are driven to help people, but in order to accomplish so, they must make themselves less significant. Roger had to put up with his supervisors' verbal abuse. He must modify his Toon appearance for Doom. Because of their internalized oppression, Roger and Doom prioritize the needs of others over their own. This demonstrates how marginalized people must alter who they are in order to fit into the dominant culture. Doom's transformation also reflects his desire to be accepted by people. Doom decides to completely alter himself to avoid discrimination after witnessing it being experienced by the Toons. The actions of Doom also demonstrate how only people have authority in this society. Doom would never have been able to become a judge if he had been a cartoon character, but as a human, he did so rather swiftly. Doom destroys what is left of his toon life since he has grown to despise his toon self.

While the Toons can serve as a representation of people of color, Doom's decision to alter his look can show how people of color employ cosmetic procedures like plastic surgery or whitening products or other means to fit in with the prevailing white culture. In the essay "Skin Bleaching, Self-Hate, and Black Identity in Jamaica," it is discussed how the legacy of slavery contributes to skin bleaching. Skin bleaching, according to the text, "is the present evidence of the deeply ingrained and enduring psychological wounds of slavery in particular and colonization in general." Charles elaborates on the legacy of slavery and colonization, which has caused Jamaicans with darker skin to harbor a desire for lighter skin. Charles also explains how wealthy people in Jamaica tend to be white and have lighter skin tones. This is relevant to Doom since he is aware that Toons are underpaid and have lower positions in his society while Humans enjoy all the prosperity. Doom's urge to alter his looks shows that marginalized groups are psychologically impacted by discrimination. Doom is obsessed with money, which is what humans value. Doom murders people like Acme, Maroon, and Valiant's brother because he accepts the idea propagated by humanity that money is the most essential thing. This film is also a critique of capitalism, as the lives of others are valued less than financial gain.

As an example, minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality in American society. From the right to own land to the right to vote and further still the squelching of Jim Crow era segregation in the South. These advances are part of who we are as Americans, yet it seems they have not fully infiltrated the collective whole of American society. Despite the political rights and power that minorities have obtained, the supremacist ideologies and racist beliefs that were indoctrinated into the American psyche are just recently being reversed. However, these ideas that were ingrained in the mindset of Americans for so long have given way to a less conscious variant of segregation.

White Americans had populated the United States to a drastic amount, leaving other minority groups scarce. In the diagram at the bottom, more than 74% of White Americans make up the United States. The Dodgers frequently held spring training in the South, where African Americans were limited to subpar facilities. Jim Crow laws forced African Americans to adhere to a social code established by the white classes, keeping them in a state of constant social inferiority. Lynchings were prevalent and African Americans frequently faced threats of violence.

Digging deeper into the film's hidden themes and historical background, there is a prominent racial background that the film takes place in. While this is a fictional movie, it demonstrates the reality of racism in Los Angeles and Hollywood where people of color are underpaid in their jobs, and discriminated against by the police, and how this all leads to their internalized oppression. The film takes place in Los Angeles in 1947, which in the real world was the height of the Jim Crow laws. Throughout the film, Humans mistreat, belittle, and tend to separate themselves from Toons as they only see them as cash grab workers to pull in more profit; this is a similar comparison to how African Americans were treated and are stereotyped as lower class citizens with no respect. An example of this is when Roger messes up his lines and gets yelled at by his director. This is because he only cared about the Rabbit's talent, even saying that he was worried about the refrigerator more than Roger's safety. Characters like Roger Rabbit are treated harshly simply because they are cartoons. This is just as White people see African Americans as nothing but a joke.

As a result of the differences between humans and cartoon characters, they were relocated to a separate area called "ToonTown." Like minority communities, they were being exploited and had their homes taken away so the entire county could expand its vehicle transportation services. Another character in the film, Judge Doom doesn't hesitate to show his hatred towards Toons and has no remorse to stoop as far as killing them with his acidic concoction called "dip". His motives were to destroy Toon Town as well as its residents so that he could build a freeway. This will increase the financial prowess of the middle and upper classes in Los Angeles. Despite Judge being a Toon himself, he will resort to any lengths to have the freeway constructed, and Toon Town demolished. If we take Roger Rabbit's metaphors even more literally, we can consider Moses as a bad master of urban expansion through Doom and Toontown's excessive "cuteness," the utopian ideal of peaceful, walkable neighborhoods that the Jacobites envisioned. The valorisation of the ‘neighborhood’ feel of The Village in New York has led to its fetisization. This has led to an influx of investment, and a surge in property prices as these places become all the more desirable places to live.

A number of events took place in the past century that contributed to the demise of the alley. The primary role of alleys has traditionally been to hide the more unsightly functions of our communities; garages, garbage cans, transformers, electric meters, and telephone equipment. As well as narrowing lots and becoming a prominent feature in front of a home, they also contribute to pedestrian safety since vehicles and pedestrians are separated, providing additional access for firefighters, and creating a more casual neighborhood space adjacent to ensure new alleyways perform as intended. Zoning segregated land use in such a way that many of the alley’s uses were redirected to distinct and separate districts. As such, home designs began to feature front-loaded garages, allowing the automobile to be proudly displayed for all to see. Simultaneously, government spending focused on building high-speed roads and emphasizing home ownership, creating suburbs in lieu of cities. This suburban way of thinking about what communities should look like and how they should function was a shift away from compact, mixed-use development, causing alleys to be dismissed as costly wastes of space.

According to a recent YouGov Omnibus study, the majority of Americans think that there are enough white people in television and film roles (59%), while many people feel that there are enough male roles (47%). Fewer people are inclined to think that there are enough roles available for women (37%), Blacks (35%), Hispanics (23%), Asians (21%), and LGBTQ people (18%). White Americans had populated the United States to a drastic degree, leaving other minority groups scarce. In the diagram at the bottom, more than 74% of White Americans make up the United States. The Dodgers frequently held spring training in the South, where African Americans were limited to subpar facilities. Jim Crow laws forced African Americans to adhere to a social code established by the white classes, keeping them in a state of constant social inferiority. Lynchings were prevalent and African Americans frequently faced threats of violence.

One of the most compelling examples of this can be seen in the protagonist Eddie Valiant. Eddie resembles pretty much every cliché of a noir hero rolled up and put in a fedora. He was a police officer who later became a private investigator. He led a difficult life, drinking heavily and sharing a small flat with his employer. He has the typical tragic family history (his deceased brother), which counts as a two-for-one deal because his brother's passing also leaves him with a massive chip on his shoulder and a hatred for the Toons, the client he previously worked so hard to defend. Eddie's honor defines him despite all his trappings. Yes, he drinks, and he is not afraid to ride the back of a train like a rascally teenager. As far as work is concerned, he does it well. The classic noir style makes him despite cartoons, but a job is a job regardless of what they did to his brother. After a while, he learned to let go of his brother's memory. His death also taught him to stop blaming everyone. He is, however, defined by his sense of honor, a trademark of noir detective fiction. Roger's reaction to human alcohol is straight out of a cartoon; he becomes nuclear, boiling and shrieking like an alarm. Alcohol itself is an intriguing topic. The bunny reacts to real-world situations as though he's still in a cartoon. Does he have an allergy to human alcohol? And what practical use could that possibly serve other than keeping cartoons funny all the time, even when they're not supposed to? Roger only benefits from coincidence, after all. And about halfway through the movie, he tells Eddie, "My entire mission in life is to make people laugh." just because it is.

Disney felt confident enough in the project at the time—and in Walt Disney Animation to pull off the ambitious fusion of live-action and animation—to promote it on the Disney Channel's pay-cable equivalent, which was admittedly smaller. However, this was 1983. The studio had almost no creative leadership, and there were persistent reports that the entire animation section would be shut down. Spielberg was also pivotal in the key area of securing the rights to several animated characters thanks to a sweetheart agreement with Warner Bros, Fleischer Studios, King Features Syndicate, Felix the Cat Productions, Turner Entertainment, and Universal Studios, "lending" the characters to Spielberg for a small fee and, occasionally, some bizarre stipulations. (For instance, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny had to say the same number of words in their dialogue. Watch it again and count. It's true.) Harvey Comics wouldn't allow Spielberg and Disney to use Casper, which must have been a crushing blow to the production, considering an incredible (but ultimately too-complicated) sequel set at Marvin Acme's funeral, where the Friendly Ghost makes an appearance. (Bluto, Elmer Fudd, Herman the Mouse, Felix the Cat, Goofy, Popeye the Sailor and Yosemite Sam were all pallbearers.) Spielberg and Zemeckis also persuaded Industrial Light & Magic to help out with the visual effects. And while only one attraction based on Who Framed Roger Rabbit actually opened (Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, in Disneyland in 1994 and Tokyo Disneyland in 1996), there were plans for much more.

In Imagineer Kevin Rafferty's recent book Magic Journey, he reveals that an entire Cartoon Studio land was proposed for Disney-MGM Studios with Baby Herman's Runaway Baby Buggy Ride ("a Mr. Toad-like dark ride romp in a baby-buggy vehicle"), Roller Coaster Rabbit ("an indoor/outdoor gravity coaster"), and a "simulator-based attraction" Rafferty refers to as Toontown Transit, the "anchor attraction" for the land that centered on a fictional character, a bus named Gus who dreamed of stardom. (At the same time, Rafferty was also working on Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers, an attraction that was announced on "The Disneyland Story," a 1990 episode of The Magical World of Disney hosted by Harry Anderson, as being part of what was being referred to as the Disney Decade.

It was supposed to open in 1996. It didn't. According to Rafferty it was "just too complicated and expensive to justify." None of those projects ever saw the light of day, but if they had, Spielberg would have had to sign off on them. Plans for an ongoing franchise were soon in place once Roger Rabbit proved to be a success. But since then, we've only seen three animated short films, produced between 1989 and 1993, featuring Roger and his companions. However, a Roger Rabbit 2 was secretly being worked on for years; the fact that the ambitious sequel was never released was largely due to strained relations between Disney and producer Spielberg. Disney had promised a Roger Rabbit sequel by 1992. However, production couldn't start right away because Steven Spielberg was preoccupied with Hook, and Robert Zemeckis was buried in his two Back to the Future sequels. Spielberg made a shaky beginning by hiring J.J. Abrams, a 23-year-old unknown writer, to pen a script.

Steven Spielberg may not have had faith in this strategy, but Disney undoubtedly did. Early in the 1990s, Spielberg began work on Schindler's List, and after learning about the Holocaust's crimes, he had a different perspective on the use of Nazis as antagonists in lighthearted entertainment (as he had in the Indiana Jones movies). Spielberg had to approve any new artistic endeavors using Roger Rabbit, which he refused to do for The Toon Platoon.

Both Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Los Angeles' transit networks are cleverly imagined parallel histories of the motion picture industry that created cartoon animation. And through all of this, a story about gentrification, neighborhood redevelopment, and urban planning power grabs is told, as is a story about class. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a dark and somber film about the marginalization of a class of people considered to be lower-class, despite its hand-drawn aesthetic, anti-gravity antics, goofy sound effects, and endless comedy. In Roger Rabbit, the Toons are unmistakably second-class citizens. The seductive animated woman Jessica, whose main gig is singing in front of a throng of hungry human males at a cabaret, is the best example of how their presence is only desired in the human world because it is entertaining; otherwise, it is excessive and inconvenient. When they're not entertaining, they spend their time in a tycoon-owned area that is unique to them and unstable as a result. It turns out that Marvin Acme left Toontown to the locals in his will, and Judge Doom has been looking for his will to revoke it and take control of the community.

Since the system prevents some ethnic groups from achieving upward mobility in the first place, most low-class neighborhoods are also home to non-white people, it is obvious that neighborhood destruction and urban development programs that target low-class communities are essentially racist as well. At the terrible price of everyone else, city planning exists to make such locations more comfortable and accessible for classes that are both "upper" and "white." It's common for noir that examines extensive city policies to highlight how racism plays a part. In Chinatown, for instance, the oppression of the Los Angeles Chinese American community is a hidden, underlying theme that bubbles up beneath all the interpersonal conflict between the wealthy white people who make up the theme's main cast to suggest a history of subjugation that extends even further than the corruption the main detective is investigating.

It's important to note that while Roger Rabbit's noir-coating makes it possible for it to invoke these themes, the movie itself does not appear to make an argument about how race is inherent to these laws, which seems to be a good thing in this case because, in order to do so, it would have to problematically allegorize L.A.'s uprooted POC communities as non-human cartoons. The Toons of Roger Rabbit finally exhibit a certain whiteness—not just in the caricature Jessica, who is blatantly white, but also in their historical context as products of a hegemonic imagination and a Hollywood that is mostly white. Notably, while being animated multiple times, George Herriman's Krazy Kat cartoon strip, which ran from 1913 to 1944 and commented more thoroughly on race in America (in part because of Herriman's own identity as a white-passing black man), is not one of the Toons in Roger Rabbit.

The 1940s Los Angeles environment in Who Framed Roger Rabbit was gritty and dark noir, like a standard mystery film. It depicted the city's gritty side through the use of shanty houses, Toon bars, and alleys, while contrasting it with brightly colored buildings and streets. Horses were allowed to walk on cobblestone streets to prevent their hooves from being irritated by cement or other ground materials. Originally collected from riverbeds, they are strong, natural materials that are rounded by the flow of water. For road paving, cobblestones once proved ideal when bound with mortar or buried in sand. It was impossible for streets to develop ruts due to the strength of cobblestone. Freezing would not crack the surface since it remained flexible. In addition, any normal movement on the road would not result in the stones cracking. When it rained or when it was dry, cobblestones kept a road from getting muddy or dusty. Stones could be easily dug up and replaced if they needed to be replaced for any reason.

By portraying its cartoons as a sort of alternate anthropomorphized species (creatures living in their own particular ecosystem, one which is threatened by human greed) in a world where race doesn't really exist, Roger Rabbit largely avoids these more difficult issues while excoriating the social destruction inherent to capitalism without going into great detail about its specific victims. That the Toons will collectively own their neighborhood and that the cable car system's destroyer has been vanquished are essential to this happy ending; they will be shielded from eviction and disenfranchisement, and the preservation of their neighborhood will also help preserve mass transit in Los Angeles, preventing Los Angeles from merely serving the elite. All of Los Angeles' citizens will now receive service.

In the 1970s, there were approximately four times as many male cartoon characters as female cartoon characters. Male cartoon characters continue to dominate female cartoon characters by a ratio of roughly four to one, according to research that was presented at the American Psychological Association's (APA) 105th Annual Convention in Chicago. Male characters are still frequently presented as domineering, strong and violent. There is absolutely no "character" in feminine characters. Pepe Le Pew, a skunk, was the figure who caused the greatest uproar. Many people thought Pepe Le Pew encouraged sexual harassment. The backlash against this character grew to such an extent that Warner Brothers decided to eliminate Pepe Le Pew's scene from Space Jam: A New Legacy and remove him from any upcoming ventures. Characters like Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam, who are no longer permitted to use firearms, have also undergone changes (Cavna 2021). The issue of media censoring is a significant one in media literacy.

These scenarios raise the questions of whether the indignation was warranted, whether the removal of these problematic personalities would address the broader societal problems. Also, these issues have been exacerbated or caused by these problematic characters. All of these issues are subject to discussion and individual opinion. While we cannot undo the harm that has already been done, these incidents can serve as a lesson in how media companies should be more racially and socially sensitive.

Another technique is the typical righteous policeman/bad cop duo, which is best shown in Touch of Evil. Both Eddie and Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) are supposed to speak for the police, but Judge is totally dishonest and only looks out for himself. The judge has a group of thugs doing dirty work for him, armed with firearms and cigarettes. Even their threats are remarkably similar to one another. For instance, "Step out of the line and we'll hang you and your clothing to dry" appears in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In a similar vein, Polanski tells Giddis in Chinatown as he slices his nose, "Next time you lose the whole thing. I'll snip it off and give my goldfish the leftovers. Film noir concepts are also depicted in the "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" main narrative. For instance, the lead character (in this case, Roger Rabbit) was falsely accused or used, just like in Lady from Shanghai, Double Indemnity, and The Touch of Evil. Additionally, much like most of the movies we watched, the entire plot focuses on power, money, and control: Acme was killed so that a corrupt man would rule ToonTown. Of course, Mulvey, the femme fatale, instigates our scopophilia and causes Roger Rabbit to get distressed.

Roger in particular acts as if they are conscious of an audience outside of the diegesis, and they adjust their actions to amuse that audience. When Valiant enters Toontown, the surroundings and the inhabitants seem to be engaged in a continuous cycle of vividly colored comedic routines, as if the meaning of their very existence is derived from the performer-audience interaction rather than from Valiant or anyone else in the diegesis. When Valiant first enters the Maroon Cartoon backlot, we witness well-known characters doing sight gags in the backdrop, including Dumbo, Michigan J. Frog, the brooms from Fantasia, and others. This is a required scene for any film having a scene on a studio lot.

Curiously, there is no indication that the Toon is trapped in a one-way contract of indentured servitude or slavery to the humans in the drama, or that this condition constitutes forced servitude. The creators of the cartoons or how they live and interact with the three-dimensional world are not mentioned in the movie (though the formula of Dip, a substance designed to kill Toons, includes chemicals typically used as paint thinner, suggesting the Toons have been painted). Despite the evidence shown on screen, the Toon appears to live for us, yet most of the characters in the film are shown as innocent.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a tightly constructed classic noir script, despite its numerous modifications. Every line of dialogue sets up a later story point or humorous reward, and every visual cue has a purpose later on in the movie. The writing also establishes separate characters within its noir framework. The vivacious, kind-hearted comic relief is Roger. Doom is a dreadful authority figure who wears all-black clothing to conceal the terrible, homicidal, high-pitched Toon that lurks beneath. One of them, Jessica Rabbit, is the most well-known. She is a self-aware red herring and femme fatale ("I'm not bad," she says, "I'm just drawn that way. Jessica continues to be the subject of extensive analysis in Who Framed Roger Rabbit because of her unusual portrayal as a two-dimensional sexpot who captures the attention of both humans and cartoons.

While earning over $150 million at the U.S. box office, Who Framed Roger Rabbit has received mixed reviews from critics since its release. These reviews are typically followed by discussions about the production's technical success and entertainment value. These were followed by a thorough analysis of how the movie handles the interaction between the human and Toon worlds. Its technique and plot were praised by Roger Ebert as "not only wonderful entertainment but a milestone in workmanship." Janet Maslin lauded how Zemeckis takes "thrilling steps into another world" that "must be seen to be believed" in The New York Times.

With the release of Roger Rabbit: The Toon Platoon, a more detailed picture of the Roger Rabbit sequel emerged. This project would, in a brilliant move, draw inspiration from the flood of World War II propaganda shorts produced by animation studios (including Disney) in the 1940s by integrating Roger Rabbit and other cartoons combating the Nazis. This prequel held a lot of promise for original sight gags, amusing throwbacks, and giving something totally different from its predecessor because it was more of a war movie than a neo-noir. Everything appeared to be going smoothly. However, the producer Steven Spielberg's criticisms caused this sequel to stumble. Spielberg has great influence over whatever film he ties his name to in the post-Jaws era, even if it's just as an executive producer. But he had a particularly big impact on the first Roger Rabbit movie, which was heavily owned and creatively directed by this director. In return, Spielberg would use his influence to ensure that legendary cartoon characters from competing studios appear in a Walt Disney Pictures production, which would be advantageous for Disney.

However, when Disney executives determined that this new Roger Rabbit prequel would differentiate itself from its predecessor by using computer animation rather than hand-drawn techniques, more issues arose. Who Discovered Roger Rabbit? had a significant change with this. But it had an influence as well because it increased the movie's budget even further. Who Discovered Roger Rabbit? was killed after it became apparent how expensive it would be to put this production together, not to mention rising anxiety about how long it had been since the first movie. After that, the movie lingered as an uncertain possibility for many years, but it never gained any real momentum. A sequel to the movie was formally ruled out in March 2003, according to Don Hahn, who partly attributed this to how significantly the pop cultural landscape—particularly the place of animation in the larger entertainment industry—had changed since Who Framed Roger Rabbit? released in 1988. He added that none of the prequel concepts had ever been sufficiently compelling to support the decision to produce a new film set in this universe.

According to Roger Rabbit, happiness can only be found via cooperation, sharing, and communal life. At the end of the day, the movie realizes that ensuring the well-being of residents is very, very serious business. This is the lesson for viewers to apply to real life. The main takeaway from Roger Rabbit is that, much like how cartoons aren't subject to Newtonian physics, so are movies. And films will always substitute for the hope and joy that we are unable to experience in real life. You see, Roger Rabbit is unmistakably non-noir in its specific brand of optimism. However, it has hope in cinema rather than mankind. Roger Rabbit thinks that, just as movies can show us the impossibly physical interaction between real people and cartoon characters (Inglorious Basterds and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood), they can also give us the happy endings we don't get in real life. This is similar to how recent Quentin Tarantino films that rewrite history (Inglorious Basterds and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood) do it. Neighborhoods, public transportation, and essentially the entire soul of Los Angeles are saved by movies, and particularly by cartoons, the most delightful forms of films.

Research

Wiese, Jason. 2021. “Who frame Roger Rabbit: 10 behind the scenes facts about the movie.” Cinema Blend. https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/who-framed-roger-rabbit-behind-the-scenes-facts-about-the-movie

Velazquez, Celia. 2020. “Student Podcast Transcript.” https://library.csun.edu/virtual-exhibit/LAFR/documents/transcripts/celia_velazquez_podcast_transcription.pdf

Charles, Christopher A. “Skin Bleaching, Self-Hate, and Black Identity in Jamaica.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 33, no. 6, 2003, pp. 711–728.

Rutigliano, Olivia. 2020. “On Class, capitalism and Urban Planning in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Crime Reads. https://crimereads.com/roger-rabbit/

Gundareva, Alesia. 2010. “Caricature of Film Noir in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Fear, Anxiety, and Paranoia. https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/eng3940h/2010/02/26/caricature-of-film-noir-in-who-framed-roger-rabbit/

Eggert, Brian. 2021. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Deep Focus Review. https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/who-framed-roger-rabbit/

No Author. “Roger Rabbit 2” scrapped WWII-set prequel had big twist” 80s Kids. https://www.eightieskids.com/why-roger-rabbit-2-never-happened/

Arbeiter, M. 2018. “15 Things you might not know about who framed Roger Rabbit” Mental Floss.https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62910/15-things-you-might-not-know-about-who-framed-roger-rabbit