Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Theatrical poster

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 comedy-fantasy film, produced by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it is a loose adaptation of Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf.

Cameos / References

• Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny make cameos in the Toontown scene in which they heckle a falling Eddie Valiant who is "jumping without a parachute".
• Daffy and Donald Duck appear as performers at the Ink & Paint club, having a piano duel. Daffy comments that this "would be the last time [he] worked with someone with a speech-impediment." A similar crack at Donald is made by Daffy in (Blooper) Bunny as well, when Daffy says "The next thing you know they'll stick me with three snot-nosed nephews", as well as one of the 1989 Warner Bros. Collection Catalog commercials featuring him.
• In one scene, Yosemite Sam is blasted out of Toontown with his rear end ablaze. Yelping, he extinguishes himself in a puddle of water. Later, a gun is shown with an engraving on its case saying "Thanks for getting me out of the hoosegow" signed by Yosemite Sam.
• Tweety makes a cameo in the Toontown scene, playing "widdle piddies" with Eddie's fingers, which are holding precariously onto a flagpole (a callback to the Merrie Melodies cartoon "A Tale of Two Kitties"). In addition, Eddie briefly says hi to Tweety in an amicable way.
• The film ends with Porky Pig saying, "Th- th-- th-- that's all, folks," a nod to the ending of various late-1930s & early-1940s Looney Tunes cartoons.
• Silhouettes of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner appear briefly as the elevator (maneuvered by Droopy) goes up. They later appear at the end of the film.
• The song "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile", which the Toons sing when Eddie Valiant first arrives in Toontown and also at the end of the picture, is featured in an eponymous 1931 Merrie Melodie, "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!" In the cartoon, the full song is not sung, while in the movie it is.
• At the beginning, when Eddie is walking around the Maroon Cartoon studio lot, Michigan J. Frog, Toro the Bull, Yoyo Dodo, George the Fox, and Bugs appear as extras in the background.
• Bugs, Sylvester, Daffy, Porky, Speedy, Road Runner, Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Wile E. Coyote, Tweety, a gray version of Marc Anthony, and Marvin the Martian all make cameos at the end of the film.
  • Elmer Fudd appears briefly in the background when the Toons react to Roger's hand-buzzing trick. He appears again during the final shot of the film as the crowd exits the scene. In these scenes, only part of his head and hunting cap show and has no dialogue.
  • Gracie the Kangaroo from "Pop 'Im Pop!" makes a cameo at the end of the film, viewed from the back, just as Porky Pig closes the movie. She is colored light brown in this film.
• Eddie startles R.K. Maroon by saying "What's up, Doc?", a reference to Bugs' famous line.
• The exchange between Eddie and Roger in the barroom is a callback to the "duck season/rabbit season" routine from "Rabbit Fire", "Rabbit Seasoning, and "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!"
• There are a few scenes where The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down (the main theme to the Looney Tunes) is performed. Roger sings the song with substitute lyrics while entertaining patrons at the bar and Eddie Valiant also sings to it in a later scene to make the Toon Patrol weasels laugh themselves to death.

Scrapped Cameos

• Witch Hazel appears in a brief cameo in the Toon Pig Head scene which got deleted from the final film.
• A deleted scene involving Marvin Acme's funeral would've featured Foghorn Leghorn as the preacher giving the sermon. Despite being cut from the final film, Joe Alaskey is still credited as voicing him in the end credits.
  • Among the Looney Tunes characters which were cut from the film altogether following this entire scene's deletion include Petunia Pig and Hippety Hopper.
  • Also scrapped from this same sequence is a scene of Bugs Bunny and his Disney rival Mickey Mouse sharing a car ride with famous moviestars Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart.
• Pepé Le Pew, Taz, Granny, Henery Hawk, and numerous others were also planned to appear, but did not appear in the final film

Parodies

• Tiny Toon Adventures - Roger, like Steven Spielberg himself, makes several cameos in the series, and is even impersonated by Babs Bunny. Another character, Jessica Rabbit is also impersonated by Babs.
• Duck Dodgers - In one episode, when Queen Tyr'ahnee sings the blues, her appearance resembles Jessica Rabbit.

Character Cameos Gallery

Donald and Daffy during the cartoon piano stage scene

Yoyo Dodo's cameo

Tweety is about to play This Little Piggy causing Eddie Valiant to fall (NOTE: Tweety is in his first design with modern colors)

Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny skydiving with a falling Eddie Valiant

"Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th That's all, Folks!" (NOTE: Gracie the Kangaroo is shown on the right, viewed from the back, in front of Butch the Irish Dog from the Tex Avery MGM cartoons)

Toro the Bull's cameo

Sylvester next to Woody Woodpecker, Gray version of Marc Anthony, Foghorn Leghorn and the bottom Marvin the Martian

Cameos by Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales

Elmer Fudd behind the Golden Harp

Witch Hazel's cameo in the deleted Toon Pig Head scene

Babs Bunny as Roger Rabbit

Roger Rabbit in Tiny Toon Adventures

Storyboard for the deleted Marvin Acme funeral scene. Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Petunia Pig, and Sylvester are shown in this storyboard

Storyboard for the deleted Marvin Acme funeral scene with Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn

Storyboard for the deleted Marvin Acme funeral scene with Foghorn Leghorn

Storyboard for the deleted Marvin Acme funeral scene with Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Duck, Hippety Hopper and other cartoon characters

Storyboard for the deleted Marvin Acme funeral scene with Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart

Storyboard of the piano duel scene with Daffy and Donald Duck. Illustrated by Mark Kausler

Storyboard of Daffy playing a piano during the duel scene. Drawn by Chuck Jones

Queen Tyr' ahnee's appearance here resembles that of Jessica Rabbit

Notes

• This is the only film in which Warner Bros. and The Walt Disney Company have had their characters appear together. With the possible exception of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, this collaboration is not likely to happen again, at least officially.
  • Some "lawyer-friendly" caricatures of various animated Disney movie characters occasionally made cameo appearances in various episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs for the sake of comical parody purposes, most notably the Animaniacs episode "Bumbie's Mom".
  • In addition, a "lawyer-friendly" version of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch made a cameo appearance in 2004's "Attack of the Drones".
  • The cast of Looney Tunes were also the subject of "lawyer-friendly" cameos in the 2022 Disney+ exclusive film Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Foghorn Leghorn and Henry Hawk appear on a frozen chicken box meal in Chip’s fridge while Elmer Fudd, Tweety Bird, and Yoyo Dodo are among the bootlegged Toons kidnapped by the villainous Peter Pan known as Sweet Pete, having been fused with other iconic cartoon characters to evade the copyright laws.
• The film contains themes pertaining to racial and ethnic discrimination, along with sexual content and murder references. It is said that the movie is an allegory for this as well as segregation of people based on race during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
• Although Mel Blanc reprised his role for most of the Looney Tunes characters in this film, he did not reprise his role as Yosemite Sam. Joe Alaskey replaced him for the role in this film. This is because Blanc at that time could no longer create yelling voices as they could strain his vocal chords due to his age.
• All of the characters from the Looney Tunes universe appear in certain model designs from certain classic cartoons in this film.
  • Bugs Bunny appears in different designs each from most of his cartoons in this film.
    • First, in the backlot of Maroon Studios, Bugs appears in his design from the earliest Tex Avery-directed cartoons from 1940-1941.
    • Next, in the skydiving scene he shares with Mickey Mouse from Disney, Bugs appears in his design from the earliest Bob Clampett-directed cartoons from 1941-1942.
    • And now, in the scene when an assortment of Toons rush into the ACME Warehouse to comment on the death of Judge Doom, Bugs appears in his finalized design from both the 1943-1946 Bob Clampett and the 1946-49 Robert McKimson-directed cartoons.
  • Daffy Duck appears in different designs each from most of his cartoons in this film.
    • First, in the piano duel scene he has with his Disney counterpart Donald Duck, Daffy appears in his design from the late-1930s-to-early-1940s Bob Clampett-directed cartoons.
    • And now, in the scene when an assortment of Toons rush into the ACME Warehouse to comment on the death of Judge Doom, Daffy appears in his finalized design from both the mid-1940s Bob Clampett and the mid-to-late-1940s Friz Freleng-directed cartoons.
  • Porky Pig appear in his design from both the mid-1940s Bob Clampett and the late-1940s-to-early-1950s Chuck Jones-directed cartoons.
  • Elmer Fudd appears in his design from the 1956-1961 Robert McKimson-directed cartoons.
  • Yosemite Sam appears in a design resembling his appearance in his debut cartoon "Hare Trigger", while still retaining the red shirt and blue pants from the 1950s cartoons.
  • Foghorn Leghorn appears in his design from the 1950s and onward.
  • Marvin the Martian appears in his design from "The Hasty Hare" and onward.
  • Tweety appears in two different designs each from most of his cartoons in this film.
    • First, in the Toontown scene, Tweety appears in a design resembling his appearance in his debut cartoon "A Tale of Two Kitties", while still retaining his yellow feathers.
    • Next, in the ACME Warehouse scene, Tweety appears in his finalized design from "Tweetie Pie" and onward.
  • Sylvester appears in his finalized design from "Tweetie Pie" and onward.
  • Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appear in their designs from mid-1960s Rudy Larriva-directed cartoons.
  • Speedy Gonzales appears in his design from his eponymous cartoon short and onward.
  • Hector the Bulldog, in his traditional incarnation, appears in his design from the early-1950s.
  • Sam Sheepdog appear in his design from his debut cartoon "Don't Give Up the Sheep".
  • Yoyo Dodo appears in his colorized design from "Dough for the Do-Do".
• If one looks closely, Hector is briefly seen holding a small bone in his right hand his two separate cameo scenes.
• MPAA Number: 29171

Video

Early unmade version of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" Paul Reubens, Darrell Van Citters, Disney 1983-0

Very early scenes of the film during development in 1983 which also used as a special feature from the Who Framed Roger Rabbit DVD.