Who Framed Roger Rabbit(1988)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Jun 24, 1988 | Wide
When a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
Releases
Original Release | Jun 22, 1988
Original Release | Jun 24, 1988
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Box Office Results
Updated as of Apr 30, 2026 06:29 AM ET
All Releases (2)
$156,452,370
$173,351,588
$329,803,958
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Current Showtimes
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- Fri May 8
- Sat May 9
- Sun May 10
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Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States,United Kingdom
Language: English
Summaries
Plot Summary
- In 1947, cartoon characters, commonly called "Toons", are living beings who act out cartoons in the same way that human actors make live-action production. Toons interact freely with humans and live in Toontown, an area near Hollywood, California. Private detective Eddie Valiant, once a staunch ally of the Toons alongside his brother and co-worker Teddy, has become a depressed alcoholic following Teddy's murder by an unknown Toon five years earlier.R. K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) is the human owner of Maroon Cartoon studios. Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer) is a fun-loving Toon rabbit, one of Maroon's stars, Roger's wife Jessica (Kathleen Turner) is a gorgeous Toon woman and Baby Herman (Lou Hirsch) is Roger's costar, a 50-year-old Toon who looks like an infant. Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) is the practical joke-loving owner of Toontown and the Acme Corporation. Maroon is upset about the recent poor performance of his Toon star Roger Rabbit and believes that this might be because of Jessica's affair. Roger has already put the latest Baby Herman cartoon over-budget by $25,000Maroon hires private detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) to investigate rumors that Jessica is having an affair. Eddie and his brother Teddy used to be friends of the Toon community, but Eddie has hated them, and has been drinking heavily, since his brother Teddy was killed by a Toon a few years earlier. When Valiant claims he doesn't work in Toontown, Maroon tells him that Jessica performs at a club in Los Angeles called 'The Ink and Paint Club.' Valiant accepts the assignment for $100, of which Maroon pays $50 upfront, and the other half promised upon completion of the assignment.After watching Jessica perform at The Ink and Paint Club, Eddie secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake. Acme playfully squirts ink on Eddie's shirt, which infuriates the Private Eye, until it is revealed that the ink is 'disappearing ink.'Eddie shows the pictures to Roger, who becomes distraught and flees, refusing to believe Jessica was unfaithful. This makes him the main suspect when Acme is found murdered the next day. At the Acme Gag Factory, which is the crime scene, Eddie meets Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) and his Toon Patrol of weasel henchmen. Toon patrol includes their leader Smart Ass (David Lander), Stupid (Fred Newman), second in command Greasy (Charles Fleischer), Psycho (Charles Fleischer) and Wheezy (June Foray).Although Toons are impervious to physical abuse, Doom has discovered that they can be killed by submerging them in a mixture of chemical solvents Acetone, Benzene, and Turpentine he refers to as "Dip." He demonstrates this to Valiant by lowering a living cartoon shoe into a drum of Dip until it dissolves, leaving only a smear of paint floating on top.Roger's Toon co-star, Baby Herman, believes Roger is innocent and suggests to Eddie that Acme's missing will, which supposedly bequeaths Toontown to the Toons, may have been the killer's true motive. If the will is not found by midnight, Toontown will be sold to Cloverleaf Industries, which recently bought the Pacific Electric system of trolley cars. One of Eddie's photos shows the will in Acme's pocket, proving Baby Herman's claim.Eddie returns to his office and finds Roger hiding there. Roger insists he has been framed, and Eddie reluctantly agrees to help after finding evidence of Acme's will. Roger explains that after he got upset about the pictures, he went to the Ink and Paint Club to see Jessica. Not finding her in her dressing room, he wrote her a love letter on a piece of paper that was lying around. He waited for her to appear, but when the weasels showed up looking for him, he took the love letter and ran away. Eddie wonders just why Roger would come to him, seeing as how he took the pictures of Roger's wife. Roger explains because of Eddie's past career of helping Toons.Eddie hides Roger in a bar tended by his girlfriend, Dolores (Joanna Cassidy). She allows them both into a hidden room at the rear of the restaurant. She tells them that he believes that Acme's death was set-up by R.K. Maroon, and that Maroon wants to get control of Toontown. Eddie sends Dolores downtown to check the probate of Acme's will.After taking a shower, Eddie emerges to find Jessica has come into the office, asking for help finding Roger. Jessica tells Eddie that Maroon threatened Roger's career unless she posed for the compromising photos with Acme.Dolores shows up, and explains that Eddie's theory is incorrect. Maroon appears to have no intentions of obtaining Toontown. According to the probate, a company called Cloverleaf Industries put in a bid for the rights to Toontown, and at midnight, they will have ownership unless Acme's will turns up. It also happens that Cloverleaf Industries also recently claimed ownership of the Red Car Trolley Line.Eddie and Dolores return to the restaurant. Doom and the Toon Patrol find Roger, but he and Eddie escape with help from Benny, a Toon taxi cab. Sheltering in a local movie theater, Eddie sees a newsreel of Maroon selling his studio to Cloverleaf and finally makes the connection. Roger, who has grown perplexed at Eddie's attitude, asks what happened to turn him into such a 'sourpuss.' Eddie then explains that his partner and brother, Teddy, was killed by a Toon. Many years ago, while investigating a robbery at the First National Bank of Toontown, Eddie and Teddy were chasing a guy who dropped a piano on them from 13 stories up. The piano broke Eddie's arm, but killed Teddy. Eddie never did find out who the Toon was, except that he had 'burning red eyes' and a 'high squeaky voice.' Roger feels terrible about this, and sobs that Eddie is justified in his hatred of him and Toons.Eddie places a call to R.K. Maroon, telling him he has the will, as a way to get in to see the Studio Owner. Arriving at the studios, Roger is told to stay by the car.While Eddie goes to the studio to interrogate Maroon, Jessica abducts Roger. Maroon explains to Eddie that Cloverleaf will not buy his studio unless they can also buy Acme's gag-making factory. His plan was to use the photos to blackmail Acme into selling. Maroon then goes on to try and explain more, when suddenly gunfire erupts, and Maroon is wounded.Before Maroon can say more, he is killed by an unseen assassin and Eddie sees Jessica fleeing the scene. Thinking that she is the killer, Eddie pursues her into Toontown. After a series of madcap hi-jinks through the Toon city, Eddie finds himself in an alley, with Jessica pulling a gun on him. However, the bullet she fires streaks right past him. When she approaches, she points to a gun on the ground behind him. Apparently, Doom was planning to shoot Valiant, and her bullet saved his life.After saving Eddie from being shot by Doom, Jessica reveals her actions were to ensure Roger's safety and it was Doom who killed Acme and Maroon. Acme gave his will to Jessica for safety but, when she examined it, the paper was blank. Roger had disappeared from Jessica's trunk. Both Jessica and Valiant manage to thumb a ride from Benny, who helps them escape from Toontown.On the other side of the tunnel, Doom is waiting with a barrel of Dip, that ends up flattening Benny's tires, causing him to crash. Doom then has Eddie and Jessica taken to the Acme Factory.Eddie, Jessica, and Roger are captured by Doom and his weasels and held at the Acme Factory, where Doom reveals his plan. Since he owns Cloverleaf and Acme's will has yet to turn up, he will take control of Toontown and destroy it with a mobile Dip-sprayer to make room for a freeway, then force people to use it by dismantling the train fleet and make a fortune through a series of businesses built to appeal to the motorists.When Roger unsuccessfully attempts to save Jessica, the couple is tied onto a hook in front of the machine's sprayer. Eddie distracts the weasels by performing a comedic vaudeville act full of pratfalls, causing them to die of laughter before he kicks their leader into the Dip. Doom is flattened by a steamroller while fighting with Eddie, but he survives, revealing he is actually a disguised Toon and Teddy's murderer. Struggling against Doom's Toon abilities, Eddie empties the machine's Dip supply, spraying and dissolving Doom to death. The machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a passenger train.After Eddie manages to clear the Gag Factory's floor of dip, Roger and Jessica are lowered to the ground, just in time for Benny to return with the police, Dolores, and Lt. Santino. Eddie explains that it was actually Doom who killed Marvin Acme, as well as R.K. Maroon, and his brother Teddy.As Baby Herman complains their town is still in danger of being demolished by another developer, Delores notices a stain on Eddie's shirt, it appears that the ink that Acme squirted him with, according to Roger, was 'disappearing and reappearing' ink. Getting an idea, Eddie returns the love letter to Roger, who begins to read it. As Roger reads the letter, a number of words begin to appear, and Eddie's hunch is correct: The blank piece of paper that Roger found in Jessica's dressing room, was Acme's will, written in invisible ink, and as promised, the will gives ownership of Toontown to the Toons!Eddie, Dolores, Roger and Jessica then walk off towards Toontown, as a number of cartoon characters sing the song, 'Smile, darn you, smile!' Meanwhile, Porky Pig is among the Toon cops clearing the scene and realizes he has found a good line to end the story, "That's All, Folks!" as he addresses the audience just before Tinkerbell flies in to tap the scene in her own tradition to bring this unique film collaboration to a close.
Storyline
- 'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect. Groundbreaking interaction between the live and animated characters, and lots of references to classic animation. — Jon Reeves It's the story of a cartoon character named Roger Rabbit who exists along side of real humans. Eventually, it is revealed that Marvin Acme, the owner of the Acme Company and of Toontown, has been murdered! But all fingers point to Roger Rabbit, a Toon star at Maroon Cartoons. But unfortunately the only person who can prove Roger's innocence is Toon hating Eddie Valiant, a washed-up, alcoholic private detective who is reluctantly forced into helping when Roger hides in his apartment. It's up to Eddie to clear Roger's name and find the real evildoer before the villainous, power-hungry Judge Doom goes on a mission to bring Roger to justice! — Anthony Pereyra
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