In his swan song, Mel Blanc voices Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, and Sylvester the Cat, ending his Looney Tunes career on a high note. note At least his theatrical career. Technically, his last performances as the Looney Tunes was the "Bugs Bunny's Wide World of Sports" TV special.
Charles Fleischer voices not only Roger Rabbit but Benny The Cab and the Toon Patrol's Greasy and Psycho.
Christopher Lloyd came up with the idea of Judge Doom never blinking to foreshadow the fact that he's wearing fake human eyes.
The cheek-quiver ("P-p-p-p-please!") and the lisp in Roger's voice were Charles Fleischer's ideas, a sort of tribute to all the other famous toons with speech impediments; he didn't think he'd be allowed to keep both of them.
Blooper: In the scene where Eddie Valiant first notices Acme's will, Jessica Rabbit has a very Off-Model appearance in the newspaper◊ and photographs, where she is wearing a different dress and has a more modern art style. Compare this with the earlier scene in Maroon's office where Eddie shows Roger the photos, which correctly depict Jessica's appearance. Presumably, the former scene was filmed before Jessica's design was finalized, and was not reshot or edited in post to correct this.
California Doubling: It's set in 1940s Los Angeles, but most of the movie was actually filmed in England. The scene where Eddie enters Toontown, however, was shot at the Griffith Park tunnel, also used in Back to the Future Part II and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, among other films. The interior of the tunnel in this film was a model, as the real tunnel is rather short. In addition, the exterior of the former Desilu Studios was used as that of Maroon Cartoons. The area outside of Eddie's office is Hope Street in L.A. Eddie, Roger, and Benny almost crash into the Hyperion Bridge.
Cast the Runner-Up: In addition to voicing Baby Herman, Lou Hirsch was the original voice for Benny the Cab, but was replaced by Charles Fleischer.
Known in France as Qui veut la peau de Roger Rabbit, i.e. "Who Wants the Skin of Roger Rabbit" (an informal expression for wanting to kill someone — turned into a pun on Roger's presumed pelt).
The Hungarian title is also a pun: Roger nyúl a pácban means Roger Rabbit in Trouble but "nyúl pác" also means "marinated rabbit".
Chuck Jones received a credit as "animation consultant", but disavowed the movie for the rest of his life, complaining that there was something wrong with a movie where the live-action hero got more sympathy than the animated-cartoon star did. He called it an obnoxious, witless misunderstanding of the old cartoons it set out to honor, and he even accused Robert Zemeckis of robbing Richard Williams of any creative input — and for apparently ruining the piano sequence that he and Williams had planned together.note That being said, The Other Wiki claims that some of it is due to Daffy acting like his old screwball self, à la Bob Clampett, instead of the greedy Jerkass, Fake Ultimate Hero that Jones made him into; Jones, who apparently wasn't a fan of Clampett's, was angry to have all the Character Developmenthe put into Daffy completely undone.
Disney Legend Andreas Deja (later known for animating such memorable villains as Gaston, Jafar and Scar) is not quite fond of the scene he animated of Roger telling Eddie how he got in his office, because the mattress depresses earlier before Roger actually jumps on it.
Creator's Favorite: Richard Williams fell in love with the character of ("adult") Baby Herman, and insisted on animating practically every frame of this character himself.
Cut Song: According to IMDb.com, the song that was going to be used as the movie's musical finale in an early script that had Roger die during the final shootout between Eddie Valiant and the DeGreasy brothers was "The Lazarus Heart" by Sting (though the song was written in tribute to Sting's late mother), before the studio changed the ending to have Roger live. The song would ultimately end up on Sting's second studio album, ...Nothing Like the Sun, released a year before the film.
Darkhorse Casting: Though comedian Charles Fleischer had previously worked as both a live action and voice actor, he wasn't a star in either field when he was cast as Roger Rabbit along with a few additional voices.
There was originally a scene where Eddie visits Jessica's dressing room, only to be captured by the Toon Patrol and taken to Toontown, where he has a pig's head "tooned" onto his own. This is why he's seen without a shirt on when Jessica visits him, as he was showering it off. See it here.
There was also one where Eddie snuck backstage after the piano duel between Donald and Daffy, where it was shown that the fight was All Part of the Show.
Richard Williams, the film's animation director, is also the voice of Droopy.
The creators sneaked another Easter Egg of themselves into an earlier scene. Roger Rabbit's wallet contains a picture of him with Jessica at the Brown Derby, an old Hollywood restaurant instantly recognizable by the hat-shaped lampshade and the framed caricatures on the walls. The pictures behind them (with the exception of Roger and Mickey Mouse) are all members of the production team, including Bob Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, and Richard Williams.
Development Hell: Disney got the rights to the book in 1981 and started doing test screenings between 1981 to 1983. Then President of Disney, Ron Miller, thought this could be a major blockbuster for the studio after earlier failings. Robert Zemeckis tried to direct but Disney passed on him at the time due to two major box office bombs at the time. Between this time, Roy E. Disney went to try and get the rights to the other cartoon characters but was laughed out of the office or the companies were asking for way too much money. It wasn't until Michael Eisner became CEO of Disney in 1985 that the project was completely redone. Eisner also brought on board Steven Spielberg and his production team, Amblin Entertainment, which Spielberg also brought along Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. It was also at this time that Robert Zemeckis was asked to direct as Zemeckis now had a few hits under his belt.
Directed by Cast Member: In the Latin American Spanish dub, Juan Alfonso Carralero was the ADR director as well as the voice of Roger Rabbit, Benny the Cab, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Woody Woodpecker.
The original Brazilian dub (which apparently had actors chosen by Spielberg himself) has not been issued since the VHS, with a redub that first appeared in the TV premiere being the primary one ever since.
There's also two Japanese dubs: One for theatrical and home-video releases and and another one for use in-flight on airlines, each one with their own set of voice actors. Curiously enough, Kei Tomiyama, who was Bugs Bunny's official voice actor in Japan at the time, did not reprised the role in the first version, but he reprised the role again in the second one.
Warner Brothers only allowed Disney to use their iconic characters if they got exactly the same amount of screen time as Disney's, hence the Donald Duck/Daffy Duck duel, and the Mickey Mouse/Bugs Bunny scene. The two Ducks' piano duel ends in a draw, with it being unclear who even started the fight, and Bugs and Mickey both try to dissuade Eddie from taking the spare because it's not a spare parachute but a spare tire. Disney, in turn, had their own demand: that it would be Bugs who, in the end, gave Eddie 'the spare'. Similarly, note that Porky Pig and Tinkerbell share the last bit of the movie.
Warner Brothers would also only allow their characters to their 1980s design where Disney wanted the characters in their 1940s design. To get around this mandate, the animator who worked on the Looney Tunes characters created two versions, one in their 1980s style to show the executives and one to be placed in the movie. Warner Brothers didn't find out until the movie was released.
A persistent rumor also claims that the reason the film's title has no question mark at the end of what is presumably a question (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) is that the executives vetoed it after a focus group came back with results suggesting that audiences were wary of movie titles containing overt questions.
Suffolk-born Bob Hoskins tries to sound Californian, but comes off more like a New Yorker (at least he does a good job at it, aside from a few small slip-ups).
Also, Whitechapel-born Alan Tilvern as movie mogul R.K. Maroon.
Oxfordshire-born Richard Ridings as the barfly Angelo.
In one scene Jessica flies off the car and her skirt goes up a bit, briefly revealing that she went commando. The German TV version is probably the only print in the world that has the original version of that scene (and the original scene of Baby Herman sticking his finger out while walking underneath a live-action woman's skirt and gazing up it lecherously. The new version keeps the scene in, but digitally removes the finger). The older versions are out of print.
The original theatrical cut shows Betty Boop's dress falling low enough to see her nipples for one frame. It was also going to be on the original VHS release, however the story came out by Spielberg during an interview. Disney recalled all of the tapes and altered the scene in all future releases.
Method Acting: Charles Fleischer requested a full-body Roger Rabbit costume to wear as he fed his lines to Bob Hoskins off-screen to help stay in character. He reportedly got picked on a lot by the animators working on The Great Mouse Detective at the time, who assumed that the 'toons were all just going to be actors in shabby costumes.
Missing Trailer Scene: There's a small bit of dialogue between Eddie and Smartass not featured in the film, but shown in the trailer and a Making of documentary:
Smartass: Where's the rabbit? Eddie: You mean the one with the buck teeth and the orange pants and the clodhopper feet? Smartass: Yeah. Eddie: Haven't seen 'im.
In the film, after Smartass asks "Where's the rabbit?", Eddie simply says, "Haven't seen 'im."
Non-Singing Voice: For Jessica, who was voiced by Kathleen Turner, but in the musical number was performed by Amy Irving (Steven Spielberg's wife at the time). In an amusing twist on the trope Turner is the one who wasn't listed in the credits while Irving was.
On-Set Injury: Bob Hoskins claimed that he was so badly bruised during the making of the film that his wife wouldn't let him take his shirt off on their holiday in case people would think she was abusing him. He also broke a few of his ribs during the scene where he is thrown out of the "Ink and Paint Club".
Orphaned Reference: Eddie scolds Roger for dancing for the bar patrons and potentially blowing his cover while "I'm out there risking my neck for you". It's a fairly generic line, except that the immediate events don't warrant it; Eddie went from leaving Roger in the hidden room at the bar straight to his office, where he meets Jessica, and then back out to find Roger dancing. The line makes more sense when one considers the deleted scene (included in the comic version) that would have followed Roger's drop-off, where Eddie is caught snooping in Jessica's dressing room by Judge Doom and is sent to Toontown, where he is given a "tooneroo", a toon pig painted on top of his head. He goes back to his office to wash it off, which then segues to his encounter with Jessica.
Because Mel Blanc was in his late 70s during production, he was no longer able to properly perform the voice of Yosemite Sam, which was provided by Joe Alaskey.
Cherry Davis replaced Grace Stafford as the voice of Woody Woodpecker.
Playing Against Type: Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom. This one of the few movies where he plays a truly evil and ruthless villain, although this was made around the same time as most of those other films.
Pop-Culture Urban Legends: The script was not a discardedChinatown sequel (specially as the official follow-up to it, The Two Jakes, came out two years after Roger Rabbit), though the writers admit they had a strong influence from Polanski's film.
Suffice to say, a lot of young people wanted to become animators after this movie.
Betty Boop also had a brief revival in her popularity thanks to this movie.
Role Reprise: In addition to Mel Blanc and the Disney characters, the most notable role reprise was Mae Questel, who at 78 years old was somehow still able to do the voice of Betty Boop. Still Got It, indeed.
A sequel has been stuck in development hell long enough to see both the rise of computer animation as a dominant medium and the downfall of traditional feature animation in the United States, so that it's safe to assume it's not going to happen at this point. The passing of Bob Hoskins doesn't help. It's one of the most financially successful movies ever made to not receive a sequel. note Not the most, since both E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Titanic (1997) both made more–though in the latter's case, a sequel would obviously be close to impossible. And yes, Gone with the Wind did get a sequel. That said, there have been other non-movie works about Roger, including comic books, video games, and sequels to Gary K. Wolf's original book.
Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Disney made a push to turn Roger into their next big character, with him prominently appearing in theatrical shorts, television specials, and comics, as well as having a notable presence in the Disney parks. However, this ended as Disney ran into legal issues with Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment, who co-owned the the film's characters and had to approve any new production that featured them. Additionally, the emerging Disney Renaissance meant that the company had a slew of new and popular characters that they could promote instead. Roger has been acknowledged in later Disney films like Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) and Pinocchio (2022, Disney), but was left out in the studio’s Milestone Celebration short Once Upon a Studio.
Likewise, in the Japanese dub, this would the last time Kei Tomiyama would do the same, at least with Bugs Bunny in the in-flight version, before his death at 1995.
All of the voice actors performed off-camera during shooting to better react to the live actors' physical performances, resulting in a lot of ad-libbing.
An animated example: in one shot, Bob Hoskins' eyeline was a bit off, resulting in him looking at a two-foot-too-tall Roger. This was rectified by having Roger stand nervously against a wall on his tip-toes.
The gag where the toon pelican falls off his live-action bicycle was an accidental gag. They had difficulty keeping the bike balanced, so right on the spot, they came up with him falling off, and in the next shot, you see him on the ground covered by a mail bag..
Donald's first two lines were archive recordings of his original voice actor, Clarence "Ducky" Nash. The rest of his lines were quacked by his current voice actor Tony Anselmo.
While Tony Pope voices most of Goofy's dialogue, some of the character's lines were voiced by Bill Farmer.
Uncredited Role: Kathleen Turner was uncredited as the voice of Jessica Rabbit. However, this knowledge was well-known before the film was even released, since she was interviewed for a behind-the-scenes documentary about her role in the film.
Word of God: One of the animators commented on fellow Disney animator Tom Sito's Facebook page stating that Jessica was indeed drawn as commando when she gets flung from Benny's cab. However, he commented that since they drew her with Barbie Doll Anatomy, he didn't understand why it became such a big deal, or why Disney felt the need to edit it in subsequent releases.
According to the early original script, the working title was Who Shot Roger Rabbit?, basically because it revealed the manner of how Roger would die before the title was eventually changed, as the studio would not want a character's death to frighten children.
Other possible titles: Dead Toons Don't Pay Bills, Murder in Toontown, Toons, The Toontown Trial, Eddie goes to Toon, and Trouble in Toontown.
Trivia for the video game:
Feelies: The 1-800 number that you find in the Ink & Paint Club had to be used in real-life to get some clues for the game. But now the actual recording that it used to be connected to is gone forever.
◊ and photographs, where she is wearing a different dress and has a more modern art style. Compare this with the earlier scene in Maroon's office where Eddie shows Roger the photos, which correctly depict Jessica's appearance. Presumably, the former scene was filmed before Jessica's design was finalized, and was not reshot or edited in post to correct this.
