History Film / WhoFramedRogerRabbit

* EfficientDisplacement: The result of Roger running off in a fit of pique... through Mr. Maroon's office window.
** And even the blinds covering them.

* CantGrowUp -- "I gotta 50-year-old lust and a 3-year old dinky."

While the film was very well received by critics, it has not been without criticism, especially -- and surprisingly -- among actual Golden Age veterans and fans. ChuckJones in particular, who worked on the film, ended up [[CreatorBacklash loathing the final product]], citing it as a obnoxious, witless misunderstanding of the old cartoons it set out to homage and even accused RobertZemeckis of robbing RichardWilliams of any creative input -- and for apparently ruining the piano sequence that he and Williams had planned together. Cartoon historian Michael Barrier derided the animation direction as "disastrous", and [[NoteworthyDisneyStaff Frank Thomas]] of DisneysNineOldMen was strongly disappointed in RichardWilliams failing to have any actual pathos come from the main character himself. JohnKricfalusi has also not spoken highly of it, thinking that it had "great animators" but was "misdirected", "filled with takes and zany movement but no character or wit."

* InsistentTerminology: The slang word "Semolians" is used to describe both the currency Doom used to buy his way into being elected Toontown's Judge, and the money stolen by the bank robber who killed Teddy. Almost a ChekhovsGun, actually, and a good way to make sure the audience puts the mystery together.

* ChekhovsLecture: Doom got to be a judge by buying the election with a fortune in Toon cash.

* TheHyena: Well, weasels in this case. Their hyena cousins were mentioned. Poor guys, [[{{Foreshadowing}} laughed themselves to death]]. Thankfully, this was released before ''TheLionKing'', or that would've been [[InferredHolocaust rather dark]].

* IncessantMusicMadness: The director is arguing with Roger after he blows his lines when he finally shouts, "[[SorryILeftTheBGMOn Can we lose the playback please!?]]"

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: "Can we lose the playback, ''please''?!"

* NonIndicativeName: Jessica Rabbit.

* ObviouslyEvil: [[DarkIsEvil Black clothes]], [[SwordCane skull-topped cane]], ScaryShinyGlasses, surname [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom Doom]]. Say hello to the villain, folks. [[spoiler:Then again, [[FridgeBrilliance Toons aren't known for their subtlety]].]]

* PlayingAgainstType: ChristopherLloyd as Judge Doom. This one of the few movies where he plays a [[CompleteMonster truly evil and ruthless villain]].

* RedheadedHero: Roger has a tuft of red hair, though the rest of his fur is white.

* RogerRabbitEffect: [[TropeNamer Named it]], [[TropeCodifier made it famous]], and probably perfected it.

** During the car chase between the heroes and the weasels, the weasel driving sneers "I'm gonna ram 'im!"... then, when the attempted target of their vehicular assault dodges, he and his mooks scream as they hurtle towards a crash. Just like the scene with Biff chasing a skateboard-riding Marty in ''BackToTheFuture''.

* ToonTown: The TropeNamer (or TropeCodifier, depending on [[WhoCensoredRogerRabbit how you look at it...]])

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The sequel would've had Eric Goldberg supervise the animation instead of Richard Williams. He was heading the animation test that they showed Michael Eisner to prove they could still pull it off without William's London studio. But the results did not satisfy him, and the other reasons listed in the opening section attributed to its cancellation. ...just imagine every single classic cartoon character with the movement of ''Aladdin'''s Genie! Eric Goldberg would eventually head another film with the RogerRabbitEffect in ''LooneyTunesBackInAction'' for 2003.

-->'''Doom:''' (his voice rising in pitch until it is absolutely shrieking) Remember me, Eddie?! WHEN I KILLED YOUR BROTHER, [[ThisIsSparta I TALKED! JUST! LIKE! THIS!!!!!!]]

* {{Goth}}: Judge Doom's dress is entirely gloomy black. He also wears a black fedora and always carries a black skull headed cane with him.

* AppliedPhlebotinum: ''{{Averted}}'' by the Dip. Turpentine, acetone, and benzene? All of them solvents, and two of which basically amount to paint thinner. The third, benzene, used to be a common laboratory solvent for organic compounds (and still occupies that role in industrial processes), which could be an intentional and [[NightmareFuel somewhat horrifying]] reference to the "living" quality of toons.

* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler:Probably the only adequate description of Doom's true nature. With a morphology that makes him like an amalgam of toon and human at once, able to warp his body into weapons at will and personal ethics which ignore the RuleOfFunny (the primary tenet of any toon's existence), he leaves the story unexplained and haunting viewers with NightmareFuel for years to come.]]

* PlayingAgainstType: ChristopherLloyd as Judge Doom. This one of the few movies where he plays a [[CompleteMonster truly evil and ruthless villain]] who also leads to HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* GreenEyedRedhead: Jessica Rabbit. [[MaleGaze Not that anyone noticed...]]

** Arguably [[spoiler: RK. Maroon being shot by Doom, with a long bleak shot of his corpse afterwards. Adds a slightly dark tint since [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Eddie inadvertently assisted it]] via his JackBauerInterrogationTechnique]].]]

** "Well say hello...{{Harvey}}!"

** Provided, this was released a few years ''before TheLionKing''!
** He also has one at the climax. He's normally quite composed but [[spoiler:when he gets run over by a streamroller and reveals himself as a toon, he goes completely and openly AxCrazy.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Double-subverted [[spoiler: Doom's death by steamroller would have been a hell of a nasty way to go, then [[TheReveal you see him stand up]]. The double-subversion comes when he get melted by dip, in a slightly more family-friendly, but not less horrifying way.]]
** The cute little cartoon shoe that is shoved in the dip, ''slowly and gradually as it squeals in pain'', is rather painful to watch, especially after Doom putting into great enthasis beforehand that, unlike usual cartoon deaths, [[KilledOffForReal this is very real]].
** Arguably [[spoiler: RK. Maroon being shot by Doom, with a long bleak shot of his corpse afterwards. Adds a slightly dark tint since [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Eddie inadvertantly assisted it]] via his JackBauerInterrogationTechnique]].]]

* MadScientist: Judge Doom. He invented the DIP:

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Again, Judge Doom and the Weasels -- Judge Doom's dress reminds one of a typical Gestapo trenchcoat -- Doom himself has some resemblances with Roland Freisler, the Weasels as the Toon Patrol remind one of the Gestapo or the Schutzstaffel and the Dip which is carried on the Weasel's wagen is like the Nazi Gas Van used during Aktion T4. [[spoiler:Also, Doom's masterplan sounds like Hitler's Final Solution of Toons instead of Jews.]]

* OhCrap: Eddie Valiant does this when he realises the woman he mistook for Jessica Rabbit is actually Lena Hyena. He then moreover does a second one when he escapes into the out-of-order restroom.

** "Don't you know what happens when you ''can't stop laughing?''"

** "Unless Acme's will shows up by midnight tonight, Toontown is gonna be ''land for the free''--" (gets cut off by gunshots that shoot Maroon dead)
** "When I opened the envelope, there was only a ''blank piece of paper'' inside."
** All instances of [[spoiler:Doom]] avoiding "The Dip".
*** Pretty much everything about [[spoiler:Doom's character. He's ObviouslyEvil in every sense of the word. In outfit, name, and the way he presents himself. While the other characters are played more realistically, he's not subtle in the least, in actions or appearence. This makes a lot more sense when it's revealed he's a Toon, who are by their nature over the top and quite obviously their role.]]

** "One of these days, you idiots are gonna ''laugh yourselves to death!''"

* GreenEyedRedhead: Jessica Rabbit.