History Film / WhoFramedRogerRabbit

Blend ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'' and ''[[ComicStrip/DickTracy Dick Tracy]]'', then throw it in a pressure cooker with healthy portions of Creator/WarnerBros' ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Looney Tunes]]'' and Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''[[WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies Silly Symphonies]]''. Voila! ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit''. Enjoy your dish of madcap, murderous, and very ''animated'' mayhem.

''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 combination live-action/animated film, with Creator/RobertZemeckis directing the live-action and Creator/RichardWilliams directing the animation. Its success is largely responsible for setting off UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation, having had a huge influence on executives' attitudes toward seeing animation as more than what it had been in the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]] -- Creator/{{Disney}}'s animated films from the [[TheNineties '90s]] and onward, the Creator/{{Pixar}} films, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Franchise/{{Nicktoons}}, Creator/{{MTV}} cartoons, Creator/CartoonNetwork original series, and any other influential animated series or film from 1989 and onward, would probably ''never'' have existed if it weren't for this film.

* TheCameo: Virtually almost every possible iconic cartoon character from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation has a cameo: WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, Minnie Mouse, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, WesternAnimation/{{Pluto}}, WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, WesternAnimation/PorkyPig, WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner, WesternAnimation/TweetyAndSylvester, WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}, WesternAnimation/BettyBoop, WesternAnimation/KokoTheClown, WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker,...

** R. K. Maroon's assailant positions their gun over a poster of a gun-toting toon, allowing the audience to see that both guns are the exact same model. The toon also has bright red eyes, hinting that the killer is the same one who murdered Eddie's brother.

*** Doom allows Eddie to give Roger one last drink, and even lets them do a DuckSeasonRabbitSeason bit. [[spoiler:Remember when Roger said he could only do something when it was funny?]]
*** Eddie's line "I don't know who's toonier; you [Roger] or [[spoiler:Doom]]!"

* HeroesWantRedheads: Roger and Jessica are both redheads and are madly in love with each other.

On October 30, 2009, director Robert Zemeckis [[http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1625215/story.jhtml had confirmed]] that a second Roger Rabbit movie was on the way, with Zemeckis himself returning to direct the film and the original screenwriters, Seaman and Price, returning as well, but with the dismantling of Zemeckis' studio, the sequel's fate is now uncertain.

In February 2013, Wolf himself proposed [[http://www.slashfilm.com/mickey-mouseroger-rabbit-film-called-the-stooge-has-been-proposed-to-disney/ a Roger/Mickey Mouse vehicle to Disney]] called ''The Stooge''. Apparently, this will be an all-animated movie that could, in theory, co-exist with the Zemeckis sequel. However, it too has lapsed into DevelopmentHell. Following Bob Hoskins' death of pneumonia in April 2014, the sequel remains in development hell. Despite this, Roger appeared in the 2022 ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' live-action film, which essentially presents a modern look at Toontown in the age of CGI dominance.

* SupernormalBindings: After [[spoiler:Judge Doom]] captures Jessica and Roger, he has the weasels tie them up with escape-proof toon rope.

* SwordCane: It's revealed near the end of the movie that Judge Doom's cane is a sword cane. He uses it during his battle with [[spoiler:Eddie Valiant]].

* TakeThatKiss: Roger kisses Eddie Valiant, after which Eddie exclaims, "Don't ever kiss me again!" At the end, Eddie kisses Roger [[spoiler:to show that he hasn't quite lost his sense of humor]].

* TapOnTheHead: Roger is bopped over the head with a frying pan and dragged out of the way. [[spoiler:Later, Jessica reveals that she did it: she didn't want Roger to get hurt. In fairness, it's impossible to permanently injure a toon via this method.]]

* TemptingFate: Best noted on a re-watch, but early in the movie, while sitting on the back of a Red Car with some kids, Eddie tells them he doesn't need a vehicle because they have the best transportation around. [[spoiler:Cue Cloverleaf, whose sole stockholder is Doom, buying out the Red Car just to dismantle it for the purpose of the freeway]].

%%* ThisIsADrill: [[spoiler:Judge Doom]] at the end.

## Not only do they apply to toons 24/7 -- enabling them to squeeze through tight spaces and yank their hands out of handcuffs whenever it would be funny -- but even to humans toons humiliate and/or inflict AmusingInjuries on. Toons can hit humans with frying pans and cars, fire cannons at them, set them on fire, or even throw them off of buildings, but the worst humans can experience at the hands of toons is ClothingDamage and AshFace because {{Slapstick}} ''never'' inflicts permanent damage. Roger is absolutely heartbroken when he learns that a toon killed Eddie's brother Teddy, not just because he's a sweet dork, but because he didn't think such a thing was even ''possible.'' This is a ''big'' hint that Teddy's killer was no ordinary toon and, possibly, the first to realize that while dropping a piano on someone's head is survivable in Slapstick, it's a guaranteed kill with BlackComedy. This is how he escapes the Valiants with the money he stole from the First Bank of Toontown [[spoiler:and establishes his new identity as Judge Doom]].
## Eddie is himself subject to toon physics when he is in Toon Town, such as when he's squashed flat in the elevator and as well when he's [[spoiler:performing for the Toon Patrol. By using ComedyAsAWeapon, he is able to shake off various self-inflicted injuries like a RakeTake, a TapOnTheHead (repeatedly -- with ''bowling balls''), a BananaPeel, HarmlessElectrocution]].
## This is turned around ''again'' [[spoiler:when Eddie fights Judge Doom: Initially, Eddie is completely unaware that Doom's a toon, let alone one using Black Comedy instead of slapstick. The result is a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown as Doom turns each of Eddie's efforts into something humiliating; Eddie crawls onto the Dipmobile and redirects the Dip away from Roger and Jessica, Doom kicks him off the Dipmobile via a zipline. Eddie puts up his fists, Doom pulls a sword. Eddie goes looking for something to deflect the sword with, and finds a useless "singing sword". Attempting to disarm Doom with a toon magnet gets him pinned to a barrel, whereupon Doom takes his act a ''bit'' too far by going to get a ''steamroller''. That results in him squashing himself flat, in the process revealing he's a toon and throwing subtlety to the wind with spring-heeled jumps and anvil fists]].

** It's obvious what is meant by Jessica and Marvin Acme "playing patty-cake". [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out they're [[LiteralMetaphor playing actual Pat-a-Cake]]]].

** [[spoiler:R.K. Maroon ends up on both ends of the trope. He uses Eddie in his plot to blackmail Acme, but turns out to have been a pawn in the larger plot to destroy Toontown.]]

* VisionaryVillain: [[spoiler:Judge Doom's]] machinations are all in service of his vision of a gleaming new freeway.
-->[[spoiler:'''Doom:''']] My ''God'', it'll be ''beautiful''.

** [[spoiler:Judge Doom]]'s eyes pop out shaped like blades: "Glaring daggers". The soles of his shoes also manifest springs, when he leaps across the room, as in "spring in his step".

-->'''Eddie:''' Holy smokes, [[spoiler:he's a ''toon!'']]\\

'''Eddie:''' Not really. That lame-brained [[spoiler:freeway idea]] could only be cooked up by a [[spoiler:toon]]!\\
'''[[spoiler:Doom]]:''' [[spoiler:Not just ''any'' toon! [''re-inflates himself with an oxygen tank, then frightens Eddie by revealing his toon eyes''] REMEMBER ME, EDDIE?! WHEN I KILLED YOUR BROTHER, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis I TALKED!]] ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis JUST! LIKE!]] '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis THIIIIIIIIS!!!!!]]''''']]

** [[spoiler:After being run over by a steamroller, a literally flattened Judge Doom starts standing up, revealing that he's actually a toon.]]

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: [[spoiler:Doom]] has at least two chances to kill Valiant and instead chooses to wait or take a less practical approach. Justified since he is an over-the-top [[spoiler:cartoon]] villain.

* YouAreWhatYouHate: [[spoiler:Judge Doom]]. You've probably guessed that by now.
* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: [[spoiler:Judge Doom]] calls Eddie "Mr. Valiant". It's not until it is revealed that [[spoiler:he is a toon]] that he calls him "Eddie".

* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler:Judge Doom is the same toon who killed Eddie Valiant's brother.]]

A sequel was planned shortly after the booming success of the original, but [[DevelopmentHell it never came to light]]. The first obstacle was that the film was intended to be a prequel set during World War II, but Creator/StevenSpielberg refused to work on a movie that satirized [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] after finishing ''Film/SchindlersList'', and he was moving on to start Creator/DreamWorksSKG at the time. Then, a skyrocketing (for the time) budget and the advent of [[AllCGICartoon computer animation]], landed the second movie in deeper waters.

It should be noted for historical purposes that the entirety of the animation that appears in the film was done 100% by hand -- no computers of any kind were used, not even for Jessica Rabbit's sparkling dress during her song -- except for the necessary blue-screening when Eddie Valiant went to Toontown, where everything was animated, and to operate the player pianos during Donald and Daffy Duck's piano duel[[note]]Equally impressive but not as well-known is that all of the effects of Roger moving around and interacting with the set were practical effects, filmed at the same time as Bob Hoskins was acting. The incredibly minute levels of detail put into these interactions shows a special effects skill that is at least equal to the animation/real-world actions themselves[[/note]]. Computer graphics owed mostly to integrating the toons in the live-action plates, particularly the lighting to make like the people and the toons were under the same illumination.

The title of the film officially has no question mark at the end; rumor has it this was the [[ExecutiveMeddling result of a marketing survey]] which said films with question marks in the title make less money. The film is notable for being the biggest crossover of famous Western cartoon characters pre-50s than anything that has come before it (it is the first and only official time WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse and Bugs Bunny appear in a scene together).

The title of the film officially has no question mark at the end; rumor has it this was the [[ExecutiveMeddling result of a marketing survey]] which said films with question marks in the title make less money. The film is notable for being the biggest crossover of famous Western cartoon characters pre-50s than anything that has come before it (it is the first and only official time Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny appear in a scene together).

* DidntThinkThisThrough: A twofold example. Roger is wanted for allegedly killing Marvin Acme, so he decides to go to Eddie for help because of how Eddie and Teddy helped out so many Toons in the past, assuming he still does. Unfortunately for Roger, Eddie now hates Toons and refuses to help them anymore because one killed his brother, so Eddie wants nothing to do with him. [[spoiler:Initially, at least.]] Worse, Roger didn't know where Eddie's office was, so he went around town asking people until he found someone who ''did'' know, so by the time he gets there, it isn't long before the Toon Patrol shows up. Justified for three reasons: Roger's a Toon, he isn't the smartest guy out there, and he was panicking because he knew that certain death awaited him if he was caught.

* DisappointedByTheMotive: The villain, Judge Doom, wants to pave over Toon Town to create a long freeway. Eddie is stunned that Doom would go through all the trouble he did, including murder and attempted murder, just for that. [[spoiler:When Judge Doom turns out to be a Toon, Eddie isn't surprised, saying "[[ItWillNeverCatchOn That lamebrain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon.]]"]]

'''Judge Doom:''' Of course not. You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on, all day, all ''night''. [[VisionaryVillain Soon, where Toon Town once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food, tire salons, automobile dealerships, and wonderful, wonderful billboards as far as the eye can see! My God, it'll be beautiful!]]

* DistaffCounterpart: Amusingly subverted with Jessica. Eddie has never seen her before the Ink-N-Paint Club and expects her to be nothing more than a goofy-looking female version of Roger, a la Minnie Mouse. Needless to say, what he sees instead is earth-shattering.

* AccidentalTruth: Eddie falsely claims to have Acme's will in order to meet with R.K. Maroon. [[spoiler: Turns out he really did: Roger's love letter to Jessica (which was in one of his pockets) was actually written on the same piece of paper as the will, which turns out to have been written using disappearing-reappearing ink.]]
* AchillesHeel: Dip, for the toons [[spoiler: --and, consequently, Judge Doom]].

** Freeways already existed by 1947. [[spoiler: Judge Doom's vision is essentially the real-life Pasadena Freeway, which opened in 1940. Could be justified in that freeways weren't exactly commonplace until the 1950s and 1960s... and RuleOfFunny]]. And that this film evidently takes place in a different universe than ours, what with the sentient toons.
** During Valiant's fight with [[spoiler: Judge Doom]], he grabs a musical toon sword that sings "Witchcraft" by Music/FrankSinatra, which wasn't released until 1957.

** Later, in the Acme Factory, as [[spoiler: Doom tells Eddie and Jessica his plans to wipe out Toontown and replace it with a freeway]], Roger blasts into the warehouse through a drainage grate and tries to hold Doom and the Weasels at gunpoint. [[spoiler: Too bad one of the Weasels also gets blasted up onto a Ton-of-Bricks that he uses to bury the rabbit, giving Doom the upper hand.]]

* BlackComedy: [[spoiler: Judge Doom's]] secret weapon.
* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler: The real reason Jessica "cheated" on Roger with Marvin Acme. R.K. Maroon planned to use the pictures that Eddie Valiant took of the two to blackmail Acme into selling his Gag Factory to Cloverleaf Industries, as without Acme selling Maroon's deal to sell Maroon Cartoons would fall through. Jessica herself was blackmailed into "cheating" on Roger because he would have been out of a job if she wasn't in the scheme. Little did Maroon know, however, that Cloverleaf had its ulterior motives for the deal.]]
-->[[spoiler: '''R.K. Maroon:''' The truth is I had a chance to sell my studio. But Cloverleaf wouldn't buy my property unless Acme sold them his! The stubborn bastard wouldn't sell, so I was gonna blackmail Acme with pictures of him and [Roger Rabbit]'s wife. [[EveryoneHasStandards Blackmail, that's all!]]]]

* BondVillainStupidity: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] leaves his QuirkyMinibossSquad in charge of Eddie. Justified later. [[spoiler: Doom is a toon, and has pretty obviously damaged his fake/glass eye (note the way he carefully keeps his hand over it, to keep his toon eye from bugging out). He ''has'' to leave in order to replace it.]]

** [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] seems to cater to this. Once you find out his true identity, all the stuff he's been spouting about toons earlier in the film becomes even more disturbing.

** The Disappearing [[spoiler: Reappearing!]] Ink.
** Roger's love letter written on a blank piece of paper. It's [[spoiler: Marvin Acme's will]] in disguise.

* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: In a fit of despair and denial at his wife's infidelity, Roger [[spoiler: says "Someone must have made her do it!". He was right.]]

* ColdHam: Judge Doom. [[spoiler: It makes sense when it's revealed he's actually a toon, meaning his demeanor is the result of him trying to act like a human and not quite succeeding]].
* ComedyAsAWeapon: Eddie defeats the [[spoiler: Weasels]] by [[spoiler: literally making them "die laughing"]].

* ContractualGenreBlindness: Most toons, including [[spoiler: Doom]] at the end.

* CorporateConspiracy: Judge Doom, being [[spoiler: the sole stockholder of Cloverleaf Industries, murders Marvin Acme, the owner of Toon Town (framing Roger for it in the process), and then tries his hardest to make certain that Acme's will is never discovered so that Cloverleaf can win the bidding war to buy Toon Town so that he can demolish it and build a place adjacent to a soon-to-be-built freeway frequented by motorists. (And as if that weren't enough, his plan involves murdering every toon living there.)]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: R.K. Maroon. He tries to blackmail [[spoiler: Marvin Acme]] into selling [[spoiler: Toontown]] to [[spoiler: Cloverleaf Industries]] because they won't buy his studio unless [[spoiler: Marvin Acme]] sells them [[spoiler: Toontown]] as well. However, he tries to get Marvin Acme's will back in order to [[spoiler:''[[SubvertedTrope save]]'' the toons and their home.]]
* CouldntFindAPen: Roger writes his love letter to Jessica using lipstick. [[spoiler: The piece of paper he writes it on turns out to actually be Acme's will.]]

* CrapsaccharineWorld: PlayedWith. Toontown ''looks'' cheerful and nice, but go too far in, or spend too long there, and it becomes totally crazy. There are places in it that are genuinely dark and dangerous, but even there it's hard for humans to sustain lasting damage. Good thing too because Toontown is a good place to get your car wrecked beyond repair, squashed flat by a twenty-G elevator ride, or fall ''two miles''[[note]]12 seconds(450 meters) to reach a terminal velocity of 53 m/s for at least a full minute(3180 meters)[[/note]] because wiseacre skydivers choose to interpret "spare parachute" as "spare tire." Luckily, it's limited to AmusingInjuries, but those are rarely amusing to those who suffer them. [[spoiler: And that was before Doom figured out that a toon ''can'' kill a human as long as it could be considered "[[BlackComedy funny]]" QED [[AnvilOnHead dropping a piano]] on Teddy]].

* CreepilyLongArms: When [[spoiler: Judge Doom's]] hand becomes a buzzsaw, the arm it's attached to extends alarmingly far to strike at its target.

** Eddie Valiant in the film is a hard-on alcoholic in order to repress the guilt of losing his deceased brother due to a Toon [[spoiler: who is the true identity of Judge Doom]] killing him, projecting his hate towards this particular toon in a cynical distaste towards the entire race for half of the film, and suffering signs of trauma at certain points, compared to the smooth DeadpanSnarker he was in the book.
** The BigBad [[spoiler: Judge Doom]]'s plan involves town-sized genocide on the entirety of the toon population [[spoiler: in order to make way for a freeway- an act made more repulsive with the revelation that he's a toon as well]]. A plan much grander and dangerous than anything that the villains of the book had schemed.
** While the cartoon characters in the book have been shown to die, it is treated as a common occurrence within the story, in the film in contrast, the killing of Toons by the Dip treated as a dramatically unnatural and violently cruel death, [[spoiler: with the BigBad's ultimate plans to wipe out Toons on a mass-population scale to make way for a freeway]].
** Compared to the Disney brand at the time, the film is this, with [[{{Deconstruction}} the nature of being a Toon being examined to explore how potentially dangerous it would be if they existed in the real world]], sex is a major subplot in the story, swearing is prominent, at least one violent murder is shown onscreen, and the BigBad is a genocidal lunatic planning to wipe out the Toon race in a violent manner to fulfill his ambitions [[spoiler: and being a monstrous Toon on top of this]].
* DarkIsEvil: Judge Doom's entire wardrobe is black as pitch, even his cane, a sure sign that he's not just bad news but [[spoiler: the real mastermind behind the scheme to buy up Toontown]]. It also makes it easier to conceal [[spoiler: his true toon form]].

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Judge Doom, himself a secret toon, is dissolved by the Dip he invented to exterminate toons.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: A twofold example. Roger is wanted for allegedly killing Marvin Acme, so he decides to go to Eddie for help because of how Eddie and Teddy helped out so many Toons in the past, assuming he still does. Unfortunately for Roger, Eddie now hates Toons and refuses to help them anymore because one killed his brother, so Eddie wants nothing to do with him. [[spoiler: Initially, at least.]] Worse, Roger didn't know where Eddie's office was, so he went around town asking people until he found someone who ''did'' know, so by the time he gets there, it isn't long before the Toon Patrol shows up. Justified for three reasons: Roger's a Toon, he isn't the smartest guy out there, and he was panicking because he knew that certain death awaited him if he was caught.

* TheDragon: Smart Ass, the chief weasel, to [[spoiler: Judge Doom.]]

* DramaticWind: Judge Doom's BlackCloak is always fluttering in the breeze even when he's indoors -- [[spoiler: as one of the many visual clues that he's not the human he pretends to be]].

* EternallyPearlyWhiteTeeth: Judge Doom. Close-ups show that his teeth are an unnatural solid white. [[spoiler: Once he's been dipped, you can see a pair of false teeth amongst his clothes and rubber mask]].

** The toons keep emphasizing that all of their stunts are for show business or for fun; they would never actually ''kill'' someone. This is why Baby Herman knows that Roger is innocent of murdering Acme. [[spoiler: When Doom is melted, they all say there's no way he was a duck, dog, or woodpecker like the friendlier toons]].
** Maroon thinks little of blackmailing Acme with Pat-a-Cake pictures [[spoiler: but never intended for Acme to get killed over it and doesn't want Toontown destroyed.]]

* EvilGloating: [[spoiler: Judge Doom delivers this after revealing himself as the DiabolicalMastermind behind the plot to destroy Toontown. He delivers ''another'' one when it's revealed that he is a toon, and the one that killed Eddie's brother]]

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] wants to [[spoiler: destroy Toontown and [[RailroadPlot use the land to build a freeway]]]].

* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: How [[spoiler: Eddie deals with Judge Doom]], given that he knows from extensive experience that a toon punch-hammer wouldn't even slow him down. [[spoiler:Releasing the Dipmobile's spigot, on the other hand...]]

** [[spoiler: R.K. 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.
** Double-subverted. [[spoiler: Doom's death by steamroller]] would have been a hell of a nasty way to go, but then [[TheReveal he stands back up]]. The double-subversion comes when he gets [[spoiler: melted by Dip]], in a slightly more family-friendly but no less horrifying way.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: Roger's deeply in love with his wife Jessica, and is horrified when Eddie finds photographs of her and Mr. Acme "playing patty-cake." If you're wondering what "playing patty-cake" is a euphemism for...[[spoiler: Toons seem to consider it the equivalent of sex.]] Roger is deeply hurt.
* FemmeFatale: Jessica. What would a hard-boiled detective story be without one? [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted though: she was never actually evil or even unfaithful to Roger -- she was forced into it under threat of Roger being blacklisted.]]

** When Valiant comments wondering how Doom could be a judge, Lt. Santino mentions that he bought the election in Toontown with a lot of "simoleons." When Eddie finally tells the story of how his brother died, he [[spoiler: relates how the killer had just stolen a bunch of "simoleons"]].

*** 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 appearance. This makes a lot more sense when it's revealed he's [[spoiler: a toon, who are by their nature over the top]].
*** Doom's clothes dramatically blow in the wind despite the fact that no one else's does because there's no wind. [[spoiler: Just another dramatic effect adopted by a toon.]]
*** Doom allows Eddie to give Roger one last drink, and even lets them do a DuckSeasonRabbitSeason bit. [[spoiler: Remember when Roger said he could only do something when it was funny?]]
*** Eddie's line "I don't know who's toonier; you [Roger] or [[spoiler: Doom]]!"
*** Doom never blinks, not once, because [[spoiler: those aren't his actual eyes, they're fakes.]]
*** Notice the way [[spoiler: Doom]] slips on the fake eyeballs, flailing in midair for a moment instead of falling right away. Also, he's covering one eye with his hand when he gets up, for reasons that will be evident later.
*** [[spoiler: Doom's special aversion to the Dip. When Eddie knocks over the drum while escaping from the bar, Doom backs away from it. Also explains why Doom puts on a big rubber glove to Dip the shoe: It'd take his hand off because he's a toon, not just because it's toxic (though even a regular human would want protective gloves, considering what's in the stuff). Similarly, he doesn't ''remove the glove he already is wearing'' when he puts on the protective glove (like a normal person would probably do), which also forshadows what his hands really are in the climax]].
*** When Jessica gets the drop on Eddie in Toontown she [[spoiler: shoots Doom, clearly hitting him straight in the chest. He's up and running away, perfectly fine, moments later and the way he runs is hugely exaggerated which, is very odd for such a collected man. In his getting hit, he drops the gun he was going to use on Eddie, which was the same one used to kill R.K. Maroon]].
*** Maroon tries to warn Eddie: "Unless Acme's will shows by midnight tonight, Toontown's gonna be land for the free--" getting him KilledMidSentence before he can say "[[spoiler: freeway]]."

** Eddie: "Sure, ''I got the will''" (knowing full well it was really Roger's love letter to Jessica). [[spoiler: Turns out the "clean piece of paper" Roger wrote his letter on was ''indeed'' Acme's will all along which was written in disappearing/reappearing ink]].

** When Angelo is teasing Eddie about working for a toon, the latter doesn't blow his top until Angelo's laugh hits a particularly high pitch--[[spoiler: reminding Eddie of the laugh of the toon that killed his brother.]]

** After the [[spoiler: Dip machine crashes through the wall over into Toontown]], watch one frame at a time and see a different murder or death going on in each window of [[spoiler: the train it gets hit by]].

* HistoricalInJoke: The villain's plan is revealed to be [[spoiler: buying Toontown to destroy it and build a commercial district to capitalize on a freeway that's soon to be built, and to ensure the freeway will see heavy traffic he bought the Red Car trolley company and intends to shut it down. This is all a reference to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy conspiracy theory]] that car and oil companies secretly worked together in the 1940s to buy mass transit systems and shut them down so people would have to drive cars instead.]]

** [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] is killed by the Dip machine he was going to use on Roger and Jessica Rabbit and [[spoiler: all of Toontown. Also, Smart Ass is the only weasel to not die from laughter. Instead, he, too, gets killed by the Dip when Eddie kicks him so hard that he sends him flying into the Dip vat]].
** The machine itself [[spoiler: is destroyed by a train. The vehicle that was being used to phase out trains/trams is destroyed by one.]]

* IdeaDing: A little trill in the score can be heard when Eddie gets the idea to make [[spoiler: the weasels laugh themselves to death.]]

** A much more disturbing example when [[spoiler: Judge Doom does this to himself after he reveals that he's a toon]].

* IntimidationDemonstration: [[spoiler: Judge Doom, after being revealed to be a toon in human disguise,]] advances toward a disoriented Eddie Valiant with his right hand having formed into a cartoon buzzsaw. He mockingly frightens Eddie by extending the handle with every step he takes and slices through '''metallic''' chains, with lots of sparks flying out, to show that it can kill Eddie.

* InvisibleWriting: Mr. Acme is the inventor of 'disappearing-reappearing ink' which becomes invisible almost immediately, but becomes visible again through time. [[spoiler: Mr. Acme also wrote his will with it, leading it to be believed lost.]]

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: [[spoiler: Judge Doom's vision of the freeway after its construction. One reason Eddie isn't that surprised to learn Doom is actually a toon is because, as he sees it, only a toon could have come up with such a wacky scheme.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Roger has no response when Baby Herman points out that Toontown isn't saved at the end. [[spoiler: Another greedy capitalist can buy the land and destroy their home. Everyone is relieved when it turns out the blank sheet of paper is the will that gives the toons the ownership of Toontown]].

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] demonstrates his Dip on a toon shoe at the Acme warehouse just to show his willingness to follow through.
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler: R. K. Maroon]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Maroon:''']] Unless Acme's will shows by midnight tonight, Toontown's gonna be [[spoiler: land for the free]]--''[two gunshots]''
* KillTheCutie: As a display of how deadly the Dip is, [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] snatches a cute little toon shoe and lowers it slowly into the concoction as it squeaks in agony. This is also an EstablishingCharacterMoment for Doom himself, showing the audience just how despicable he is.

** [[ColdHam Judge Doom]]. He's plenty scary, but bless him, Christopher Lloyd just cannot play a role without lending it the piquant aroma of a lovely apple glaze. Given who Lloyd is, you could call Judge Doom [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Dr. Emmett Brown]]'s [[spoiler: evil twin. The hammy behavior is possibly justified after TheReveal that Doom was really a toon disguised as a human all along and toons can be hammy by nature. Doom's status as Doc Brown's evil twin is cemented as he channels Doc Brown in his vision for the former Toontown.]]

* LeftStuckAfterAttack: Judge Doom tries to punch Eddie Valiant, but Valiant blocks the blow with a cardboard tub of glue. Judge Doom shakes off the tub, then tries again to slug Valiant. Valiant dodges and Doom's fist strikes the roller of a moving steamroller, where it sticks. [[spoiler: Doom eventually ends up rolled flat, though this doesn't finish him.]]

* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste: Following the theft of "A Zillion Simoleons" and the resulting tragic death of Detective Teddy Valiant by a Toon, Doom became the judge of Toontown in order to prevent similar crimes of that magnitude from happening again. [[spoiler: As it turned out, Doom was that very same Toon that robbed the bank and killed Teddy in the first place and used some of the stolen money in order to buy out the election.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler: Subverted. Roger attempts this when he shows up during the final confrontation, gun in hand, but he gets defeated easily.]]

** [[spoiler: Toon!Doom]] ''literally'' looks daggers at Eddie.

* LostWillAndTestament: Much of the plot is concerned with trying to find Marvin Acme's will, in which he promised to leave Toontown to the toons. Its absence will mean a bidding war and Toontown's acquisition by a considerably less friendly personage. [[spoiler: It turns out that, as a joke, Acme wrote the thing in disappearing-reappearing ink.]]

* MeaningfulEcho: Roger is seen entertaining the bar patrons with an improvised song and dance routine to "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" (aka the ''Looney Tunes'' theme) with a few of the lyrics made about Eddie. Later, during the climactic fight in the Acme warehouse, Eddie [[spoiler: foils the weasels]] with an improvised routine to the same theme with some of his lyrics made about Roger. This may show that not only is Eddie getting his sense of humor back, but also how he's warmed up to Roger over the course of the movie.

** Judge '''Doom''' [[spoiler: works twice over. In addition to his intentions towards toons, it's a ridiculously over-the-top name. [[{{Foreshadowing}} The kind a toon would have.]]]]

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Eddie Valiant's investigation of a celebrity's wife's infidelity (so to speak) → [[spoiler: the murders of Marvin Acme and R.K. Maroon as part of an overall attempted genocide of the toons]].

* MultiArmedMultitasking: The bar-tending octopus toon at the Ink and Paint Club.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: The aforementioned MotiveRant above. [[spoiler: Doom delivers his speech about a road lined with gas stations, motels, car dealerships, and fast food restaurants with so much fire and zeal, you'd think he just took over the world.]]

** Judge Doom evokes one. His dress is reminiscent of a typical Gestapo trenchcoat, and Doom himself shares some resemblance with [[HangingJudge Roland Freisler]] or even Arnold Toht from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. His Weasels as the Toon Patrol remind one of the Gestapo or the Schutzstaffel, and the Dip which is carried on the Weasel's wagon is like the Nazi Gas Van used during Aktion T4. [[spoiler: Doom's master plan sounds like Hitler's Final Solution for toons instead of Jews -- In the third draft of the film script, from September 2, 1986, Lt. Santino tells Eddie that Doom refers to the Dip as the [[StealthPun Final Solution]], although this was not included in the final film.]]

** Toons are more or less immortal, as any physical violence you bestow upon them results in an enormous overreaction, agonized expressions, bleeding, skeleton visible through skin in the case of electrocution, etc...but five minutes later they're perfectly fine. The only way to do any real harm to a toon is with the Dip [[spoiler: or in the case of the weasels, making them laugh themselves to death]]. [[note]]The big difference appears to be that [[spoiler: laughing yourself to death]] turns the toon into an angel toon, but they continue existing, while Dip is a CessationOfExistence.[[/note]]

** ''Humans'' can also invoke this trope under the right circumstances. (Being around toons/close to Toontown helps.) Eddie manages to walk away from a car-smashing wreck and survive a zillion-story fall in Toontown itself, but he also ''drops bowling balls on his own head'' and ''electrocutes himself with a ceiling lamp'' while [[spoiler: exploiting this trope against the weasels to make them die of laughter]].

* ObviouslyEvil: [[DarkIsEvil Black clothes]], [[SwordCane skull-topped cane]], ScaryShinyGlasses, ominous soundtrack theme, surname {{Doom|yDoomsOfDoom}}. [[spoiler: Say hello to the BigBad, folks]].

** Eddie does this when he realizes the woman he mistook for Jessica Rabbit is actually Lena Hyena. Then a second one when he escapes into the out-of-order restroom. Then a third one on his encounter with Tweety. And a ''fourth'' one when the "spare" turns out to be a [[spoiler: tire]]. [[spoiler: But by far, his biggest one is when Judge Doom reveals his true identity. He's so terrified he tries to run away.]]
** Doom gets off a pretty good one too, just before [[spoiler: getting hit with a high-pressure blast of Dip.]]

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Judge Doom's toon form]], complete with transforming appendages. Made more horrifying knowing that it is his true form and the only parts visible are his crazy eyes.

* APlotInDeed: Marvin Acme's last will and testament includes who inherits the deed for ownership of Toontown. Several parties try to steal the will for their own ends after Acme is murdered. [[spoiler: In the end, it turns out it was the 'blank' paper Rodger wrote an impromptu love letter to Jessica on - Marvin wrote it in disappearing-reappering ink]].

* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: Eddie Valiant is a bitter and sarcastic alcoholic trying to untangle a web of conspiracy around the murder of Marvin Acme. Judge Doom uses a [[FauxAffablyEvil refined and respectable facade]] to [[spoiler: hide his true nature as a deranged killer Toon]].

* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler: Judge Doom after he's revealed to be the toon who killed Eddie's brother. This is foreshadowed earlier, when it's mentioned that all Eddie can remember about the killer is his high laugh and glowing red eyes.]]
* RedHerring: [[spoiler: It's made to look like Jessica murdered R.K. Maroon and possibly orchestrated the whole plot, but the real killer turns out to be Judge Doom and that she only wants to help her husband.]]

* ReverseWhodunnit: Played with immensely. Though you don't actually see who murdered Acme, the film is not in any way subtle about who the real culprit is (hint: [[spoiler: it's the mean, ObviouslyEvil guy in black accompanied by the ominous {{Leitmotif}}]]). Even then, there are still some moments with other characters to somewhat keep you guessing [[spoiler:and you still don't know the whole story about the BigBad until the climax]].

** A variation of this occurs when [[spoiler: Judge Doom slips on fake eyeballs in the Acme Factory when, normally, a human would just fall instantly. A subtle clue that to him being a toon disguised as a human.]]

* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]], having started talking in a high-pitched, squeaky, almost girlish voice all too familiar to Eddie once he is exposed as [[spoiler: a toon]], screams in this manner after getting hit by the Dip.

* ShapeshifterWeapon: In the final battle, [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] uses this ability to attack Valiant, turning one fist into an anvil and then a buzzsaw.

** [[spoiler: Roger]] himself.

* SpectacularSpinning: Happens to Benny when [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] dumps a drum of Dip on the road, partially melting his wheels and causing him to spin out of control and hit a street lamp, knocking Eddie and Jessica Rabbit out of him.

* SpontaneousSkeetShooting: At the end of the movie, the crowd that forms to gawk at [[spoiler: Judge Doom's body]] was awfully close at hand and made up of some awfully prominent citizens of Toontown given how quickly they gathered.

* StabTheScorpion: Jessica ultimately proves her trustworthiness when she shoots an unseen assailant behind Eddie ([[spoiler: Judge Doom]]) just after it looked like she was holding him at gunpoint.

** After his reveal, [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] "stares daggers" and has a "spring in his step".

* SupernormalBindings: After [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] captures Jessica and Roger, he has the weasels tie them up with escape-proof toon rope.

* SwissArmyAppendage: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]], after being revealed to be [[spoiler: a toon]].
* SwordCane: It's revealed near the end of the movie that Judge Doom's cane is a sword cane. He uses it during his battle with [[spoiler: Eddie Valiant]].

* TemptingFate: Best noted on a re-watch, but early in the movie, while sitting on the back of a Red Car with some kids, Eddie tells them he doesn't need a vehicle because they have the best transportation around. [[spoiler: Cue Cloverleaf, whose sole stockholder is Doom, buying out the Red Car just to dismantle it for the purpose of the freeway]].

%%* ThisIsADrill: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] at the end.

## Not only do they apply to toons 24/7 -- enabling them to squeeze through tight spaces and yank their hands out of handcuffs whenever it would be funny -- but even to humans toons humiliate and/or inflict AmusingInjuries on. Toons can hit humans with frying pans and cars, fire cannons at them, set them on fire, or even throw them off of buildings, but the worst humans can experience at the hands of toons is ClothingDamage and AshFace because {{Slapstick}} ''never'' inflicts permanent damage. Roger is absolutely heartbroken when he learns that a toon killed Eddie's brother Teddy, not just because he's a sweet dork, but because he didn't think such a thing was even ''possible.'' This is a ''big'' hint that Teddy's killer was no ordinary toon and, possibly, the first to realize that while dropping a piano on someone's head is survivable in Slapstick, it's a guaranteed kill with BlackComedy. This is how he escapes the Valiants with the money he stole from the First Bank of Toontown [[spoiler: and establishes his new identity as Judge Doom]].
## Eddie is himself subject to toon physics when he is in Toon Town, such as when he's squashed flat in the elevator and as well when he's [[spoiler: performing for the Toon Patrol. By using ComedyAsAWeapon, he is able to shake off various self-inflicted injuries like a RakeTake, a TapOnTheHead (repeatedly -- with ''bowling balls''), a BananaPeel, HarmlessElectrocution]].
## This is turned around ''again'' [[spoiler: when Eddie fights Judge Doom: Initially, Eddie is completely unaware that Doom's a toon, let alone one using Black Comedy instead of slapstick. The result is a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown as Doom turns each of Eddie's efforts into something humiliating; Eddie crawls onto the Dipmobile and redirects the Dip away from Roger and Jessica, Doom kicks him off the Dipmobile via a zipline. Eddie puts up his fists, Doom pulls a sword. Eddie goes looking for something to deflect the sword with, and finds a useless "singing sword". Attempting to disarm Doom with a toon magnet gets him pinned to a barrel, whereupon Doom takes his act a ''bit'' too far by going to get a ''steamroller''. That results in him squashing himself flat, in the process revealing he's a toon and throwing subtlety to the wind with spring-heeled jumps and anvil fists]].

* VisionaryVillain: [[spoiler: Judge Doom's]] machinations are all in service of his vision of a gleaming new freeway.

** [[spoiler: Judge Doom]]'s eyes pop out shaped like blades: "Glaring daggers". The soles of his shoes also manifest springs, when he leaps across the room, as in "spring in his step".

-->'''Eddie:''' Holy smokes, [[spoiler: he's a ''toon!'']]\\

'''Eddie:''' Not really. That lame-brained [[spoiler: freeway idea]] could only be cooked up by a [[spoiler:toon]]!\\
'''[[spoiler:Doom]]:''' [[spoiler: Not just ''any'' toon! [''re-inflates himself with an oxygen tank, then frightens Eddie by revealing his toon eyes''] REMEMBER ME, EDDIE?! WHEN I KILLED YOUR BROTHER, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis I TALKED!]] ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis JUST! LIKE!]] '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis THIIIIIIIIS!!!!!]]''''']]

** [[spoiler: After being run over by a steamroller, a literally flattened Judge Doom starts standing up, revealing that he's actually a toon.]]

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: [[spoiler: Doom]] has at least two chances to kill Valiant and instead chooses to wait or take a less practical approach. Justified since he is an over-the-top [[spoiler: cartoon]] villain.

** It happens again when [[spoiler: Judge Doom gets an emergency release valve full of Dip in his face.]]

* WingdingEyes: [[spoiler: Judge Doom.]]
* WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath: [[spoiler: The Weasels after they laugh themselves to death. Averted with the chief Weasel, Smart Ass, who [[CessationOfExistence meets his end in the Dip]].]]

* YouAreWhatYouHate: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]]. You've probably guessed that by now.
* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] calls Eddie "Mr. Valiant". It's not until it is revealed that [[spoiler: he is a toon]] that he calls him "Eddie".

* LiteralSoapboxMetaphor: When Eddie chews out Roger for entertaining the bar patrons when he's supposed to be hiding, Roger defends his nature to make others laugh and [[VisualPun stands on a soapbox]] while making his case.

* TheoryOfNarrativeCasualty:

---> '''Eddie:''' [[JustForPun Dum-dums]].

-->'''Eddie:''' Nice [[JustForPun booby trap]].

* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler: The real reason Jessica "cheated" on Roger with Marvin Acme. R.K. Maroon planned to use the pictures that Eddie Valiant took of the two to blackmail Acme into selling his Gag Factory to Cloverleaf Industries, as without Acme selling Maroon's deal to sell Maroon Cartoons would fall through. Jessica herself was blackmailed into "cheating" on Roger because he would have been out of a job if she wasn't in the scheme.]]

* BloodFromTheMouth: During the fight in the Acme warehouse between Eddie Valiant and Judge Doom, Doom morphs his right hand into an anvil and then punches Valiant with it. Valiant is sent flying, landing on his back and sliding along the floor. Somehow, Valiant survives this blow and remains conscious, but there is a trickle of blood from his mouth. This indicates that although Judge Doom is a 'toon, he's perfectly capable of inflicting severe to fatal damage on living people.

* BitchSlap: Eddie Valiant gets slapped by Jessica Rabbit at the crime scene of Marvin Acme's death. He thought he was slapped by her because he was staring at her boobs and smirking at her earlier, but the reason for slapping him was because he took pictures of her playing pattycake with Marvin Acme and for getting her husband framed as a murderer.

* ADeadlyAffair: Played with. The eponymous animated character is framed for committing murder after viewing photos taken of his cartoon wife literally "playing pattycake" with a human man.

** Jessica Rabbit playing pattycake with another man is apparently the toon equivalent of having an affair. (It's also a pun on the kind of hardboiled PrivateEyeMonologue that uses "playing pattycake" as a euphemism for infidelity. In fact, the book uses the term to mean exactly that.)

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The newspaper photo of Acme and Jessica playing patty-cake show an earlier design for Jessica. This is because these scenes were filmed before Jessica's design was changed and it was a little late and costly to change it for that one scene.

** Maroon thinks little of blackmailing his neighbor with patty-cake pictures [[spoiler: but never intended for Acme to get killed over it and doesn't want Toontown destroyed.]]

** About Jessica playing patty-cake: "Somebody musta ''made'' her do it!"

* GRatedSex: Roger reacts to secret photos of his wife Jessica and Marvin Acme playing "Patty-Cake" as if he'd been presented with photographs of them having acrobatic sex. This is carried further in the short films, where, at the end of the "Tummy Trouble" Maroon Cartoon shoot, Jessica seductively promises Roger a game of patty-cake as a reward.

* LostLoveMontage: Of the brotherly variety. After Eddie arrives back at his apartment post him delivering the incriminating patty-cake photos to Roger, he falls asleep at his desk with the camera panning over his and Teddie's history as detectives and circus clowns. Once the camera pans back to him, the sun has risen.

** When Jessica learns that Eddie Valiant took some patty-cake pictures that somehow lead to Marvin Acme's murder, she slaps him in the face and says, "I hope you're proud of yourself and those pictures you took."

''[he goes out the nearest door]''\\

* StronglyWordedLetter: After finding out that Jessica was caught playing Pattycake with Marvin Acme, Roger Rabbit in a drunken stupor wandered out of the office vowing that he will make his wife Happy. The next day Marvin winds up dead due to a safe; but it wasn't done by Roger, because he was actually at Jessica's apartment to write her a Love Letter saying how much he loved her.

* TwistedEchoCut: When Valiant is photographing Acme and Jessica "playing pattycake", you can hear Acme saying "Pattycake... pattycake..." getting more excited each time. The scene then switches to Maroon's office, where Roger is virtually screaming "PATTYCAKE! PATTYCAKE!" in disbelief after being shown the pictures. The cut keeps the repetition of "pattycake" unbroken between scenes.

** It's obvious what is meant by Jessica and Marvin Acme "playing patty-cake". [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out they're [[LiteralMetaphor playing actual patty-cake]]]].

* WeirdSun: At the start of the Toontown segment, a cartoon sun with a goofy face pops up above the horizon to lead the landscape in a chorus of "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!".jj

[[folder:O-P]]

[[folder:Q-R]]
* QuakingWithFear: Eddie and Roger are at Maroon Studios to talk to R.K. Maroon about [[spoiler:the sale of the studio to Cloverleaf]]. Eddie accuses Roger of wanting to leave because he's too scared. Roger says "Me, scared? Don't be ridiculous!", followed by him chattering his teeth in an exaggerated manner appropriate for a cartoon character like him.
* QuestioningTitle: Only ''without a question mark'' (apparently, in the film industry, it is considered bad luck to have a question mark even in a Questioning Title).
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Weasels, a.k.a. "the Toon Patrol".

* TheReveal: See eyes, above.

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

[[/folder]]

[[folder:S-T]]

* SawBladeOfDeath: In the climactic battle, Judge Doom tries to kill Eddie with a giant toon circular saw [[spoiler:that he produces from his own arm, being a toon disguised as a human]].

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Eddie threatens to call the cops on Roger, Roger decides to leave out the nearest door he finds...
-->'''Eddie:''' [[TheExitIsThatWay That's the closet!]]
** This is subverted later. [[spoiler: Eddie thinks Roger is doing one when he sees a car driving out of the studios after Maroon is shot dead. It turns out to be Jessica, who had Roger in the trunk.]]

* SickeninglySweethearts: Jessica and Roger.
* SicklyGreenGlow: The Dip.
* SideBoob, and plenty of it, from Jessica.
* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: Jessica Rabbit.

* SlippedTheRopes: Roger Rabbit can slip out of his cuffs at any given moment but ''only'' if it's funny.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises:
-->'''Jessica:''' [[SoBeautifulItsACurse You don't know how hard it is being a woman, looking the way I do]].\\
'''Eddie:''' Yeah, well... you don't know how ''[[DoubleEntendre hard]]'' it is being a man, looking at a woman looking the way you do.

* SphereEyes: Roger.
* SpontaneousSkeetShooting: How Eddie disposes of a liquor bottle when he decides to give up drinking.
* TheSpook: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]]'s true identity is never revealed and we never even find out what he really looks like, except for his [[RedEyesTakeWarning blazing red eyes]].
* SquashedFlat: Occurs even with the live-action actors (Valiant in the elevator, [[spoiler: Doom run over by a steamroller.]])

* StealthPun: When Valiant fires the cartoon revolver and the bullets go the wrong way, he calls them "dum-dums", meaning "idiots". Dum-dums are a type of expanding bullet.

* SuddenMusicalEnding: Justified, since Toontown seems to be a very musical place.

* SupermodelStrut: Jessica walks seductively.

* TapOnTheHead: Roger gets knocked out, courtesy of a frying pan.

* UnusualEuphemism: Santino refers to [[spoiler: Acme's]] murder as getting "kacked."
** It's implied that Jessica "playing patty-cake" with Acme is one of these, but then subverted when we see the photos and discover that no, Jessica really was literally playing patty-cake.
%%* UnwillingSuspension

* VaporWear: Jessica Rabbit doesn't have any undergarments.

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: If Marvin Acme's will isn't found by midnight, the DiabolicalMastermind [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] will legally own Toontown.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Judge Doom. Say it with me. DoomyDoomsOfDoom. The Judge's name changes in some of the foreign translations, but the new name is usually a pun on the language's word for "death".

* DramaticShattering: Happens to any glass nearby whenever Roger [[MakeMeWannaShout has a drink]].

* HangingJudge: Judge Doom, who happily attempts to use Dip on toons whenever he can.
* HardboiledDetective: Eddie Valiant. Subtly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when he force-feeds a minor character a hard-boiled egg for mocking him over the fact he's working for a cartoon producer.
* HappilyMarried: Roger and Jessica, as it turns out.
* HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight: Baby Herman.

* HeliumSpeech: [[spoiler:Judge Doom]], when he reveals his true identity.

* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** Eddie's standard coping strategy.
** Roger is more than happy to knock back a shot after getting photographic evidence that his wife is cheating on him.
** Almost {{Inverted}} when he ''really'' needs the drink. Eddie had to [[RabbitSeasonDuckSeason trick him]] into taking the drink, to save his life.
* InOneEarOutTheOther: Roger demonstrates this with a carpenter's rasp. Apparently, it tickles.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: Cartoon characters from ''every'' animation studio in existence in the 1940s appear in the movie.

* IllogicalSafe: Done with a fridge, and an elevator in one of the Maroon Cartoon shorts.

* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Jessica.
* ImprovisedZipLine: Judge Doom uses his cane to slide down a wire.
* IncessantMusicMadness: The director is arguing with Roger after he blows his lines when he finally shouts, "[[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn Can we lose the playback please!?]]"

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

** And a BrickJoke.

* LighterAndSofter: When compared to the original book.
** Also for the FilmNoir genre as a whole. Most of the characters are either unambiguously good (Roger), or turn out to be good people in the end (Valiant and Jessica), and everyone gets a happy ending. The extra dose of cartoon silliness helps a lot too.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Roger's glass-breaking "steam whistle" after drinking strong liquor.

* MediumBlending: Defines this movie, and the trope. It prominently uses the RogerRabbitEffect, but also StopMotion briefly for [[spoiler: when Judge Doom, flattened by his own steam roller and while still in his human guise, gets up to inflate himself]].

* MissingChild: A brief example is seen in the newspaper clippings on Teddy's desk. In the past, Donald Duck's nephews were kidnapped. Luckily, Eddie and Teddy managed to track them down.

* MotiveRant: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] has a hilarious one.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Judge Doom. Say it with me. DoomyDoomsOfDoom.
** The Judge's name changes in some of the foreign translations, but the new name is usually a pun on the language's word for "death".

* NobodysThatDumb: When confronting Judge Doom, Roger says that "We toons may act idiotic, but we're not stupid!"

* OohMeAccentsSlipping:
** For the most part, Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant does an impeccable American accent, but he does have one moment where he slides from "hard-boiled American detective" to "British West-country farmer": when he sees Roger hiding in a desk drawer and yells at him to "GET OUTTA THERE!" In this case, it's not the pronunciation so much as the inflection; most Americans would put the emphasis on "outta", but Hoskins as Eddie puts the emphasis on "there". In the same scene, when he says "not anymore" (in response to Roger saying, "When a toon's in trouble, there's only one place to go: Valiant and Valiant.") and "don't ever" (as in "For starters, don't ever kiss me again."), he suddenly sounds more like [[Franchise/StarTrek Miles O'Brien]] than [[Literature/TheMalteseFalcon Sam Spade]]. The accent slips again when he says "murder" to R.K. Maroon (as in "A story of greed, sex, and murder.") when pretending to. In short, he seems to have trouble with words ending in the "r" sound.
** For that matter, English actor Alan Tilvern, who plays Maroon, has moments like this himself. (Listen in particular to how he pronounces "murderer" when he says "I'm a cartoon-maker, not a murderer.")

* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: Dolores, referring to the bulge caused by Eddie hiding Roger under his coat.

* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] to Eddie Valiant using his "anvil hand".

* SarcasticWellWishing: When Jessica learns that Eddie Valiant took some patty-cake pictures that somehow lead to Marvin Acme's murder, she slaps him in the face and says, "I hope you're proud of yourself and those pictures you took."

%%* BadassLongcoat: Eddie Valiant wears one, as does Judge Doom.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Lena Hyena couldn't possibly be any more of one to Eddie in their only encounter. She even provides the page image (seriously, go look).

* BadassLongcoat: Eddie Valiant wears one, as does Judge Doom.

* BondVillainStupidity: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] leaves his QuirkyMinibossSquad in charge of Eddie. {{Justified}} later. [[spoiler: Doom is a toon, and has pretty obviously damaged his fake/glass eye (note the way he carefully keeps his hand over it, to keep his toon eye from bugging out). He ''has'' to leave in order to replace it.]]

* BoomerangBigot: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] seems to cater to this. Once you find out his true identity, all the stuff he's been spouting about toons earlier in the film becomes even more disturbing.
** The Toon Patrol as well. [[invoked]]FridgeBrilliance is in place when you consider that Toons are supposed to make people laugh. Laughter is the thing that kills the Weasels.

* TheCavalryArrivesLate: The police arrive after [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] has been liquidated.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: The toon that killed Eddie's brother.]]

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: In the famous deleted "pig head" scene,[[note]]which appeared when the movie was seen on CBS[[/note]] Doom and the weasels punish Eddie for getting too involved in the case by dragging him kicking and screaming into Toontown and putting an animated pig mask on his head. (A remnant of this scene can be seen when Jessica appears in Eddie's apartment--he's getting out of the shower because he just washed away the last of the painted pig's head.)

** The [[WhatCouldHaveBeen unmade prequel]], of which a script exists, featured a storyline of Roger searching for his long-lost parents. In the end, he finally meets his mother, who then introduces him to the father: WesternAnimation/BugsBunny!

* DiabolicalMastermind: What [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] really is.

* DisappointedByTheMotive: Pretty much no one is impressed by [[spoiler:Doom's plot to destroy Toontown all for the sake of building a freeway in its place.]]

* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Judge Doom.
* DopeSlap: Eddie Valiant delivers one to Roger Rabbit.

* DramaticCurtainToss: When Judge Doom reveals the Dip.

** Interestingly, Benny appears to actually be a fairly tame driver when he's [[MindScrew behind the wheel of another car]].

* EatTheCamera: Played straight and immediately inverted afterward on Baby Herman crying after dropping his cigar.

*** Another for Eddie pretty early in the film is when he meets Betty Boop at the Ink & Paint Club, the two talk like old friends and with respect to one another. Eddie may have become an alcoholic cynic towards toons...but this part shows that inside, he does still care.
** Jessica Rabbit's entire entrance at the Ink and Paint Club emphasizing her appearance and FemmeFatale personality [[spoiler:-- but [[HiddenDepths the song she picked for her performance doesn't quite fit the femme fatale stereotype]]; the lyrics aren't seductive or romantic, they're full of ''disdain'' for men who don't "do right" by their women.]]
*** Additionally, Jessica's first real interaction with Eddie is to [[IndignantSlap slap him in the face]] and tell him off for stooping low enough to photograph her and Acme and possibly destroy her and Roger's marriage all for the sake of a hundred bucks.

* EvilGloating[=/=]MotiveRant: [[spoiler: Judge Doom delivers this after revealing himself as the DiabolicalMastermind behind the plot to destroy Toontown. He delivers ''another'' one when it's revealed that he is a toon, and the one that killed Eddie's brother]]

* EvilIsHammy: Just take a wild guess.

* TheExitIsThatWay: "That's the closet!"

* {{Fanservice}}: Just about any scene involving Jessica. Subtlety doesn't come into it.

* FantasticRacism: "Toons" are treated as second-class citizens by most humans during the events of this film, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything paralleling]] 1940s race relations. This is especially apparent in the scene in the "Ink and Paint Club", a direct reference to real-life venues like the Cotton Club where members of the oppressed demographic (African-Americans in that case, toons here) were allowed to be employees and entertainers but not members.
** Eddie himself toes the line. He's certainly prejudiced against toons, tossing "toon" around like a slur, but much of this is later suggested to be AggressiveCategorism acquired after an outlier toon killed his brother. He eventually warms back up to toons at large, with Roger's help. Hopefully, race relations between the Toons and humans get a lot better over the decades.

* FeelNoPain: Roger demonstrates this with the refrigerator that's dropped on his head 23 times and repeatedly when the record player skips, resulting in several broken dishes.

* ForTheFunnyz: According to Roger, a toon's whole purpose in life is to make people laugh, humans and fellow toons alike.

** Pretty much everything about Judge Doom. 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 appearance. This makes a lot more sense when it's revealed he's [[spoiler: a toon, who are by their nature over the top]].

* FunWithFlushing: While trying to sneak into the Acme factory, Roger falls on the toilet and gets flushed down. He later comes out of a drain pipe on the factory floor for a (failed) BigDamnHeroes moment.

* IntercontinuityCrossover: Cartoon characters from ''just about every'' animation studio in existence in the 1940s appear in the movie.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The book deals with comic book and comic strip characters, not cartoon characters, who all speak in physical, tangible word balloons. This is clearly unadaptable to film, wherein all toon characters would have had to be mute, so they received the power of speech. Additionally, they became animated cartoon characters and the story was set in 1947, smack-dab in the middle of the golden age of American theatrical animation. Not to mention that toons went from being just as vulnerable as humans but possessing an elaborate method of faking their own deaths for theatrics' sake (it's complicated) to really being as unkillable as they seem. When Gary Wolf later wrote sequels that [[RetCanon adjusted the books' universe to more closely match the movie's]], he left in the word balloons and other comic-strip elements from the first book, but adopted the movie's mostly-invulnerable toons.

* TalkingWeapon: Eddie tries wielding a "singing sword" which does indeed sing but is pretty much useless when it comes to the "weapon" part.

* TemptingFate:
-->'''Roger:''' No one gets the drop on Roger Rabbit! ''[[FryingPanOfDoom [CONK!] ]]''
** Best noted on a re-watch, but early in the movie, while sitting on the back of a Red Car with some kids, Eddie tells them he doesn't need a vehicle because they have the best transportation around. [[spoiler: Cue Cloverleaf, whose sole stockholder is Doom, buying out the Red Car just to dismantle it for the purpose of the freeway]].

* ThisIsADrill: [[spoiler: Judge Doom]] at the end.
* ThisIsReality: As an armed Roger goes off to rescue Jessica and Eddie, Benny warns him, "Be careful with that gun! This ain't no cartoon, ya know." {{Justified}}, as Roger is an actor who regularly stars in cartoons in-universe as opposed to the very real stakes present now.

* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Roger and Jessica.

* FilmNoir: The underlying plot is classic film noir--"I'm going to listen you spin Cloverleaf's scenario -- the story of greed, sex, and murder".[[note]]"And the parts that I don't like, [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique I'm gonna edit out..."]]While loaded with genuine, hilarious cartoon mayhem, the Film Noir elements are played almost completely straight giving the film genuine texture, suspense and pathos.[[/note]]

* FilmNoir: The underlying plot is almost classic film noir--"I'm going to listen you spin Cloverleaf's scenario -- the story of greed, sex, and murder".[[note]]"And the parts that I don't like, [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique I'm gonna edit out..."]][[/note]] But the addition of outlandish cartoon elements forces it into a parody of the genre.