WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? (1988)

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological, sociological*

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

At present I've not read the source-novel for this film, Gary K. Wolf's WHO CENSORED ROGER RABBIT? However, not only were Wolf's "toons" drawn from comic strips rather than animated cartoons, the parent novel seems to be more of a straight mystery.

The plot of FRAMED does have some mystery content, but it's intentionally kept loose, in order to maximize the movie's potential for cartoon-jokes. FRAMED is an unapologetic love-letter to the American animated cartoon short of Classic Hollywood, as written primarily by director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg, two filmmakers justly famed for their passion for nostalgia.

Yet FRAMED has other interesting aspects. Though it's a production made under the banner of Disney's Touchstone Studios, and though it came out one year ahead of the "Disney Renaissance" that began with 1989's LITTLE MERMAID, it doesn't share the aesthetic of either classic Disney or of the renaissance-to-come. Rather, FRAMED bears much more resemblance to the wild-and-woolly style of Disney's primary competitor in the animated short market, Warner Brothers. A few other studios are referenced as well--  the character of Jessica Rabbit is practically a living embodiment of "Tex Avery tropes" as they appeared during Avery's 1940s MGM tenure. But even though both Disney and Warners characters share support-cast status in FRAMED, the Price-Seaman script shows far more interest in the fast-paced gags of Warners than any of the "slow builds" of Disney.

FRAMED is also a "buddy picture," which means that forcing two characters with disparate background to learn to love each other. Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), a down-and-out dipsomaniac detective, works in 1940s Los Angeles and tries to steer clear of "Toon Town," where living cartoon-stars live and thrive, as well as filming movies. When Roger Rabbit is accused of murder and faces peremptory justice from the toon-hating Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), Valiant is forced to re-examine his prejudice against toons (a toon killed his brother and was never caught).

Because the pace of FRAMED is so fast, there's no attempt to make the mystery-element plausible. In one respect, the plot is as old as films themselves, resembling the "city slicker tries to steal Grandpa's land from his gorgeous young granddaughter" trope prevalent in the silents. Further, the villain's desire to eradicate Toon Town is tied to his desire to pave it over for a superhighway. No matter how often I watch the revelation of the villain's motive, it never makes much sense. Possibly the scripters were trying to say something about how, in real life, cartoon shorts belonged to a less fast-paced mode of life, which would give way to the breakneck world of commuter culture. Yet if anything killed the animated shorts, it would seem to be television, not the superhighway. Maybe the villain should have sought to pave over Toon Town to set up a television studio?

Not all the FRAMED jokes wear well over time, but enough score to make it fun in repeat viewings. And though Roger Rabbit's name is in the title, he's at best Eddie Valiant's co-star. Roger has very little agency, except insofar as he keeps tripping up his "partner." The main arc of the story is Valiant's reformation-- not least learning to cleave to his own girlfriend rather than being beguiled by Roger's glamorous wife-- and so he's the only one with the courage and resourcefulness to defy the main villain (yeah, even people who haven't seen the film will guess it's the guy with "Doom" in his name) and his henchman. Thus, though Eddie and Roger form an ensemble-team in terms of being co-stars, Eddie's the only one who's strong enough to be a combative hero.