Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Toon star Roger Rabbit worries his wife Jessica may be seeing someone else, so the studio hires hard-boiled private eye Eddie Valiant to look into their private life. Eddie's world, a city where drawings talk and real people share the same streets, quickly grows dangerous. Trouble escalates when Marvin Acme is found murdered and Roger becomes the prime suspect, pushing Eddie to dig deeper while keeping a professional distance. The case drags him through a maze of corporate scheming, cartoon vanity, and uneasy loyalties, where every lead exposes a layer of deceit that blurs the line decisively between fantasy and crime. With pioneering effects and a sly noir sensibility, the film balances jokes, danger, and wit without losing its heart.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and based on the Roger Rabbit character created by Gary K. Wolf in his 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit, the film released in 1988 as a groundbreaking fusion of live action and animation for audiences.

It became a worldwide hit, grossing roughly $329.8 million against a $70 million budget, a record for a hybrid live action animation release at the time, and a milestone in blending family friendly fun with sharp satire for future collaborations.

Its seamless blend of animation with live action set a new standard, spawning enduring images of Roger Rabbit and Jessica Rabbit that permeate pop culture. The film popularized cross-genre jokes and helped push future studios to pursue ambitious visual effects and cross platform humor, shaping storytelling across film and television.

Critics celebrated the movie's wit, inventive staging, and affection for film noir without getting bogged down in sentiment. It explores fame, deception, and loyalty in a world where cartoons and humans might share the same truth, delivering clever satire alongside genuine warmth and charm for audiences of all ages everywhere.