Who Framed Roger Rabbit celebrates its 35th anniversary today, with the groundbreaking ‘80s movie first hitting theatres on June 22, 1988. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of the first animated movies to combine animated elements with live-action storytelling.
The detective movie with a twist is set in an alternate 1947 Hollywood, where humans and ‘Toons’ live side by side. Bob Hoskins stars as Eddie Valiant, a jaded private investigator tasked with exonerating Roger Rabbit after the cartoon character is framed for murder. Countless Disney and Looney Tunes characters, including Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Jessica Rabbit, Tweety Pie, and Baby Herman, among many others.
Although the thriller movie was a huge success, with a script even being written for a sequel, Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2 never saw the light of day. Zemeckis, who also directed the Back To The Future movies, explained why in an interview with The Telegraph.
“Most sequels, you’re behind the eight ball on them. When audiences clamor for a sequel, what they’re really doing is expressing their enthusiasm for the movie they just saw,” he explained. “And that means they’ll have a love-hate relationship with whatever comes next, because they want it to be the same movie, but different. If it’s too similar, they don’t like it. And if it’s too different, they really don’t like it. There’s nothing more difficult.”
So, in many ways, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a victim of its own success. But if we’re being honest, we can’t imagine a new movie without Bob Hoskins, anyway. Still, if you want to watch one of the best movies of all time on this anniversary, you can do so on streaming service Disney Plus. Our new movies list will tell you what modern releases to keep an eye on.