Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Who Framed Roger Rabbit (disambiguation).

Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Theatrical release poster depicting filmstrips shaped like Roger Rabbit. The title "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and a tagline "It's the story of a man, a woman, and a rabbit in a triangle of trouble." are shown at the left top of the image.
Theatrical release poster by Steven Chorney
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Screenplay byJeffrey Price
Peter S. Seaman
Based onWho Censored Roger Rabbit?
by Gary K. Wolf
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byArthur Schmidt
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution[1]
Release dates
  • June 21, 1988 (1988-06-21) (New York City)
  • June 22, 1988 (1988-06-22) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50.6 million[nb 1]
Box office$351.5 million[6]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman.[7] It is loosely based on the 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf. The film stars Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy, along with the voices of Charles Fleischer and an uncredited Kathleen Turner. Combining live-action and animation, the film is set in an alternate history Hollywood in 1947, where humans and cartoon characters (referred to as "toons") co-exist. Its plot follows Eddie Valiant, a private investigator with a grudge against toons, who must help exonerate Roger Rabbit, a toon framed for murder.

Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights for the story in 1981. Price and Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought in executive producer Steven Spielberg and his production company, Amblin Entertainment. Zemeckis was brought on to direct, and Canadian animator Richard Williams was hired to supervise the animation sequences. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators. While filming, the production budget rapidly expanded, and the shooting schedule ran longer than expected.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner in the United States on June 22, 1988. The film received critical acclaim for its visuals, humor, writing, performances, and groundbreaking combination of live-action and animation. It grossed over $351 million worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 1988, behind Rain Man. It brought a renewed interest in the golden age of American animation, spearheading modern American animation and the Disney Renaissance.[8] It won three Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects and received a Special Achievement Academy Award for Williams' animation direction.

In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[9][10]

  1. ^ a b c d "Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on July 22, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  2. ^ "Who Framed Roger Rabbit (PG)". BBFC. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Greenburg, James (May 26, 1991). "FILM; Why the 'Hudson Hawk' Budget Soared So High". The New York Times. p. 3. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
  4. ^ Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autrey, eds. (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-By-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. HarperCollins. p. 615. ISBN 978-0-06-177889-6. Production cost (with overhead): $58,166 (Unadjusted $s in Thousands of Dollars)
  5. ^ Vogel, Harold L. (2010). Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis. Cambridge University Press. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-107-00309-5. Production cost: 50,579; Production overhead: 7,587 (Data in $000s)
  6. ^ "The Numbers: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  7. ^ "Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)". Allmovie. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  8. ^ King, Susan (March 21, 2013). "Classic Hollywood: On the case of 'Roger Rabbit'". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  9. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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