List of Who Framed Roger Rabbit characters

The following is a list of characters who appeared in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and its related works.

Eddie Valiant

Eddie Valiant is a Californian private investigator in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

In the original novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Eddie Valiant is a fictional modern day California private detective hired by comic book star Roger Rabbit to investigate the workings of Roger's corrupt employers, the DeGreasy Brothers. When Roger is found dead, and his final words having been censored out, Valiant is soon sent on the case of tracking Roger's murderers. This original incarnation of Eddie is a heavy smoker and has a beard.

The 1988 film gave more insight into the character of Eddie Valiant, who was played by Bob Hoskins. Eddie Valiant and his brother Theodore "Teddy" Valiant were sons of a circus clown (shown by the pictures on their desk), who joined the police force and eventually started their own private investigation service, Valiant and Valiant, in 1934, working largely on Toon cases, such as the kidnapping of Donald Duck's nephews in 1937 or clearing Goofy of accusations of espionage in 1940, both seen as newspaper clippings in Valiant's office. However, when Teddy was killed by the then-unknown toon form of Judge Doom who dropped a piano on him and Eddie in 1942, Eddie turned to the bottle, disappeared from the public eye, and refuses to take any more Toon cases (although he is slow to find work as a regular private eye). He also doesn't smoke, but is an alcoholic.

In 1947, R.K. Maroon of Maroon Cartoons paid Valiant to photograph Jessica Rabbit, Roger's wife, quite literally "playing pattycake" with Marvin Acme, owner of Toontown and founder of the Acme Corporation. When Acme is murdered and Roger becomes the prime suspect of the case, Valiant teams up with Roger to find the killer, and soon finds not only Acme's murderer, but the murderer of R.K. Maroon, and his own brother. After defeating Doom at Acme Warehouse, Eddie finally avenged his brother's death and abandoned his prejudice against toons.

In the graphic novel of the film published in 1989 by Marvel Comics, Valiant is the narrator of the story, telling the film through his eyes and in the style of a detective story.

According to Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom, Valiant tends to consume jellybeans quite a bit as he gave up drinking.

In the novel Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?, Valiant has once again vowed to no longer take any Toon cases, but is forced to do so when Baby Herman is found dead.

Roger Rabbit

Roger Rabbit is an anthropomorphic Toon rabbit. He was described as a frantic over-anxious type who often stutters (even while he's screaming). The character first appeared in the book, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf. Mixing both live action and animation to create a "toon" universe for the film, the Walt Disney Animation Studios set up an animation studio in Camden Town, London, while the live action was shot at Elstree film studios. Both the animation and live action were then composited by ILM fx studios in LA. In the book, Roger is a sidekick in a popular comic strip called "Baby Herman", his murder is being investigated by a detective named Eddie Valiant and a slowly evaporating stunt doppelganger of himself that he created hours before being shot. In the film version, he is re-envisioned as a 1940s character in animated cartoons and a resident of the fictional Los Angeles enclave Toontown. He is framed for a murder and seeks out Valiant to help clear his name. In the film, the voice of Roger is performed by comedian Charles Fleischer, who was known for electing to wear an actual rabbit costume on the set to get into the role.

Roger has been known to become very loud when he drinks alcoholic beverages, as he usually has a bad reaction to consuming them – steadily building up, initially from simple visual "eye-popping" into increasingly intensifying paroxysms, and culminating in making a nearly explosive, ear-piercing steam-whistle noise that is loud enough to shatter any nearby objects that are made of glass or ceramic of any sort. He also jumps uncontrollably. Afterward, his mood swings violently. The reason he does that is that he is allergic to alcohol.

Roger also starred in a comic book series from April 1990 to September 1991 and a spin-off series called Roger Rabbit's Toontown, published from June to October 1991, which featured Roger in the first story and supporting characters like Jessica Rabbit (Roger's voluptuous humanoid wife), Baby Herman (his co-star in Maroon Cartoons), Benny the Cab (Roger's taxicab friend), and the Toon Patrol (Roger's enemies).

Legacy

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, a dark ride featuring Roger, opened at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. Roger has also appeared at other Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.

Roger makes an appearance in the 1988 TV special Mickey's 60th Birthday. He makes two cameos voiced by Steven Spielberg in Tiny Toon Adventures, once with Jessica Rabbit. Andy Ape from the animated series Darkwing Duck is a parody of Roger.^[1]

Roger was the inspiration for a popular dance move in the early 1990s, called "the Roger Rabbit" due to the floppy movements of the character.

Jessica Rabbit

Judge Doom

Judge Doom (also known in his Toon form as Baron von Rotten) is the much-feared judge of Toontown and the main antagonist in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Despite presiding over a city of Toons, Doom is totally without mirth and passes capital punishment on Toons who break the law, placing them in a vat of mixed chemicals consisting of turpentine, acetone, and benzene (paint thinner) which he calls "The Dip". This concoction will dissolve Toons, permanently killing them when submerged. Judge Doom employs the Toon Patrol to assist him in hunting down Roger for the murder of Marvin Acme.

Doom wears a black ensemble which includes a trenchcoat, a fedora, gloves, and rimless yellow-tinted safety glasses. He also carries a pocket watch and a swordstick that also serves as a walking stick.

When the film first introduces Judge Doom, Lt. Santino confides to Eddie that Judge Doom bought the election. Later at the Terminal Bar, Judge Doom uses the "Shave and a Haircut" trick to lure Roger out, then prepares to execute him. After a brief scuffle inside the bar, Judge Doom orders the weasels to capture Roger and Eddie. Roger realizes he's in trouble with Doom after him, and begs Eddie to hide him. When Eddie learns that studio head R.K. Maroon is connected to the plot to frame Roger, Eddie interrogates him, but Maroon pleads that he's "a dead man" if he confesses. Just as Maroon is about to spill everything, he's killed by an unseen gunman who nearly shoots Eddie as well.

Upon chasing the killer to Toontown, Eddie catches Jessica Rabbit thinking she's the murderer, but Jessica reveals that Judge Doom was the one who killed Acme and Maroon. At the film's climax, Judge Doom traps Eddie, Jessica, and Roger in the Acme Factory to explain his scheme: Literally erase Toontown from the map using a giant mobile vat of Dip linked to a high-pressure water cannon, and then build a freeway over it. Judge Doom then plans to retire from being a judge and control all the profits from the new road system. Judge Doom also reveals that he is the sole stockholder of Cloverleaf Industries and explains that he bought the "red car" (a variant on the name of the Pacific Electric Railway) for the sole purpose of putting it out of commission. He then orders Jessica and Roger to be tied up and raised into the air via skyhook to be sprayed by the Dip cannon.

Eddie escapes and defeats the weasels, then tries to rescue Roger and Jessica when he's interrupted by Judge Doom. The two men then square off, dueling with various ACME props. During the fight, Judge Doom is run over and "flattened" by a steamroller. He survives where it is revealed that he is actually a Toon with bulging red eyes and a high-pitched shrieking voice as well as the same Toon that killed Eddie's brother. Judge Doom taunts Eddie and exhibits his hidden Toon powers like leaping after Eddie with springs in his shoes, changing his right hand firstly into a massive anvil, and then a circular saw. After Eddie breaks open a vat of Dip with a boxing glove-loaded hammer, Judge Doom is doused in his own Dip. He dissolves to his death, shrieking the familiar "melting" lines of the Wicked Witch of the West. Following Judge Doom's death, his scheme is finally exposed and all charges against Roger are dropped.

Wizard Magazine rated him the 60th Greatest Villain of All Time.

Graphic novel version

In the graphic novel Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom, it is explained that Doom was originally a Toon named Baron von Rotten who took up the role of playing the villain in animated movies until a filming accident in which he suffered a concussion and awakens believing he is a real villain. Baron von Rotten thus begins his crime career, robbing the First National Bank of Toontown, then killing Teddy Valiant by dropping a piano on his head from 15 stories, and spreading the stolen money all over the town in order to buy the election for Judge of Toontown, assuming the new name of Judge Doom. He was revived by another gang of weasels who (using an old cell and a multiplane camera) were able to revive him proving it is possible to revive a toon (it is later revealed that the other group are the brothers of the weasels that were killed in the film). Judge Doom disguises himself as a director forcing Roger to purposely tone down his acting, in hopes to ruin his career, and has other designs in mind for his revenge.

Baby Herman

Baby Herman is Roger's major co-star in the animated shorts in which they appear. He is Roger's best friend. Baby Herman's "mother", Mrs. Herman (also voiced by April Winchell) makes an appearance at the beginning of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and its spin-off short films, but she is only shown from the waist down.

Herman and Roger Rabbit comprised an Abbott and Costello-like comedy team for the (equally fictitious) Maroon Cartoons studio in the 1940s. A typical Roger/Baby Herman cartoon consists of Roger being given responsibility for Baby Herman's well-being; Herman immediately begins crawling through a number of dangerous situations from which Roger must rescue him. In the process, Roger suffers extravagant injuries and humiliations reminiscent of those in classic Tex Avery cartoons while Baby Herman remains unscathed. For both book adaptations, Baby Herman was murdered, leaving behind a doppelganger for Eddie Valiant to help solve the crime.

In the film, Baby Herman's role was significantly downplayed. In one scene, he is tipping off Eddie about the whereabouts of Marvin Acme's will, saying that Roger didn't murder Acme, and is the first toon on the scene at the Acme Factory after Valiant's battle with Judge Doom.

Despite his name and appearance, "Baby Herman" is actually a middle-aged, cigar-smoking Toon who happens to look like an infant. While filming "in character", he speaks baby talk in a typical baby boy's voice provided by April Winchell; off-camera, he has a loud, gravelly voice provided by Lou Hirsch. Animation director Richard Williams loved the character of "adult" Baby Herman so much that he personally animated all of the scenes of the character in the film. It should be noted that when he loses his cigar and finds himself unable to reach it, he actually starts crying like a baby (albeit with his voice still sounding like a middle-aged man).

In the novel Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?, Valiant takes up the Toon case again when Baby Herman is found dead.

Benny the Cab

Benny the Cab is a taxicab that services the Los Angeles area in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is voiced in all appearances by Charles Fleischer with a deep rumbling voice somewhere between Lord Buckley and Barry White. His license plate reads Looney. In the original story, Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Benny was a thug and had a minor role as a trader in second-hand items.

The Walt Disney Company and Amblin Entertainment expanded on Benny's character for the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the movie, Benny is an anthropomorphized colorful yellow Volkswagen Beetle-style taxi cab that takes Roger where he needs to go. Unlike most of the prominent supporting characters in the movie, Benny doesn't appear in the cartoon shorts (although an anthropomorphic ambulance that appears briefly in the Tummy Trouble short does have some resemblance to Benny). He does appear in the Roger Rabbit comic book and had his own feature once in the second issue of Roger Rabbit's Toontown.

Benny also made an appearance as a guest on House of Mouse in the episodes "Max's New Car" and "Mickey vs. Shelby".

At the Disneyland Resort, the attraction Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin has guests ride spinning cabs named Lenny (who is said to be Benny's cousin).

Toon Patrol

The Toon Patrol is a group of five anthropomorphic animated tailless weasels who serve as henchmen to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. They serve as the secondary antagonists of the film.

In the film, the Toon Patrol are the "police officers" of Toontown, but they behave less like law enforcers and more like gangsters and crooks. Judge Doom hires them to capture Roger Rabbit for the murder of Marvin Acme. The Toon Patrol drive around in a black Dodge Humpback paddy wagon labeled with the Los Angeles city seal like with cruisers of the LAPD.

The weasels enjoy laughing at the misery of others, including each other. Like all the other Toons in the movie, they are invincible to physical body harm except for The Dip. However, prolonged laughter is also shown to be lethal to them. Eddie Valiant jokes around in front of them during the climax of the movie, causing all but Smartass to "die" from laughing at him, after which their toon souls rise to heaven in angel forms. According to Judge Doom, they once had hyena cousins who died in the same manner.

While being designed, the weasels and their fondness of weapons were modeled after the weasels in the 1949 Disney cartoon The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. The weasels make an appearance in the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride at Disneyland Resort.

• Smart Ass (voiced by David Lander) – Smart Ass is the smartest, wisecracking leader of the weasels and ranked a sergeant by Judge Doom. He has brown fur and wears a light pink double breasted zoot suit coat with a gold chain in the left pocket, a white dress shirt with a reddish pink, bejewelled tie, a matching pink zoot hat with a darker pink band, and spats on his feet. His weapon of choice is a revolver, though in the bar scene he is shown threatening Eddie Valiant with a switchblade. He is rude, sarcastic (hence his name), sadistic like the rest of his 'men', and seems pretty eager to please his boss. He is a frequent committer of malaprops, but does not really seem to notice or care. Smart Ass proves to be the most disciplined of the weasels, as he has more control over his laughter and tries to get his cohorts to follow suit. He is the third weasel to die in the film, but not by losing control of his laughter. After he disagrees with a lyric Eddie "entertains" the weasels with, Eddie kicks him in the crotch, sending him into the reservoir of Judge Doom's Dip sprayer. Unlike the others, his angel does not appear after his death. He is known as Wise Guy in Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and is first shown on a wanted poster that reveals he is wanted in thirteen states for committing crimes such as toonnapping, assault with a silly weapon, petty larceny, grand larceny and really grand larceny. He is nicknamed Smarty by fans.

• Greasy (voiced by Charles Fleischer, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin voiced by Jeff Bergman) – Greasy is the Mexican second-in-command of the weasels, and has long greasy black hair and dark brown fur. He wears a green zoot suit styled trench coat and trousers hiked up all the way to his chest, a partially obscured pink tie and white dress shirt, as well as a tall green zoot hat and spectator shoes, and is slightly overweight. His weapon of choice is a switchblade knife, although at one point in Eddie Valiant's apartment, he is seen wielding a revolver. He is mostly shown speaking English with a heavy accent, and curses in Spanish when Roger shoots into the Acme Factory via a storm drain, propelling Greasy and himself up towards the ceiling, and when he springs a bear trap hidden in the top of Jessica Rabbit's dress. He also appears perverted, as he quickly takes Judge Doom's orders to search Jessica for Acme's will as an opportunity to feel her. He is the fourth weasel to die after losing control of his laughter, and drops dead out of the cab of the Dip Machine, putting it in gear as he does so.

• Psycho (voiced by Charles Fleischer, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin voiced by Jim Cummings) – Psycho is the most mentally unstable of the group of weasels. He has a shrilling laugh and high-pitched voice. Psycho wears an unbuckled straitjacket, has a lighter, tanner muzzle, blue eyes with yellow and white swirls characterizing his insanity, and unkempt fur by the hairline, giving it a spiky appearance. His weapon of choice is a barbershop straight razor. He is the last weasel to die by laughing hard enough to lose his balance and fall into the machinery of the Dip sprayer. As his soul rises to heaven, it pushes one of the levels back up so the Dip could spray Roger and Jessica and the straitjacket sleeves buckle themselves together.

• Wheezy (voiced by June Foray) – Wheezy is a heavy smoker. Unlike his compatriots, who all have brown fur, his fur is smoky blue and has long, nicotine-stained fingers. He is dressed in a wrinkled dress shirt, black vest, pork pie hat with cigarettes stuffed into the band, and loose black tie, all of which are stained to some degree from nicotine. His weapon of choice is a 1940s Tommy gun, though he only uses it once, when he was searching Eddie Valiant's office. When he has cigarettes in his mouth, he has a harsh, raspy voice and when he does not, he has a deep voice, as shown when he says "Let's go!" after Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit free Benny the Cab. Wheezy is the second weasel to die as his soul escapes while he is hanging from a ladder, he tries to pull it back but to no avail. Wheezy was at once thought to be female, since he was voiced by a woman.

• Stupid (voiced by Fred Newman, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin voiced by Fred Armisen) – Stupid is the dumbest of the weasels, though he appears to be more childish than unintelligent. He wears a horizontally striped blue and white t-shirt, a red beanie with a yellow propeller on top, and white tennis shoes that are constantly untied. He has a pigeon-toed stance, and his weapon of choice is a baseball bat with a nail in it. He is also very chubby. Stupid has only one line in the film "Uh, Toontown's right on the other side of the wall, boss!". He is the first weasel to die after losing control of his laughter, knocking himself over the head several times before keeling over and his hands were seen clutching a lily.

Dolores

Dolores (Joanna Cassidy) is Eddie Valiant's girlfriend who works as a waitress in a bar. She is involved in helping Eddie solve the case against Judge Doom.

R.K. Maroon

R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) is the owner of Maroon Cartoons. He paid Eddie $100 to photograph Jessica and Marvin Acme, which eventually led to Acme's murder. Maroon later revealed that he was trying to blackmail Acme into selling Toontown to Cloverleaf Industries so that he could sell his studio as well, since Cloverleaf wanted both properties. Before he could reveal who was behind the plot, he was shot and killed by Judge Doom.

Marvin Acme

Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) is the owner of Acme Products and Toontown. He is known around Hollywood as "the gag king" for the prank items he makes his living selling. Among his top sellers are Disappearing/Reappearing Ink and a hand buzzer. In a blackmail scheme by R.K. Maroon, he has an "affair" with Toon Jessica Rabbit which Eddie Valiant (who briefly meets Acme) photographs. Acme is murdered later that night by Judge Doom, who drops a safe on his head and frames Jessica's husband, Roger.

Lt. Santino

Lt. Santino (Richard LeParmentier) is a lieutenant with the LAPD, and friend of Eddie. He takes Eddie to the Acme factory, where Marvin Acme has been murdered and everyone suspects Roger, and there presented to Judge Doom and explains the ingredients of the Dip. When Doom demonstrates the Dip on a harmless Toon shoe, Santino turns away in sickened disgust, unable to watch the Toon die. Later present with several officers when Eddie discovers that it was Doom who killed Acme along with Maroon and Teddy.

Teddy Valiant

Theodore "Teddy" J. Valiant is the deceased brother of Eddie. Teddy was killed by a piano dropped onto him by a Toon later revealed to be Judge Doom while investigating a robbery in Toontown. Due to his brother's death, Eddie, with whom Teddy had cracked many a case and helped Toons who were in trouble, vowed never to work for a Toon again and wouldn't for many years. To honor his brother, Eddie left Teddy's desk the way it was the day he died and refuses to allow anyone to sit at it. Eddie avenged his brother's death when he destroyed Doom with his own Dip.

Angelo

Angelo (Richard Ridings) is a client of Dolores's bar. Eddie is not particularly fond of Angelo, as he makes fun of Eddie for his detective work. Eddie regards Angelo as the kind of guy who would rat on you for a nickel and tells Roger that, but since Roger made Angelo laugh he returned the favor and helped him avoid Judge Doom's search.

Questioned by the judge about the rabbit, Angelo made fun of him by saying that he has seen one, but an invisible one named Harvey (a reference to a 1944 play by Mary Coyle Chase).

Bongo the Gorilla

Bongo (voiced by Morgan Deare, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin voiced by Jeff Bergman) is a cartoon gorilla bouncer of The Ink and Paint Club. The password that Eddie uses to get in was "Walt sent me" and Bongo lets him in. He also tosses Eddie out of the club when he catches Eddie spying on Jessica Rabbit and Marvin P. Acme in Jessica's dressing room. He is seen again in the deleted Pig Head scene where he knocks Eddie out cold for sneaking back into Jessica's dressing room. In those parts of the movie, he was supposedly a henchman of Doom until the final scene where he is seen with the other Toons following Judge Doom's destruction. It is possible after Doom's death that Bongo reformed and is now good.

Lena Hyena

Lena Hyena is a Toon Hag that resembles Jessica Rabbit. When Eddie was looking for Jessica Rabbit, he saw what appeared to be her in an apartment building. When Eddie entered the room, he encountered Lena Hyena who developed a crush on Eddie and chased him around parts of Toon Town. Eddie was able to get rid of her by tricking her into running into the wall of a building.

Toon Bullets

The Toon Bullets are a group of bullets that have a western personality.

When Eddie Valiant decides to enter Toon Town, he loads the Toon Bullets into his Toon Revolver. While pursuing Judge Doom, Eddie Valiant shot his gun only for the bullets to miss their target where they forgot which way he went.

References