List of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' characters
The following is a list of characters who appeared in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and its related works.
Eddie Valiant
| Eddie Valiant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance | Who Censored Roger Rabbit? |
| Created by | Gary K. Wolf |
| Portrayed by | Bob Hoskins |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | Theodore "Teddy" Valiant (twin brother) |
| Significant other(s) | Dolores |
Eddie Valiant is the protagonist of 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 gives insight into the character, as portrayed by Bob Hoskins. Pictures and newspaper clippings in his office reveal that he and his brother Theodore ("Teddy" for short) were sons of a circus clown; they joined the police force in 1925 and started their own private investigation service in 1938. The brothers quickly established a reputation for helping Toons in trouble, such as solving the kidnapping of Donald Duck's nephews and clearing Goofy of espionage charges. In 1942, while they were investigating a robbery in Toontown, an unknown assailant (later revealed as Judge Doom) dropped a piano on them. Eddie survived with a broken arm, but Teddy was killed. The incident soured him on the idea of working for Toons, his business suffered greatly, and he became an alcoholic. Eddie began living in the office he and Teddy had shared and left Teddy's desk as a memorial to him, refusing to dust it or let anyone sit in its chair.
In 1947, R.K. Maroon, head of the Maroon Cartoons studio, hires Valiant to photograph Jessica Rabbit, Roger's wife; she is 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, Valiant teams up with Roger to find the culprit. Maroon is subsequently killed, and Valiant discovers that Doom is responsible for not only these two deaths, but Teddy's as well. He defeats Doom at Acme's warehouse, finds Acme's lost will that bequeaths Toontown to the Toons, and abandons his prejudice against them.
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 eat 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
Jessica Rabbit
Judge Doom
| Judge Doom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by | Christopher Lloyd |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon (in Human guise) |
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 - the same Toon that killed Eddie's brother as revenge. 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 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance | Who Censored Roger Rabbit? |
| Created by |
Gary K. Wolf Richard Williams Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by |
April Winchell (baby voice) Lou Hirsch (adult voice) Jim Cummings (adult voice, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin) |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon infant |
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 (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.
Baby Herman and Roger Rabbit comprised an Abbott and Costello-like comedy team for the 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 downplayed. In one scene, he tells Eddie that that Roger didn't murder Marvin Acme, and tips off that Acme had a will that promised to leave Toontown to the Toons, which is the reason why Acme was killed. Baby Herman later appears at the end of the film, expressing his annoyance that Acme didn't leave his will where it could easily be found.
Despite his name and appearance, "Baby Herman" is actually a middle-aged, cigar-smoking Toon who looks like an infant. While filming "in character", he speaks baby talk in a typical baby boy's voice provided by 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. When he loses his cigar and finds himself unable to reach it, he starts crying like a that (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 | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Voiced by |
Charles Fleischer Maurice LaMarche (Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin) |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon taxicab |
| Gender | Male |
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. 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 does not appear in the cartoon shorts. However, 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".
Benny makes an appearance in the Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin attraction located at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, and guests ride in spinning cabs named Lenny (who is said to be Benny's cousin).
Toon Patrol
| Toon Patrol | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Richard Williams Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Voices by |
David Lander (Smart Ass voice) Charles Fleischer (Greasy, Psycho voice) Jeff Bergman (Greasy voice, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin) Jim Cummings (Psycho voice, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin) June Foray (Wheezy voice) Fred Newman (Stupid voice) |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon (anthropomorphic weasels) |
| Gender | Male (All weasels) |
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 attraction located at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.
- 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, thus unlike the others, his angel does not appear after his death.
- 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 before his corpse dissolves into an ink by the Dip.
- 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, then his corpse dissolves into an ink by the Dip. Wheezy was once thought to be female, since he was voiced by a woman.
- Stupid (voiced by Fred Newman) – 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 before his corpse dissolves into an ink by the Dip.
Dolores
| Dolores | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by | Joanna Cassidy |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
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 | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by | Alan Tilvern |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
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 admitted 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 to buy both properties at once. Before he could reveal who was behind the plot, he was shot and killed by Judge Doom.
Marvin Acme
| Marvin Acme | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by | Stubby Kaye |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
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 | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Portrayed by | Richard LeParmentier |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
Lt. Santino (Richard LeParmentier) is a lieutenant with the LAPD, and friend of Eddie. He accompanies Eddie to the Acme factory, where Marvin Acme has been murdered and everyone suspects Roger. Here they are introduced to Judge Doom who explains the ingredients of the Dip. When Doom demonstrates the Dip on a defenceless Toon shoe, Santino turns away in distress, unable to watch the Toon die. Santino is 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 | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by | Richard Ridings |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
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 sell someone out at the first opportunity, but Angelo helps Roger avoid Judge Doom's search after Roger makes him laugh. When asked by Doom if he has seen a rabbit, Angelo mocks him by gesturing to a patch of empty space and saying, "Say hello, Harvey" - a reference to the 1944 play of that name by Mary Coyle Chase.
Bongo the Gorilla
| Bongo the Gorilla | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by |
Morgan Deare Jeff Bergman (Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin) |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon 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 | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by | June Foray |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon hag |
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
| Toon Bullets | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| Created by |
Jeffrey Price Peter Seaman |
| Portrayed by |
Pat Buttram (Toon Bullet #1) Jim Cummings (Toon Bullet #2) Jim Gallant (Toon Bullet #3) |
| Information | |
| Species | Toon bullets |
The Toon Bullets are a group of six bullets with personalities similar to those of characters in Western movies. They were a present from Yosemite Sam, thanking Eddie for "springing him from the hoosegow."
When Eddie Valiant decides to enter Toontown in pursuit of Judge Doom, he discards his pistol in favor of an oversized Toon revolver and loads the bullets into it. He fires at Doom, but the bullets become confused as to where he went and turn in the wrong direction. "Dum-dums," Eddie says sourly. (This is a wordplay insofar as dum-dums are a type of bullet, specifically ones which are hollow-nosed or soft-nosed.)