The summary and note for this entry were completed with participation from the AFI Academic Network. Summary and notes were written by participant Michelle Bjornas, a student at Georgia Institute of Technology, with Vinicius Navarro as academic advisor.

       Who Framed Roger Rabbit had several working titles throughout production, including Dead Toons Don't Pay Bills, Eddie Goes to Toon, Murder in Toontown, The Toontown Trial, Toons, Trouble in Toontown, Who Censored Roger Rabbit, and Who Shot Roger Rabbit. The filmmakers give credit to the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf, although the only similarities between the book and the film are the characters of “Eddie Valiant,” “Roger Rabbit,” “Jessica Rabbit,” and “Baby Herman.” These characters were altered in the movie; in the book, “Roger” was a murderer, “Jessica” hated him, and “Herman” always used “Roger” as a foil, not the other way around.
              All of the credits appear at the end of the film. As noted in a Jun 1988 Time article, a total of 739 people were listed, but Kathleen Turner, the voice of Jessica Rabbit, was not credited.
              A DV review from 20 Jun 1988 reports that the idea to turn Who Censored Roger Rabbit? into a film was first proposed in 1981, when the book was published, and that it was originally planned to be a Disney animated feature. It was not until 1986, however, when Roger Rabbit changed to a mix of live action and animation in association with Steven Spielberg, that the project began in earnest. The film was eventually released under Disney’s Touchstone Pictures brand because the adult themes in the film were at odds with the typical Disney film, according to DV. Multiple contemporary news items reported the budget at $45 million, making Who Framed Roger Rabbit one of the most expensive animated movies of its time.
              In an 1 Aug 1988 NYT article, director of animation Richard Williams was quoted as saying: “I just hate animation and live action together; it just doesn't work, it's ugly.” He decided to take on the project, however, under the premise that he would “remove all the inhibitions” and use new techniques for “blending animation and live action.” The article describes how the animators used highlights and shading to give the characters a three-dimensional feel in order to make them appear to be actually interacting with the real world characters. Additionally, the technical crew had to find ways to manipulate the objects that the characters would be moving in the final cut, such as “Baby Herman's” cigar. The technical crew used various resources, such as puppets, mannequins, and even robotics to create the effect of cartoons truly interacting with their human counterparts.
       Live action footage was filmed in both the United Kingdom and in California. According to a 12 Aug 1988 Backstage column, the animation studio in California was already working on another film at the time, so most of the animators were transferred to the British studio.      
              Touchstone Pictures struck deals with Warner Bros. allowing the studio’s trademark cartoon characters to appear in the film. Some of the more famous Warner Bros. characters to make appearances include “Bugs Bunny,” “Daffy Duck,” “Porky Pig,” and “Tweety.” However, agents for Warner Bros. characters placed the stipulation that Disney characters, such as “Donald” and “Mickey,” had to have the same amount of screen time as their Warner Bros. counterparts, according to a 25 Aug 1988 article in Rolling Stone. In fact, most of the classic Warner and Disney characters only appear together: “Daffy” and “Donald” are seen playing a piano duet, while “Bugs” and “Mickey” go skydiving.
              According to a news item in the 24 Jun 1988 issue of DV, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? opened on 995 screens and generated an average $1817 per screen, earning a total of nearly two million dollars on opening night and breaking Disney’s record for the biggest weekday opening gross. The critical reviews of the film were generally positive. Janet Maslin of NYT wrote in her 22 Jun 1988 review: “Although this isn't the first time that cartoon characters have shared the screen with live actors, it's the first time they've done it on their own terms.” A 31 Dec 1987 Var review praised the movie's unique animation techniques, saying “Who Framed Roger Rabbit is an unparalleled achievement in which animation is brilliantly integrated into live-action.” However, some critics, such as Janet Maslin, questioned what audience the filmmakers were targeting, and pointed to the suggestive themes and racial undertones scattered throughout. Richard Corliss, in his 27 Jun 1988 Time review, claims that the cartoon segment that opens the film outshines the film itself. Later in her article, Janet Maslin mentions that “the film's only problem, and it's a minor one, is that the gumshoe plot of the screenplay... is relatively ordinary.”
              According to a 30 May 2001 LAT article, Gary Wolf, author of the novel on which the film is based, filed a lawsuit against Disney, claiming that the company had not paid him millions of dollars in “gross receipts” which he believed to include all non-monetary promotional partnerships. Disney denied the claim, saying that Wolf was only entitled to contingent compensation. The court ruled against Wolf, who appealed the case in 2004. This time, the court ruled in favor of Wolf, but only granted him $180,000 in compensation instead of the $8 million he sought, according to a 21 May 2008 HR article. In the same article, Disney lawyers are said to have discovered that the studio had been overpaying Wolf and that he owed Disney up to $1 million. The legal battle has reached no conclusive end. In addition to this controversy, some of the animators working on the movie hid racy images in the original Roger Rabbit footage. According to a 17 Mar 1994 article in the LAT, the X-rated frames were not noticeable with the action running at speed on film or in video cassette format, but became obvious on DVD when users could freeze on a single frame. Disney responded by censoring the offending images and re-reissuing the DVD.
              The film received three Academy Awards for Sound Effects Editing, Visual Effects and Film Editing. The lead animator, Richard Williams, was given a Special Achievement Award for animation direction and the creation of the cartoon characters. Additionally, Roger Rabbit received several Academy Award nominations, including Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The film also won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film in 1990 and was nominated for a Golden Globe award in the category Best Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical. The movie's success led Disney to produce several animated theatrical shorts featuring “Roger Rabbit,” and talk of a feature-length live-action/animation sequel, which was planned for release in 1992, according to the Jun 1989 edition of Screen International. However, due to cost concerns, the sequel was never produced. More recently, according to a Guardian (London) article posted to its website on 3 Nov 2009, director Robert Zemeckis has hinted that Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2 is still a possibility.