Rabbit hops along at an hilarious pace.

Rating: 9/10 (26 February 2013)

One of the most original and novel films of the eighties Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a laugh filled non-stop comedy for all ages as well as subversive satire with historical roots. It is also history making with the first and only appearance on stage together of the two biggest quacks in animation history Donald and Daffy.
Private Detective Eddie Valiant is hired to get the goods on cartoon star Roger Rabbit's voluptuous wife Jessica and Acme cartoon producer Marvin Acme. Producing evidence RR goes ballistic and Acme ends up dead. Naturally Rog is the prime suspect but Valiant digs deeper and finds there is a lot more to the equation than a simple homicide.
Melding animation with reality fluidly Rabbit takes off from the get go with high comic moments from end to end as both Looney, Disney and assorted other cartoon greats make appearances that will permanently imprint a smile on your face from beginning to end. In addition there are some wonderfully appropriate references to Chinatown mimicking not only scenes but also bureaucratic skulduggery with a basis in truth that plagued LA in the first half of the century.
Bob Hoskins as the rumpled alcoholic gumshoe is fire plug sized perfect to ride around in talking taxi's and punch out cartoon characters with a frustrated cynicism. Christopher Lloyd also fills the villain role with aplomb, sadistically dispensing with a toon in the films most disturbing scene. On the animation side Roger is annoyingly and hilariously unable to put a cork in it. The buxom Jessica is a combination Lauren Bacall, Mae West who claims she's not bad, "just drawn that way". Then there are the dozens of cameo performances of animated greats populating the film that never allow you to catch your breath along with all sorts of cartoon gadgets that make you realize the kid in you never left. Who Framed Roger Rabbit deserves to be called a unique classic.