Sightlines · reception
How Who Framed Roger Rabbit was received
1988 · Robert Zemeckis · Who Framed Roger Rabbit on Sightlines
The arc
A smash hit in 1988 and a technical marvel even then, it's only grown in stature — now seen as an unrepeatable miracle of studio cooperation and the film that kickstarted the 90s animation renaissance.
What’s debated
The perennial fan debate: could this film ever be made today, given the rights miracle of getting Disney and Warner Bros. characters on screen together — and why has the long-rumoured sequel never happened?
Its footprint
Jessica Rabbit's 'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way' is one of the most quoted lines of the 80s, and the Mickey-and-Bugs shared scene remains the crossover all other crossovers get measured against.
Where it stands
A stone-cold canon entry — the family film noir that cinephiles, animation nerds and casual viewers all agree on, and a fixture of 'best of the 80s' lists.
Did you know? Kathleen Turner voiced Jessica Rabbit's speaking lines but went uncredited, while Charles Fleischer performed Roger's voice on set dressed in a full Roger Rabbit costume so Bob Hoskins had something to act against.
Named by the director
- Chinatown (1974) — Zemeckis and his writers used Chinatown's L.A. conspiracy noir as the explicit template, swapping water rights for freeways.