DVD
Upcoming Release Calendar
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade
Recent DVD/Video Releases
60
9
xx
Across the Hall
56
Adam
37
Amelia
73
Amreeka
35
Babysitters, The
70
Big Fan
57
Boys Are Back, The
81
Bright Star
71
Bronson
60
Brothers at War
55
Brothers Bloom, The
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
64
Che
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
54
Dare
68
Departures
19
Downloading Nancy
55
Endgame
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
27
Gamer
50
Give Me Your Hand
46
Halloween II
73
House of the Devil, The
94
Hurt Locker, The
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
17
I Hate Valentine's Day
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
83
In the Loop
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
41
Little Ashes
80
Lorna's Silence
33
Love Happens
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
xx
Ministers, The
67
Moon
59
More Than a Game
49
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
28
Pandorum
68
Paranormal Activity
85
Passing Strange
63
Perfect Getaway, A
44
Peter and Vandy
54
Pontypool
35
Post Grad
30
Saw VI
79
Serious Man, A
36
Serious Moonlight
76
Soul Power
40
Spiral
39
St. Trinian's
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
47
Time Traveler's Wife
43
Tru Loved
61
Trucker
47
Weather Girl
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
EMAILPRINTBuena Vista Pictures
Universal acclaim
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Noir
Written by:
Jeffrey Price
Peter S. Seaman
Gary K. Wolf (novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?)
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 21, 1988
DVD: March 25, 2003
Running Time: 103 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG
Starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye, Alan Tilvern, Richard LeParmentier, and Kathleen Turner
Gumshoe detective Eddie Valiant (Hoskins) is on the job in both Hollywood and Toontown, and the line between reality and fantasy gets blurred as Eddie tries to solve a major "who dunnit." He's thrown for quite a set of curves when he meets Jessica Rabbit, the sultry "toon" who whispers "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." When Eddie gets mixed up with the fast-talking "toon" Roger Rabbit (Fleischer) he finds himself crossing paths with such characters as the hilarious Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, the sinister Judge Doom and more, in a wacky adventure of a lifetime. (Buena Vista)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Beowulf Cast Away Contact Forrest Gump The Polar Express What Lies Beneath
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Combines live-action and animation with breathtaking wizardry... Alternately hilarious, frightening, and awesome.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
What is astonishing about this movie is how all the elements are so deftly mixed - the technology of real sets and people interwoven with the cartoon world, and yet Zemeckis hardly sacrifices a beat in laying out a curlicuing '40s-style thriller. [22 June 1988]
Washington Post Rita Kempley
An instant slapstick classic from Disney and Steven Spielberg. Already, it's a hare's breadth away from legend. [22 June 1988]
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
If you don’t like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, have your pulse checked... You'll forget yourself right through to the end when Porky Pig, dressed as a cop, says "M-move along, there's n-nothing more to s-see folks." [24 June 1988]
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie is funny, but it's more than funny, it's exhilarating.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
It's the year's cleverest comedy in more ways than one. The animated sequences are brilliant... Most important, the story also has dark overtones that lend a hint of seriousness to what could have been just silly. [24 June 1988]
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
A film whose best moments are so novel, so deliriously funny, and so crazily unexpected that they truly must be seen to be believed. [22 June 1988]
USA Today Mike Clark
If it isn't flawless, neither is "Fantasia"... Here's a live-action/animated marvel with no screen antecedent; “Chinatown” may actually come closest. [22 June 1988]
Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr
Brilliantly funny, bracingly smart and surprisingly moving. [22 June 1988]
Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson
Dense, satisfying, feverishly inventive and a technical marvel… But--animation aside--the treasure of the piece is Hoskins' pungent, visceral comic performance. [22 June 1988]
TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)
While flawlessly delivered, it's overkill--so loud and excessive, it makes our head swim... It's like a sumptous banquet composed entirely of fast food; fills you up but entirely forgettable.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
An unparalleled technical achievement... Yet the story amounts to little more than inspired silliness about the filmmaking biz where cartoon characters face off against cartoonish humans.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Without warning, the picture falls hard into the very trap it had so studiously avoided, the one marked Expensive Gimmick... The same feature that begins like no film you've ever seen ends like every cartoon you've always avoided.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Something got lost in the move from storyboard to screen, and in the stretch from seven minutes to 103. [27 June 1988]
The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
The plot, the gags, the action are so stupid and strident, so unfunnily parodic, that the film's only interest is in wondering how they did it-the mix of animation and live action. [1 Aug 1988]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
I had so much fun with this movie. A classic.
J B gave it a9:
A great film. Ignore Stanley Kauffmann's remarks, this movie is a funny, fresh little wonder that amazed the world with its images and captured the heart with its characters.
Caleb D. gave it a10:
Animation and real life combined together to make an astounding movie!
R Coley gave it a10:
I can't think of any film in history that is more deserving of a sequel, but only if they can make it as brilliant as the original.
Dan C. gave it a 10:
After seeing this film, I couldn't believe that Bob Hoskins was British! Everyone in this film is excellent. Hoskins always seems like he's talking to another actor, as opposed to a cartoon. Christopher Lloyd is great here too. I love the cameos by Bugs and Mickey.
Pat C. gave it a 10:
Unimitated before or since. Q: How do you score a film that you can't compare to anything else? A: With 2 digits.
Gilbert Mulroneycakes And Friends gave it a 10:
To not like this film, you do have to be some sort of twat. I'm glad Stanley Kauffman's review is now inaccessible; it seems to be the most tragic thing you could ever read (er, on the subject of family movies). This movie is FUN. Remember fun? It's got everything you need for a magnificent family movie, and adds some more things as well, just for the sake of it. Oh, and Mike's right: it's a technical tour de wossname which still hasn't really been equalled.
