As far back as I can remember, one of my favorite films has been Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The VHS copy of the 1988 Disney (by way of Touchstone) film was screened many times in my childhood home. It’s a wondrous blend of hand-drawn cel animation seamlessly brought into a live action world recreating 1940’s Los Angeles, and great special effects work brought this wonderful story to life. If there wasn’t a wonderful story, then it would just be an empty, meaningless VFX reel. The concept behind the film so intrigued me that I felt like I had to know more. As someone who thinks of themselves as a creative type, I was yearning to seek out creativity wherever I could find it. The film itself is based on a similarly titled novel by Gary K. Wolf. I tried in vain to seek a copy of the book, but it was unfortunately out of print. Out of print, that is, until it became available as part of Amazon’s CreateSpace publishing. I finally purchased a copy and was able to dive into the original incarnation of Roger Rabbit.

The book, Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, takes place in then modern day Los Angeles (The 1980s) where we follow private eye Eddie Valiant as he moves from person to person trying to piece everything together. In the world of the book, cartoon characters exist alongside humans, referred to as “toons”. Roger is himself a second banana in a daily comic strip. In this world, comic strips are made up of sequential photographs instead of being hand-drawn by a cartoonist. Roger hires Eddie Valiant to look into why his employers, the DeGreasy Brothers, have seemingly reneged on a deal to give him his own featured strip.

From there, we’re introduced to a veritable menagerie of characters, humans and toon alike. Shortly thereafter, Roger himself is murdered. Before anyone clicks away, Roger shows up to bother Eddie into solving his murder. You see, toons can use quasi-psychic powers to conjure up doppelgangers for stunt work and the like. Since he’s got Roger’s money already, Eddie agrees to try and solve the case, much to his own annoyance, with the ticking clock being provided by Roger’s double expiring in about 48 hours.

From there, we move through each chapter as it chronicles Eddie in (basically) one-on-one conversations with each of the characters involved in the plot. There’s Roger, who he personally can’t stand, but who he feels bad for (considering he’s been murdered) and who brings him along as an impromptu partner. There’s Carol Masters, the photographer of Roger’s strip and possibly a secret admirer. And, of course, there’s Roger’s ex-wife, the seductive Jessica Rabbit, who has femme fatale drawn all over her.

Let me just say this right off the bat: for those of you expecting a 1:1 adaption of the 1988 movie, you will be disappointed. This book is very much its own thing, which was synthesized into the later film. This is what good adaptations should do – translate the core ideas into what works for the given medium. This book is a blazing work of originality in terms of the premise alone. A world where toons and humans coexist is a novel and funny concept that this book explores well. In my opinion, like the movie, this concept is treated as more than a gimmick but does not overpower the narrative. There is still a strong and well-structured story at the core here.

The real pleasures in reading the book come from the strength of Wolf’s parody. He has the hardboiled paperback patter down pat which reminded me a lot of Gregory McDonald’s Fletch (1974).  In both, we follow a central investigative protagonist and each chapter consists largely of a one-on-one conversation with a suspect or character witness. On this level, Wolf succeeds at delivering a work that is both parodic yet sincerely well executed enough to pass for the real thing. This book isn’t interested in doing half-baked “film noir” shtick, it has a real story to tell, and it does it well. This is first and foremost a mystery, albeit in the Dashiel Hammet vein more than Agatha Christie. That being said, Eddie Valiant’s narration is sparkling with wit to keep you laughing from time to time.

I’m not sure what the modern-day consensus on this book is. I don’t think it being out of print for over 20 years has helped its reputation much. I feel like people probably assume this isn’t very good, outside of inspiring the film. I’ve seen people here and there online that say “It sucks” or that the third act twist threw them. For me, this whole book hung together quite well. People might have such fondness for the 1988 film that they can’t enjoy this as its own thing. For me, I find it easy to compartmentalize the two. The core DNA of all the characters (Eddie Valiant, Roger, Jessica, and Baby Herman) are all here and are incorporated into the film exceptionally well. (I was shocked to find out Jessica’s “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way” originates here. Wolf doesn’t get enough credit for his own creations.)

No, there is no scenic journey into Toontown here. Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse do not appear together to play hi-jinks on Eddie Valiant. Judge Doom doesn’t even exist here. Even Eddie’s deceased brother providing his disgust of toons isn’t part of the original canon. If that’s a dealbreaker for some of you people, I guess I can understand. The book is by necessity and by the limitations of the textual medium more concerned with conveying facts and information practically through well-honed dialogue rather than imagining wild cinematic visuals. Changing the conceit of a mute Roger having real-world speech balloons that appear and have to be read by Eddie was wise and works better in a book than a movie.

All in all, I felt this was a very brisk and powerful read. I always wanted to know what happened next. Wolf has concocted an intricate plot within these pages. I suppose it could be easy for someone to get lost in all the details, but I feel like Wolf’s done enough of the small thinking that we can just focus on the big picture. To me, this is a book that’s been long enough for a reappraisal. Highly recommended. Please read this if you’re interested.

I look forward to picking up the rest of this series. The sequel, Who P-p–p-plugged Roger Rabbit? was released in 1991, and evidently is based much more on following the events of the movie. A wise decision of Wolf’s part given the way this book ends. After 22 years, a third book was released called Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? Finally, just this year, 2022, a fourth entry in the saga, entitled Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business was released. All these books can be found on Amazon. In a society where the creations of writers and artists are frequently stolen by large corporations, it makes me feel good that Gary K. Wolf still maintains the copyright and ownership of his characters and can write books about them to this very day. I’m looking forward to reading the next entries and eagerly await volume five.