Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 film starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye and Joanna Cassidy, directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman and produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts.
Plot
In 1947 Los Angeles, "toons" act in theatrical cartoon shorts as with live-action films; they regularly interact with real people and animals and reside in Toontown. Private detective Eddie Valiant and his brother, Teddy, once worked closely with the toons on several famous cases, but after Teddy was killed by a toon, Eddie lapsed into alcoholism, lost his sense of humor and vowed never to work for toons again.
R.K. Maroon, head of Maroon Cartoon Studios, is concerned about the recent poor performances of one of his biggest stars, Roger Rabbit. Maroon hires Valiant to investigate rumors about Roger's voluptuous toon wife Jessica being romantically involved with businessman Marvin Acme, owner of both Acme Corporation and Toontown. After watching Jessica perform at an underground nightclub, Valiant secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake in her dressing room, which he shows to Roger. Roger angrily declares that he and his wife will be happy, and he flees.
The next morning, Acme is discovered dead at his factory, and evidence points to Roger being responsible. While investigating, Valiant meets Judge Doom, Toontown's intimidating superior court judge. He has created a toxic substance called "dip" that is capable of killing a toon. Valiant later runs into Roger's toon co-star, Baby Herman, who believes Roger is innocent and that Acme's missing will, which will give the toons ownership of Toontown, may be the key to his murder. In his office, Valiant finds Roger, who begs him to help exonerate him. Valiant reluctantly hides Roger in a local bar, where his girlfriend Dolores works. Jessica approaches Valiant and says that Maroon forced her to pose for the photographs so he could blackmail Acme.
Doom and his toon weasel henchmen discover Roger, but he and Valiant escape with Benny, an anthropomorphic taxicab. They flee to a theater, where Valiant tells Roger that a toon killed Teddy when they were investigating a bank robbery. As they leave with Dolores, Valiant sees a newsreel detailing the sale of Maroon Cartoons to Cloverleaf, a mysterious corporation that bought the city's trolley network shortly before Acme's murder. Valiant goes to the studio to confront Maroon, leaving Roger to guard outside, but Jessica knocks Roger out and puts him in the trunk. Maroon tells Valiant that he blackmailed Acme into selling his company so he could sell the studio, then tearfully admits he only did so out of fear for the safety of the toons. Maroon is killed by an unseen assailant before he can explain the consequences of the missing will. Valiant spots Jessica fleeing the scene, and assuming she is the culprit, follows her into Toontown. Once he apprehends her, Jessica reveals that Doom killed Acme and Maroon and that Acme gave her his will for safekeeping, but she discovered that the will was blank. She and Valiant are then captured by Doom and the weasels.
At the Acme factory, Doom reveals his plot to destroy Toontown with a machine loaded with dip to build a freeway, the only way past Toontown since Cloverleaf has bought out Los Angeles' Pacific Electric Railway. Roger unsuccessfully attempts to save Jessica, and the couple is tied onto a hook in front of the machine's hose. Valiant performs a comedic vaudeville act, causing the weasels to die of laughter; Valiant kicks their leader into the machine's dip vat, killing him. Valiant fights Doom, who is flattened by a steamroller, but survives, exposing him as the very toon who killed Teddy. Valiant uses a toon boxing glove mallet that causes the machine to empty its dip onto Doom, dissolving him.
The empty machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a train. Toons run in to regard Doom's remains, and Valiant discovers that Roger inadvertently wrote his love letter for Jessica on Acme's will, which was written in disappearing/reappearing ink. Roger shocks Valiant with a joy buzzer, and Valiant gives him a kiss, having regained his sense of humor. Valiant happily enters Toontown with Dolores alongside Roger, Jessica and the other toons.