Whenever someone thinks of a classic live action/animation hybrid, Who Framed Roger
Rabbit?
pops into their heads.
Based on the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, this movie was innovative and technically
advanced.
In addition to paying tribute to the film noir genre, animation direction was provided
by the late Richard Williams.
This film provided countless cameo appearances, with Disney and Warner Bros. characters literally
sharing the same screen, but there were also characters who played a vital role in this
mystery.
We are here to solve the mystery of which character is most good and which character
is most evil, regardless of whether they are humans or Toons.
I’m Brad with WickedBinge, and this is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Characters: Good to Evil.
We need to address a very important rule before we investigate this case.
We are only discussing the original and main characters.
While it is noteworthy to see these timeless and beloved cartoon characters throughout
the film, keep in mind that they are still cameos.
Whether it was Donald and Daffy Duck performing a piano duel or Mickey Mouse giving Eddie
Valiant a spare tire instead of a parachute, those are always memorable.
While ToonTown plays an important role in the story, not the Toons themselves.
Plus, this list for those who have seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
For those who are new to Roger Rabbit, we highly advise you to watch the movie first
before watching this list.
It will contain spoilers, watch at your own risk.
Now that's out of the way, let's get started.
As always, we'll be starting with the most pure and noble characters and working our
way down.
These characters are THE GOOD.
It is no mistake that our titular character, Roger Rabbit, deserves the gold medal for
pure good.
He is a cartoon rabbit inspired by numerous iconic characters of the Golden Age, who has
worked and starred in numerous animated comedies, along with his co-star Baby Herman.
As portrayed on camera, Roger is always trying to keep Baby Herman safe while getting hurt
in the process.
Outside of work, Roger is an optimistic and innocent soul who enjoys making people laugh,
especially with his wife Jessica.
He even entertained the patrons by singing and dancing at the Trolley Terminal Bar, despite
in hiding.
Yes, he can be hyperactive, talkative, stutter, screw up his lines, and would get on anyone's
nerves, but he does not mean any harm.
Roger turns to Eddie Valiant, after being framed for murder, since he believes that
Eddie is the only one who can protect him, in spite of his prejudice against Toons.
He is also extremely sensitive when he discovers Jessica has been "cheating" on him and was
cowardly when Judge Doom and the Toon Patrol searched for him.
Plus, it’s best to NEVER give him alcohol.
Thankfully, Roger slowly grew in bravery and attempted to save Eddie and Jessica by pointing
a gun at Judge Doom without fear.
Although Roger failed, his heart was in the right place.
In fact, the more we learn about Roger, the more we understand why he earns the top spot
on our list.
Our silver medal goes to our detective for this case, Eddie Valiant.
In the beginning, Eddie and his brother Teddy were well-known for solving Toon cases under
the name Valiant & Valiant.For example, Donald Duck's nephews were kidnapped and Goofy's
espionage accusations were dropped.
Those cases alone should be worth discussing one day.
He was also athletic from his days as a clown at the Barnum and Bailey Circus, which became
useful in the climax.
Furthermore, Eddie has a respect for certain cartoon characters, including Betty Boop,
whose career slipped after cartoons switched from black-and-white to color.
However, after Teddy was killed by a Toon, Eddie ceased to do cases, became an alcoholic,
and developed a hatred for most Toons, with a few exceptions.
Even if he was irritated or ridiculed by the police, he would get angry.
Eddie's ranking would be lowered; however, Roger Rabbit's personality is a major reason
for Eddie's high standing.
When Roger enters the picture, Eddie stays devoted to his job as he tries to crack the
mystery and steadily rekindles his passion for Toons.
One of his most developed moments was when he quit drinking and used his wits to trick
the weasels into "die laughing" at the Acme Warehouse.
Bob Hoskins may be gone, but his character will always be remembered as a hard-boiled
detective with a silver heart.
Taking bronze is one of history's most sexy cartoon characters, Jessica Rabbit.
As mentioned before, she is Roger Rabbit’s human wife.
Many people are baffled and confused by their relationship.
Jessica's answer is simple: Roger makes her laugh.
In fact, she calls him "better than Goofy".
Fair enough.
Jessica performs in the Ink & Paint Club in her spare time as an actress and singer.
Aside from her physical beauty (and an unmentionable short moment in the VHS release), Jessica
has also become known for her mysterious personality in the alleged affair she had with Marvin
Acme.
Once the mystery is unraveled, however, she still earns the bronze medal for maintaining
her selflessness and compassion.
In spite of her calm and collected appearance, Jessica is full of surprises.
Jessica saved Eddie from being shot by Judge Doom in the alleyway in ToonTown by defending
herself from danger.
Often her humor is subtle, like the time when one of the Weasels' hands catches in a bear
trap.
You know what we're talking about.
Jessica even lost her cool when she discovered Judge Doom's dip machine.
Even so, Jessica Rabbit still left her mark on cartoon history in a similar way to Betty
Boop.
Jessica herself said it best: “I’m not bad.
I’m just drawn that way.”
Next up is the owner of Acme Corporation, Marvin Acme.
If you are familiar with the Road Runner/Wile E. cartoons, you may recognize the Acme products
Wile uses to catch the Road Runner.
He probably has to thank Marvin for them.
Marvin Acme is a lighthearted yet eccentric businessman who loves to joke around, but
also has a creative eye for his gags and props.The items on his line include: disappearing and
reappearing ink, portable holes, the Singing Sword, and The Punching Glove Mallet.
Additionally, he founded ToonTown and cares deeply for the welfare of the Toons.
In fact, he seems to have a "close relationship" with Jessica Rabbit, which later turned out
to be a set-up.
Marvin has been placed lower on the list because he is the victim of the murder mystery.
Roger was framed for killing Marvin when a safe fell on his head.
There was a deleted scene involving his funeral with characters that didn't make it into the
final cut, which includes Casper the Friendly Ghost accidentally scaring everyone away.
In addition, Marvin's will to ToonTown was missing, and without it, Judge Doom will turn
the town into a freeway.
While he's dead, Marvin's spirit lives on in the products used by Eddie to trick the
weasels and kill Judge Doom.
As long as the will is safe, Marvin will be remembered as someone who was kind to the
Toons.
You'll be happy to see her because we present Dolores.
Dolores is Eddie's girlfriend and a waitress at the Trolley Terminal Bar.
Beforehand, Eddie had a good relationship with Dolores during his prime.
However, things went sour between them once Eddie started drinking after Teddy's death.
Without enough money to repay her loan before her boss finds out, she risks losing her job.
She can be snarky and has a sense of dry humor like Eddie.
When she catches Jessica Rabbit visiting Eddie's office and blowing a kiss at him after she
leaves, she gets jealous too.
Despite Dolores' behavior, she keeps her place because she still cares for Eddie and attempts
to clear Roger's name.
While Roger was being hunted for by the Toon Patrol, Dolores agreed to hide him in the
bar.
But once he was caught, it didn't last very long.
The most noble act Dolores performed was tricking Judge Doom into forcing Roger to drink alcohol
as a final result, which gave him and Eddie the chance to escape afterwards.
It not only reawakens his respect for Toons, but also his love for Dolores at the same
time.
Dolores is a smart alleck, but she already has Eddie as a good man, which makes her a
supportive girlfriend on the good tier.
We have a quick, honorable spot for Eddie's boss, Lt. Santino.
Santino is a L.A.P.D.
Lieutenant and Eddie’s superior officer.
It is also the same actor who portrayed the imperial officer that gets choked by Darth
Vader in A New Hope.
Lt. Santino doesn't appear much in the movie, but he is the same person who assigned Eddie
the case concerning Marvin Acme's murder, and who introduced him to Judge Doom and his
weapon, The Dip.
He has a stern demeanor and scolds Eddie for doing things that were not within his jurisdiction
as a detective.
Additionally, Santino appears to know the background of Doom in regards to bringing
an election to ToonTown.
Santino is ranked lower because he lacks hindsight, believes Roger to be the prime suspect and
does not question how Doom easily won the election.
Even so, he is still a decent man who deeply cares about Eddie and could've turned to him
if Eddie needed money badly.
Judge Doom showed off his dip by killing an innocent Toon shoe, but Santino couldn't bear
to see an innocent Toon punished in such a cruel manner.
Even so, Santino was impressed by Eddie's valiant conclusion to the crime, no pun intended.
Lt. Santino is basically only doing his job and his policing duties are enough to keep
him away from the grey area.
Our last contender on the good list goes to Benny the Cab.
Benny is a Toon taxi cab that the Toon Patrol captured after he went a few miles, according
to him.
When Eddie and Roger rescued Benny during their escape, they helped him get through
a chase scene until they finally hid in a movie theater.
In contrast to other taxi drivers, Benny tends to drive chaotically and ignore traffic laws.
Additionally, he is a boisterous and outspoken individual who doesn't take kindly to slow
drivers.
Benny can get easily impatient if people fight over who gets to drive him or if he's not
sure where to drop off his passengers because his meter's running.
Although his behavior is brash, Benny is still a loyal helping hand and has unique abilities.
He has a lever that could lift him off the road to avoid colliding with other cars.
Plus, he can drive other cars so well.
That's not something you see every day, a car driving a car.
Also, we credit him for being the only Toon who survived Judge Doom's Dip.
Though Benny escaped the grey area by a hair, we cannot deny that his driving and loyalty
could turn out to be a surprise.
That's it with the good characters.
Now, it's time to descend into the neutral territory.
This is the GREY AREA.
Topping off the grey area is the recurring barfly, Angelo.
Angelo is a minor character who leaves a lasting impression during the movie.
When we first meet Angelo, he acts like a nasty, wisecracking jerk that loves to poke
fun at Eddie and his detective work.
An insult about "finding Little Bo Beep's sheep" reached Eddie's boiling point, and
he promptly stuffed Angelo's mouth with a hard-boiled egg.
Angelo became shocked once he and the others learned a Toon killed Teddy.When Roger later
hid at the bar, Angelo and others were very happy to have him around.
He got his opportunity when Judge Doom began searching for Roger and offered a large reward.
Angelo looked tempted and was on the verge of spilling the beans.
In reality, he fooled Doom into thinking the rabbit was imaginary, and called him "Harvey",
showing that he would never betray Roger Rabbit.
It was also a nod to the James Stewart movie, Harvey.
While Angelo is “the kind of guy who would rat on you for a nickel", he stays alfoat
in the neutral area for having moral standards.
Jokes aside, Angelo is not that bad of guy once you get to know him.
In the middle of the grey area, we have Roger's co-star, Baby Herman.
This cartoon of an infant appears alongside Roger Rabbit in a number of Maroon cartoons.
He appears to be a cute and innocent baby on camera who wanders off and unknowingly
gets Roger into trouble.
This is almost like a parody of Tom & Jerry cartoons where both characters try to save
a mischievous baby.
Once the camera stops rolling, Baby Herman is really an old man with a mob mentality,
smoking a cigar and speaking deep.
Whenever Roger messes up filming, Baby Herman can be rude and impatient.
As well as constantly hitting on women, he would even treat his "handler" poorly.
Baby Herman still acts like a baby whenever he "naps" in his trailer or cries when his
cigar falls on the ground.
Geez, buddy, grow up.
Although Herman acts like a spoiled brat, he remains neutral because he cares deeply
about Roger and regards him as a good friend.
Also, he is the first Toon to tell Eddie about Roger's frame-up for murdering Marvin Acme
and the will for ToonTown.
Regardless, Baby Herman is a bad baby, but not bad enough for the bad category.
Ending our grey area is the owner of Maroon Cartoons, R.K.
Maroon.
Maroon is an executive at a studio that produces cartoons daily, where Roger Rabbit and Baby
Herman are his most popular characters.
Additionally, he has established connections with animated studios and employs many of
their characters.
Maroon rented Dumbo and half the cast from Disney, where they would work for peanuts,
especially Dumbo.
As Roger was losing focus on his acting, Maroon suspected Jessica of cheating.
Thus, Eddie was hired by Maroon to take pictures of her and Marvin Acme playing pattycake ...literally,
which devastated Roger.
Later, it turns out that it was a set-up by Maroon where he posed Jessica for the pictures
in order to blackmail Marvin Acme into selling his properties to Maroon's new business partner,
Cloverleaf Industries.
This scandalous act would’ve made R.K.
Maroon a candidate in the bad or evil category.
He remains at the bottom of the grey area, realizing that Judge Doom is part of Cloverfield
Industries and that ToonTown will be destroyed if the will is not found.
Eddie confronted and forced an anxious Maroon to confess his involvement and reveal he still
cares about Toons and doesn't want them killed.
Maroon was tragically killed by Judge Doom just before he revealed his plan.
We can forgive R.K.
Maroon for making a life-risking mistake.
As Bugs Bunny would say, his arranged scandal turned him into a total maroon.
In other words, he’s a cartoon maker, not a murderer.
That wraps up the grey area.
We're now entering the bad territory where two contenders on this list commited the most
dangerous and evil crimes.
Our runner-up goes to the villainous weasel gang, The Toon Patrol.
These Toon weasels are basically Judge Doom's henchmen.
It is ironic that they act more like gangsters and crooks than law enforcement.
They disturb the peace instead of protecting it.
When they do the job, they also have their paddy wagons and guns at the ready.
Whatever trouble they cause, these weasels won't rest until Roger is killed.
Their leader Smartass heads the gang, which includes Greasy, Psycho, Stupid, and Wheezy.
Smartass is considered to be the most serious and sarcastic of all the weasels.
For the rest of them, they laugh uncontrollably.
Smartass constantly warns them to stop or else they'll "die from laughter" someday.
Eddie uses his acrobatics and wit from his glory days to trick the weasels into literally
laughing themselves to death during the climax.
Smartass even died a graphic death by being kicked into a vat of Dip.
The only thing keeping the Toon Patrol from being the most evil is their lack of motivation.
While these were clearly minions, it was unclear whether they were doing it for money or maliciously.
Moreover, it was never established whether they knew Doom was a Toon or not.
The Toon Patrol is still dangerous, regardless of why they rank second on this list.
You all knew this was coming.
No less than Judge Doom is our winner for the most evil character.
In case you weren't intimidated by Christopher Lloyd never blinking during filming, you haven't
met Judge Doom.
Initially, we encounter Doom as a reserved, yet no-nonsense man who brutally executes
those who stand in his way.
He even created a Toon-killing weapon, the "Dip", a mixture of turpentine, acetone, and
benzene.
The heartless murder of an innocent Toon shoe shows his complete lack of remorse.
Have we forgotten to mention that he also abuses his own henchmen?
Doom created Cloverleaf Industries so he could trick R.K Maroon into buying Marvin Acme's
properties, including ToonTown.
His plan is to destroy ToonTown with his Dip and use it as a freeway so he can profit from
it.
He can also be very cunning as he lures Roger Rabbit out with a shave-and-haircut trick
or by smelling his presence.
In the third act, Eddie manages to glue Judge Doom and flatten him with a steam roller.
In a shocking revelation, Judge Doom turns out to be a Toon!
This was not just any Toon, but the same Toon that killed Teddy years ago.
With red eyes and a high, squeaky voice, Judge Doom is a sadistic psychopath who enjoys torturing
his victims and killing them slowly, in an agonizing manner.
He is more dangerous because he can create deadly weapons with his hands, such as anvils
and buzzsaws.
Eddie manages to give Doom a taste of his own medicine and he melts away from the Dip.
Those who saw this movie will remember how sinister and terrifying the villain, Judge
Doom, was.
Judge Doom's clever plan, serious demeanor, and psychotic secret make him the most evil
character in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
But, what do you think?
Do you agree, and did we miss any other Roger Rabbit characters?
Let us know in the comments if you agree with our ranking, and tell us which series you’d
like to see next.
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featuring your favorite cartoons and video games, but most importantly: stay wicked!