June 21, 1988: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" Premieres

June 21, 1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit premieres. Robert Zemeckis, best known for Back to the Future, directed. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf. It combines live action with cartoon animation, and includes some of the most legendary characters in cartoon history, as well as new ones created for this film.

But this is no kids' movie, and some may even find it disturbing.

In the world of the film, cartoon characters, a.k.a. "Toons," live side-by-side with real people. And, when making their films, can be just as temperamental and otherwise problematic as humans. Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) supplies the studios with gadgets, a nod to Wile E. Coyote and the "Acme" products he uses in his failed bids to catch the Road Runner. ("Acme" is an ancient Greek term meaning "peak" or "best.")

R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) runs Maroon Cartoons, a nod to Bugs Bunny, in his Bronx accent, calling somebody a moron: "What a maroon!" His biggest stars are Baby Herman (voiced by Lou Hirsch), who's 50 years old but still in the form of a baby; and Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer), the goofy, line-forgetting Costello to Herman's Abbott.

Despite being a Toon rabbit, Roger is married to a Toon woman, Jessica Rabbit (speaking voice, Kathleen Turner; singing voice, Amy Irving; and neither is listed in the credits), a lounge singer with, physical proportions that would be impossible in a human woman. She says, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." Why are she and Roger together? She says, "He makes me laugh." (Fleischer also voices Benny the Cab, and 2 of Judge Doom's weasels.)

But she is manipulated into sort-of cheating on him with Acme, and then Acme ends up dead, and Roger is the main suspect. To try to clear his name, he goes to Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins, a Cockney who nonetheless managed to sound like a hard-boiled American private eye), who once ran a successful private investigation firm with his brother Teddy.

A few years earlier, Teddy was killed by a Toon. Ever since, Eddie has been drinking away his P.I. skills. He needs Roger as much as Roger needs him, but, as he does with everybody (except, apparently, Jessica), Roger annoys the hell out of Eddie. Joanna Cassidy plays Dolores, a waitress who helps Eddie and Roger.

They are pursued by Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) and his gang of Toon weasels, led by Smart Ass (the unmistakable voice of David Lander, a.k.a. Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley). Eddie looks at the available evidence, and thinks Maroon is behind it all. Maroon admits he had a chance to sell his studio, including Toontown, where all the Toons live. The problem is, he only owned half of Toontown: Acme owned the other half, and no one knew who his beneficiary in the event of his death would be. If that remained true, Maroon would be sole owner -- and chief suspect. But Maroon is shot and killed just as he's confessing to Eddie.

Now, Doom can buy both men's shares, cheap. As villains so often do, instead of immediately killing the heroes they've captured, he stupidly explains his plan to them first. It's for a road: "Eight lanes of shimmering cement, running from here to Pasadena. Smooth, safe, fast. Traffic jams will be a thing of the past." (Yeah, surrre! He continued.) "I see a place where people get on and off the freeway, on and off, off and on, all day, all night! Soon, where Toontown once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food, tire salons, automobile dealerships, and wonderful, wonderful billboards, reaching as far as the eye can see! My God, it'll be beautiful!"

In other words, he foresaw freeway exits, and the shopping centers that sprang up around them, serving as the new "downtown shopping districts" for what became suburban America after World War II. Except that the film took place in 1947, when said 8 lanes were already in place in real life in 1940: The L.A. area's 1st freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway, went to Pasadena.

To build his freeway, Doom has to destroy Toontown. In order to do that, he found a way to do what was previously considered impossible, due to "cartoon physics": A way to not only kill a Toon, but destroy Toontown, an acid he called "The Dip."

Eddie breaks out, a fight results, and it appears that Doom is killed. But he isn't: It turns out that not only is his human form a disguise for a Toon, but that Doom is the Toon who killed his brother. Eddie shakes off this shock, and kills Doom and his weasels. Acme's will is found, leaving Toontown to the Toons themselves. (The legal status of Toons needs to be mentioned: Are they considered "people," and entitled to the rights thereof in court?)

Cameos are made by some of the biggest legends of cartoons: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse (voice of Wayne Allwine), Minnie Mouse (Russi Taylor), Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo), Goofy (Tony Pope), Pinocchio (Peter Westy) and Dumbo (Frank Welker); Warner Brothers' Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat (all voiced by Mel Blanc, in what turned out to be his last film before he died) and Yosemite Sam (Joe Alaskey); Paramount's Betty Boop (her original portrayer, Mae Questel); MGM's Droopy Dog (Richard Williams); and legendary actress June Foray in multiple roles.

Naturally, as Porky, Blanc ends the film with the classic Warner Brothers ending: Porky's stuttering "A-ba-dee, a-ba-dee, a-ba-dee, a-ba, that's all, folks!"

The film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, none for acting. It won 4. Not surprising, it took the "Oscars" for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects. The 4th Oscar was a Special Achievement Award, given to Richard Williams, who had been producing animated sequences for film openings since the 1950s.

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June 21, 1988 was a Thursday. Game 7 of the NBA Finals was played at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. The Los Angeles Lakers made it back-to-back titles, defeating the Detroit Pistons: "Showtime" 108, "the Motor City Bad Boys" 105.

Football was out of season. Hockey season had ended on May 26, when the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Yankees led 6-1 going into the bottom of the 9th, thanks to the 1st major league home run of Randy Velarde, and Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly each having 2 hits and an RBI. But in the bottom of the 9th, first Neil Allen, then Dave Righetti imploded, and Cecilo Guante gave up a grand slam to Allen Trammell.

* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-0 at Shea Stadium. Ron Darling pitched a 7-hit shutout. Kevin McReynolds hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Pascual Pérez pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Tim Burke pitched a perfect 9th.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4, but Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. George Brett and Frank White hit home runs.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Paul Molitor went 2-for-5.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Chili Davis hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Paul Kilgus pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5 with an RBI.