Who Framed Roger Rabbit

How this film uses it

Cartoon characters cast shadows, hold real props and move with the live camera. On set, puppeteers, rubber mannequins and robotic arms helped the actors react to something. Because the animation sits so firmly in the frame, you believe it.

Where to see it

The Ink and Paint Club: Eddie photographs Jessica Rabbit with Marvin Acme while the cartoon and human worlds mix in the same club.

How this film uses it

Many of the live shots used physical tricks. Props moved on strings, robotic arms held things, and rubber mannequins showed the actors where to look. Charles Fleischer even wore a Roger Rabbit costume on set. The result is a world where cartoon objects have real weight.

Where to see it

The opening cartoon: A refrigerator falls on Roger during a cartoon shoot, and the director stops the take because his reaction is wrong.

How this film uses it

The film is a film noir detective story crossed with a slapstick cartoon. A murder case and a conspiracy about land share space with talking rabbits and cartoon weasels. The clash keeps you off balance.

Where to see it

The investigation: Eddie follows the case of Marvin Acme's death while dealing with Judge Doom and the weasels.

How this film uses it

Everyone is chasing Acme's missing will. The paper looks blank, and the plot depends on it. In the end, the blank page is the key.

Where to see it

The blank will: Eddie realizes the will was written in invisible ink, confirming the toons own Toontown.

How this film uses it

Eddie has to use comedy to survive. He finally beats the weasels by making them laugh so hard they die, using the cartoon logic he used to hate. It turns the film's central joke into a weapon.

Where to see it

The weasels' laughter: At Acme's factory, Eddie performs a comedy routine that makes the weasels laugh themselves to death.