After nearly four decades of silence, Roger Rabbit could finally return to the big screen. The character, first seen in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has long been absent from Hollywood, showing up only briefly in 2022’s Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers. That may soon change after the rights to the character reverted to his creator, author Gary K. Wolf.
The 1988 film was a major achievement in its time. It combined live-action with animation in a seamless way and brought together characters from both Disney and Warner Bros., something rarely seen before or since. The story, a parody of classic Film Noir mysteries, received wide critical praise and still holds a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Wolf, who wrote the darker source novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, confirmed that regaining control of his creation opens the door for new films and stories. The rights have reverted to him under the 35-Year Copyright Reversion Clause, which allows original writers to reclaim their work after several decades. “Any sequels that we do have to at least match the quality of the original [1988] movie,” Wolf said. “In production value, in tone, in script content, in empathy, in character development. It has to be as good, or better than, what we did before. That’s what the fans want, and I have promised the fans that’s what I’m going to give them.”
According to I’mnotbad.com, Wolf began investigating his rights while developing a television series set in Toontown, the same fictional city from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. When researching whether he could legally use the name Toontown, he discovered that he could petition Disney for the return of his characters. He then learned the process might be less contentious than expected. “I expected that this would be a contentious process. Who knows what was going to happen? But, it was not. It was very civil, very courteous, very straightforward,” Wolf said. “Disney was always top-notch for me. They treated me very well. They always accommodated me in whatever I wanted to do.”
Wolf has already been developing several new projects under his own control. The most advanced is a live-action Jessica Rabbit movie, based on his book Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business. “The one that is most prominent … is a live-action Jessica Rabbit movie,” Wolf said. “That was the first project that we took a look at and the first we started developing. It’s probably the one that’s furthest along right now.”
Director Robert Zemeckis, who helmed the original 1988 film, once said that such a project was “not something Disney would ever do.” Now, Disney’s involvement is no longer required, though Wolf has said he would welcome their participation. “I’m looking to have fun with this and give fans what they have been wanting for 35 years,” he said.
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English (US) · 