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A Sequel For Roger Rabbit Exists But We Won't See It Anytime Soon

There is a script for a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but director Robert Zemeckis says we shouldn't expect to see it anytime soon.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of those rare films that even people who haven't seen a single frame of the actual film probably know something about or recognize at least a couple of the characters. The character first appeared in 1981, but the movie, which was released in 1988, was the thing that really cemented its place in the cultural zeigiest. It grossed just over $350 million, which, adjusted for inflation, is roughly $930 million. So, it is a massive film, to say the least. However, despite being a massive film and even preserved in the Library of Congress as of 2016, we never got a sequel. There were several false starts, and people spoke about sequels that might be, but nothing ever happened. Director Robert Zemeckis was recently on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast (via Variety). He revealed that there is a sequel script but that he believes the Disney of today wouldn't make Roger Rabbit.

"Here's what you have to know: The current Disney would never make 'Roger Rabbit' today," Zemeckis claimed. "They can't make a movie with Jessica in it. The sequel script isn't ever going to see the light of day as good as it is. I mean, look what they did to Jessica at the theme park. They trussed her up in a trench coach." Zemeckis is referring to the fact that Jessica Rabbit's appearance in Disneyland was changed, and there really isn't any other way to put this, even though it's a little weird to say about an animated character, but we're all cool here, to make her less hot.

That could have something to do with timing. In the late 1980s, Disney was in the middle of its renaissance, as massive animated films like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and more would start to come out in the next couple of years and really turn the studio around. However, they were having trouble finding what was clicking with audiences, and when you are looking for an answer, you tend to take more risks, which appears to be what happened with Roger Rabbit.

"We were able to make it right at the time when Disney was ready to rebuilt itself," Zemeckis said about why the film turned out to be such a classic. "We were there when a new regime came in and they were full of energy. I kept saying, and I sincerely say this, 'I am making 'Roger Rabbit' the way I believe Walt Disney would've made it.' I say that because Walt never made any of his movie for children. He always made them for adults. That's what I decided to do with 'Roger Rabbit.'"

We've said a lot here about how kids are not small, stupid adults but complete human beings with a different way of looking at the world that is unique to them. The people who truly make timeless films that can touch any age are the ones who understand that. Zemeckis spoke about how he was initially worried that kids wouldn't get Roger Rabbit. He explained, "One time we did a test preview with just moms and kids. I was terrified. These kids were five and six years old. They were riveted by the movie. I realized that kids get everything. They understand. They get it. The thing that Walt Disney never did was he never talked down to the children in his movies. He treated the kids like the adults." Zemeckis seems to think that Disney wouldn't ever make a Roger Rabbit film, but there are so many different subsets of the company now that the argument is moot. Technically, Disney made Poor Things just last year under Searchlight, so maybe moving Roger Rabbit under a different studio would be the easy solution to getting this sequel off the ground.

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