Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Comparison To The Film

Comparison To The Film

Although the book features many of the same characters used in the film, some of their characteristics, as well as the basic plot, are significantly different. The novel is set in the present day and in a strange universe in which humans and cartoon characters co-exist. The cartoons of the novel are primarily comic strip characters, as opposed to animated cartoon stars, with famous strip characters making cameos, such as Dick Tracy, Snoopy, Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead, Beetle Bailey, and Hägar the Horrible. Strips are produced by photographing cartoon characters. In this version, “toon” characters speak in word balloons which appear above their heads as they talk. Although some characters have learned to suppress this and speak vocally, the use of word balloons forms several important plot points.

In the book, the toons have the power to create duplicates of themselves as stunt doubles for risky shots. They crumble to dust in a few minutes, though Roger does create one that can last a couple of days. When Roger is shot and killed by an unknown assailant, his doppelganger works with the detective to solve his murder before he goes to dust. In the film, toons are merely unkillable - except by "dip" - and shrug off even the worst injuries.

The only line of dialogue from the book that was re-used in the film was spoken by Baby Herman, saying “I’ve got a 50-year-old lust and a 3-year-old dinky,” though in the book, his actual age is given as 36.