Let’s break it down side by side. The plot of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” sees private detective Eddie Valiant join forces with celebrity toon Roger Rabbit to save the animated bunny from rotting in prison for a murder he did not commit. Conversely, “Who Censored Roger Rabbit” sees Valiant join forces with a second-rate comic strip talent. And it’s not even the real second-rate comic strip talent because 2D performers can create clones of themselves … don’t ask. Onscreen, wacky shenanigans ensue and Jessica Rabbit helps Valiant clear her dopey husband’s name. On the page, she’s a golddigger who’s happily estranged from Roger. She might be a greedy jerk but Roger does kill her new lover, so who’s the real villain here?
The film adaptation goes on to feature delightful cameos from popular characters like Betty Boop, Donald and Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Bugs Bunny. The book goes on to feature a malicious genie who kills Roger out of sheer irritation. When Book Valiant discovers the genie’s crime, he dissolves the genie in salt water. If that feels reminiscent of Judge Doom’s method for murdering the helpless shoe creature, well, we’re pretty sure that’s where Robert Zemeckis got the idea for the film. Speaking of, the film sees Roger cleared of all charges and reunited with his love. The book sees Roger’s clone confess to Roger’s crimes, shortly before disintegrating, because that’s just something that clones do.
Surprisingly, Wolf loves the film! In an early 2010s Reddit AMA, he said, “I considered [“Censored”] to be unfilmable … Then [Steven] Spielberg and Bob Zemeckis got involved … I don’t begrudge anything they did to make that happen … I’m delighted with the result.” And so are we, Mr. Wolf. So are we.
