Who Framed Mr. Toad

Who Framed Mr. Toad is a 1988 American live-action/animated mystery comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Roger Birnbaum and Andy Heyward, and written by Kerry Ehrin. The film is based on James Patterson 1982 novel Who Censored Mr. Toad? The film stars Lou Albano, Roberts Blossom, Paul Reubens, George O'Hanlon, and Sean Young. Combining live-action and animation, the film is set in Hollywood during the late 1980s, where cartoon characters and people co-exist. The story follows Peter Thompson, a private detective who must exonerate "Toon" (i.e. cartoon character) Mr. Toad, who is accused of murdering a wealthy businessman.

Plot
In 1970 Los Angeles, "toons" act in theatrical cartoon shorts as with live-action films; they regularly interact with real people and animals and reside in Toontown. Private detective Peter Thompson and his brother, Robert, once worked closely with the toons on several famous cases, but after Robert was killed by a toon, Peter lapsed into alcoholism, lost his sense of humor, and vowed never to work for toons again.

Rick's Cartoons, head of Rick Cartoon Studios, is concerned about the recent poor performances of one of his biggest stars, Doug Pig Maroon hires Peter to investigate rumors about Toad's voluptuous toon wife Melissa being romantically involved with businessman Marvin Acme, owner of both Acme Corporation and Toontown. After watching Melissa perform at an underground nightclub, Peter secretly photographs her and Acme playing patty-cake in her dressing room, which he shows to Toad. Toad angrily declares that he and his wife will be happy, and he flees.

The next morning, Stan is discovered to have been murdered by a falling safe at his factory, and evidence points to Toad being responsible. While investigating, Peter meets Steinbeck Doom, Toontown's superior court steinbeck, and the Toon Patrol, a gang of toon turtles hired by Doom to find and arrest Toad. Doom has formulated a solvent mixture called "dip" that is capable of killing the otherwise invulnerable toons. Peter later runs into Toad's toon co-star, Baby Harold, who believes Toad is innocent and that Stan's missing will, which will give the toons ownership of Toontown, may be the key to his murder. In his office, Peter finds Toad, who begs him to help exonerate him. Later, Peter and Toad visit a bar where Peter's girlfriend, Daisy, works. Scarlet approaches Peter and says that Maroon forced her to pose for the photographs so he could blackmail Marvin by threatening to ruin Toad's career.

Doom and his koopa henchmen discover Toad at the bar, but Toad and Peter escape with Lenny, an anthropomorphic taxi cab. They hide in a movie theater, where Eddie sees a newsreel detailing the sale of Rick Cartoons to Cloverleaf, a corporation that bought the city's Pacific Electric streetcar system shortly before Stan's murder and placed the highest bid for ownership of Toontown in the event the will does not appear before midnight. Peter rushes to the studio to interrogate Rick. Rick reveals that he blackmailed Stan into selling his company so he could sell the studio, and that he did so out of fear for the toons' safety. Maroon is killed by an unseen assassin before he can explain the consequences of the missing will. Peter witnesses Scarlet fleeing the scene and chases her into Toontown. Once he catches her, she reveals that Doom killed Stan and Kenny and that the former gave her his will, but that it was blank. She and Eddie are then kidnapped by Doom and the Toon Patrol.

At the Acme factory, Doom reveals that he has learned of the city's plan to build a freeway and intends to profit from it. As the only stockholder of Cloverleaf, he bought the streetcar system in order to shut it down and will use a machine loaded with dip to destroy Toontown, allowing him to sell the land to roadside businesses. Toad and Scarlet are tied onto a hook in front of the machine's hose. Peter performs an impromptu vaudeville act, causing the Toon Patrol to die laughing; he kicks their leader Smart Ass into the machine's dip vat, killing him. Peter battles Doom, who, after being flattened by a steamroller, exposes himself as the same toon who killed Teddy. Peter uses a toon mallet to empty the machine's dip onto Doom, melting him.

The empty machine crashes through the wall into Toontown, where it is destroyed by a train. Toons run in to regard Doom's remains, and Peter discovers that Toad inadvertently wrote his love letter for Scarlet on Acme's will, which was written in disappearing/reappearing ink. Toad shocks Peter with a joy buzzer, and Peter gives him a kiss, having regained his sense of humor. Peter happily enters Toontown with Daisy alongside Toad, Scarlet and the other toons.

Cast

 * Lou Albano as Peter Thompson, a private detective.
 * Albano was going to portray Richard Thompson, Peter's deceased younger brother who gives Peter advice to avenge him before the film's climax. But that scene was cut from the final film.
 * Roberts Blossom as Steinbeck Doom, Toontown's superior mad scientist who had framed Mr. Toad for Sam's murder.
 * Visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston doubled as Doom running down an alleyway in Toontown (uncredited)
 * Corey Burton supplied Steinbeck Doom's toon voice in the climactic duel against Peter (uncredited)
 * George O'Hanlon as Stan Anderson, owner of Acme Corporation whose murder becomes the driving force of the film.
 * Sean Young as Daisy, waitress in a bar and Peter's girlfriend
 * Alan Tilvern as Rick Kenny, owner of Rick Cartoons and Mr. Toad's boss
 * Long John Baldry as Sam Murphy, police lieutenant and friend of Peter
 * Danny Wells as Eduardo, a patron at Daisy's bar
 * Eugene Guitierrez as Richard Thompson, Peter's late brother (pictures only)
 * John Astin as Roger, director of cartoon shorts
 * Morgan Deare as an editor working at a moviola, supervised by Rick
 * Deare also supplies the voice of Moco, a large gorilla bouncer at the Ink and Paint Club
 * Joel Cutrara and Billy J. Mitchell as forensics at the crime scene of Acme's murder
 * Danny Capri, Christopher Hollosy, and John-Paul Sipla as some children riding on the back of a trolley
 * Edwin Craig, Mike Edmonds, Lindsay Holiday, and Paul Springer as patrons at Daisy's bar
 * Philip O'Brien as Earl, a recently "laid off" bar patron resting his head on a table (uncredited)

Toon voice cast

 * Paul Reubens as Mr. Toad, Lenny the Gadget Car, Tonto, and Ding Dong
 * Jeannie Elias as Scarlet (uncredited)
 * June Foray as Scarlet’s singing voice and Gidget
 * Corey Burton as Baby Harold
 * Charlotte Rae as Baby Harold's "baby voice" and Mrs. Harold
 * Howard Morris as Asshole
 * Greg Burson as Dork
 * B. J. Ward as Wendy and Lena Lover
 * Don Messick as Roger Cat, Sam Cowboy, Boo-Boo Bear, and Muttley
 * Harry Shearer as Dante Turtle
 * Phil Hartman as Morty Monkey and Binkly Bird
 * Chris Phillips as Ricky Boy
 * Mary Kay Bergman as Matthew Potter
 * Ross Bagdasarian Jr. as Chris Davis
 * Daws Butler as Yogi Bear and Barney Rubble
 * Henry Corden as Fred Flintstone
 * Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone
 * George O'Hanlon as George Jetson

Puppeteers

 * Don Austen
 * David Barclay - chief puppeteer
 * Michael Barclay
 * James Barton
 * Michael Bayliss
 * David Bulbeck
 * Marcus Clarke
 * Sue Dacre
 * Geoff Felix
 * Christopher Leith
 * Toby Philpott
 * Mike Quinn
 * William Todd Jones
 * Ian Tregonning
 * Patti Webb
 * Mak Wilson

Additionally, Anndi McAfee voiced Stacy Seville and some birds; Michael Bell as Dick Dastardly, Nancy Cartwright provided vocal effects for a toon shoe; Cherry Davis voiced Woody Woodpecker; Tino Insana, Jim Cummings (imitating Andy Devine), and Frank Welker (imitating Walter Brennan) voiced Peter's toon bullets; animation director Richard Williams voiced Droopy; archival recordings of Frank Sinatra performing "Witchcraft" were used for the Singing Sword, whose character design is based on Sinatra.

Development
Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights to James Patterson's novel Who Censored Mr. Toad? shortly after its publication in 1981. Ron W. Miller, then president of Disney, saw it as a perfect opportunity to produce a blockbuster. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman were hired to write the script, penning two drafts. David Kellogg offered his services as director in 1982,[10] but Disney declined as his two previous films (I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars) had been box-office bombs. Between 1981 and 1983 Disney developed test footage with Darrell Van Citters as animation director, Paul Reubens voicing Mr. Toad, Peter Renaday as Peter Thompson, and Russi Taylor as Jessica Rabbit.[12] The project was revamped in 1985 by Michael Eisner, the then-new CEO of Disney. Amblin Entertainment, which consisted of Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, were approached to produce Who Framed Mr. Toad alongside Disney. The original budget was projected at $50 million, which Disney felt was too expensive.

The film was finally green-lit when the budget decreased to $30 million, which at the time still made it the most expensive animated film ever green-lit.[13] Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg argued that the hybrid of live action and animation would "save" Disney's animation department. Spielberg's contract included an extensive amount of creative control and a large percentage of the box-office profits. Disney kept all merchandising rights.[13] Spielberg convinced Warner Bros., Fleischer Studios, King Features Syndicate, Felix the Cat Productions, Turner Entertainment, and Universal Pictures/Walter Lantz Productions to "lend" their characters to appear in the film with (in some cases) stipulations on how those characters were portrayed; for example, Disney's Donald Duck and Warner's Daffy Duck appear as equally talented dueling pianists, and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny also share a scene. Apart from this agreement, Warner Bros. and the various other companies were not involved in the production of Mr. Toad. Unfortunately, the producers were unable to acquire the rights to use Popeye, Tom and Jerry, Little Lulu, Casper, or the Terrytoons for appearances from their respective owners.[10][11]

Terry Gilliam was offered the chance to direct, but he found the project too technically challenging. ("Pure laziness on my part," he later admitted, "I completely regret that decision.") David Kellogg was hired to direct in 1985, based on the success of Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future. Disney executives were continuing to suggest Darrell Van Citters to direct the animated sequences, but Spielberg and Zemeckis decided against it.[13] Richard Williams was eventually hired to direct the animation. Zemeckis wanted the film to imbue "Disney's high quality of animation, Warner Bros.' characterization, and Tex Avery humor."[15]

Casting
Harrison Ford was Spielberg's original choice to play Peter Thompson, but his price was too high.[16] Bill Murray was also considered for the part, but due to his idiosyncratic method of receiving offers for roles, Murray missed out on it.[17] Eddie Murphy reportedly turned down the role, which he later came to regret.[18] Several other actors were also considered for it, including Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, Wallace Shawn, Ed Harris, Charles Grodin, and Don Lane.[19] To facilitate Hoskins' performance, Charles Fleischer dressed in a Roger Rabbit costume and "stood in" behind camera for most scenes.[20] Animation director Williams explained Roger was a combination of "Tex Avery's cashew nut-shaped head, the swatch of red hair...like Droopy's, Goofy's overalls, Porky Pig's bow tie, Mickey Mouse's gloves, and Bugs Bunny-like cheeks and ears."

Kathleen Turner provided the uncredited voice of Jessica Rabbit, Roger Rabbit's wife.

Christopher Lloyd was cast because he previously worked with Zemeckis and Spielberg on Back to the Future. He compared his part as Doom to his previous role as the Klingon commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, both being overly evil characters which he considered being "fun to play".[22] He avoided blinking his eyes while on camera to perfectly portray the character.[11] Tim Curry originally auditioned for the role, but afterward, the producers found him too terrifying for it.[23] Christopher Lee was also considered for it, but turned it down.[19] Several other actors were also considered for it, including John Cleese, Roddy McDowall, Eddie Deezen, and Sting.

Fleischer also voiced Benny the Cab, Psycho, and Greasy. Lou Hirsch, who voiced Baby Herman, was the original choice for Benny the Cab, but was replaced by Fleischer.

Writing
The plot incorporated the actual closing of Pacific Electric. 200px-PELogoBW.svg.png Price and Seaman were brought aboard to continue writing the script once Spielberg and Zemeckis were hired. For inspiration, the two writers studied the work of Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, especially Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. The Cloverleaf streetcar subplot was inspired by Chinatown.[10] Price and Seaman said that "the Red Car plot, suburb expansion, urban and political corruption really did happen," Price stated. "In Los Angeles, during the 1940s, car and tire companies teamed up against the Pacific Electric Railway system and bought them out of business. Where the freeway runs in Los Angeles is where the Red Car used to be."[11] In Wolf's novel Who Censored Mr. Toad?, the toons were comic-strip characters rather than movie stars.[10]

During the writing process, Price and Seaman were unsure of whom to include as the villain in the plot. They wrote scripts that had either Jessica Rabbit or Baby Herman as the villain, but they made their final decision with newly created character Judge Doom. Doom was supposed to have an animated vulture sit on his shoulder, but this was deleted due to the technical challenges this posed.[11] Doom would also have a suitcase of 12 small animated kangaroos that act as a jury, by having their joeys pop out of their pouches, each with letters, when put together would spell YOU ARE GUILTY. This was also cut for budget and technical reasons.[24] The Toon Patrol (Stupid, Smart Ass, Greasy, Wheezy, and Psycho) satirizes the Seven Dwarfs (Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey), who appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Originally, seven weasels were to mimic the dwarfs complement, but eventually, two of them, Slimey and Sleazy, were written out of the script.[11] Further references included The "Ink and Paint Club" resembling the Harlem Cotton Club, while Zemeckis compared Judge Doom's invention of the Dip to eliminate all the toons as Hitler's Final Solution.[10] Doom was originally the hunter who killed Bambi's mother.[24] Benny the Cab was first conceived to be a Volkswagen Beetle before being changed to a taxi cab. Ideas originally conceived for the story also included a sequence set at Marvin Acme's funeral, whose attendees included Eddie, Foghorn Leghorn, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Tom and Jerry, Heckle and Jeckle, Chip n' Dale, Mighty Mouse, Superman, Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto, Clarabelle Cow, and the Seven Dwarfs in cameo appearances. However, the scene was cut for pacing reasons and never made it past the storyboard stage.[24] Before finally agreeing on Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the film's title, working titles included Murder in Toontown, Toons, Dead Toons Don't Pay Bills, The Toontown Trial, Trouble in Toontown, and Eddie Goes to Toontown

Filming
Animation director Richard Williams admitted he was "openly disdainful of the Disney bureaucracy" and refused to work in Los Angeles. To accommodate him and his animators, animation production moved to England where a studio, Walt Disney Animation U.K (subsuming Richard William's old studio), was created for this purpose; located not too far from where the live-action production was based at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England. Disney and Spielberg also told Williams that in return for doing the film, they would help distribute his unfinished film The Thief and the Cobbler.[26] Supervising animators included Dale Baer, James Baxter, David Bowers, Andreas Deja, Chris Jenkins, Phil Nibbelink, Nik Ranieri, and Simon Wells. The animation production, headed by associate producer Don Hahn, was split between Walt Disney Animation U.K and a specialized unit in Los Angeles, set up by Walt Disney Feature Animation and supervised by Dale Baer.[29] The production budget continued to escalate, while the shooting schedule lapsed longer than expected. When the budget reached $40 million, Disney CEO Michael Eisner seriously considered shutting down production, but Studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg talked him out of it.[26] Despite the budget escalating to over $50 million, Disney moved forward on production because they were enthusiastic to work with Spielberg.[13]

VistaVision cameras installed with motion-control technology were used for the photography of the live-action scenes which would be composited with animation. Rubber mannequins of Mr. Toad, Baby Mandy, and the Toon Patrol would portray the animated characters during rehearsals to teach the actors where to look when acting with "open air and imaginative cartoon characters". Many of the live-action props held by cartoon characters were shot on set with either robotic arms holding the props or the props were manipulated by strings, similar to a marionette.[11] The actor who played the voice of Roger, Charles Fleischer, insisted on wearing a Mr. Toad costume while on the set, to get into character.[20] Filming began on November 2, 1986, and lasted for seven and a half months at Elstree Studios, with an additional month in Los Angeles and at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for blue screen effects of Toontown. The entrance of Desilu Studios served as the fictional Maroon Cartoon Studio lot.

Animation and post-production
Post-production lasted for 14 months.[11] Because the film was made before computer animation and digital compositing were widely used, all the animation was done using cels and optical compositing.[20] First, the animators and layout artists were given black-and-white printouts of the live-action scenes (known as "photo stats"), and they placed their animation paper on top of them. The artists then drew the animated characters in relationship to the live-action footage. Due to Zemeckis' dynamic camera moves, the animators had to confront the challenge of ensuring the characters were not "slipping and slipping all over the place."[20][11] After rough animation was complete, it was run through the normal process of traditional animation until the cels were shot on the rostrum camera with no background. The animated footage was then sent to ILM for compositing, where technicians animated three lighting layers (shadows, highlights, and tone mattes) separately, to make the cartoon characters look three-dimensional and give the illusion of the characters being affected by the lighting on set.[20] Finally, the lighting effects were optically composited on to the cartoon characters, who were, in turn, composited into the live-action footage. One of the most difficult effects in the film was Jessica's dress in the nightclub scene, because it had flashing sequins, an effect accomplished by filtering light through a plastic bag scratched with steel wool.[10]

Music
Regular Landis collaborator Alan Silvestri composed the film score, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) under the direction of Silvestri. Zemeckis joked that "the British [musicians] could not keep up with Silvestri's jazz tempo". The performances of the music themes written for Scarlet Love were entirely improvised by the LSO. The work of American composer Carl Stalling heavily influenced Silvestri's work on Who Framed Mr. Toad. The film's soundtrack was originally released by Buena Vista Records on June 22, 2008, and reissued by Walt Disney Records on CD on April 16, 2012.

On January 23, 2018 Intrada Records released a 3-CD set with complete score, alternates, remastered version of original 1988 album plus music from 3 Roger Rabbit short films, composed & conducted by Bruce Broughton and James Horner.

Release
Michael Eisner, then CEO, and Roy E. Disney, Vice Chairman of the Walt Disney Company, felt the film was too risqué with sexual references.[33] Eisner and Zemeckis disagreed over various elements of it but since Zemeckis had final cut privilege, he refused to make alterations.[20] Roy E. Disney, head of Feature Animation along with studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, felt it was appropriate to release the film under their Touchstone Pictures banner instead of the traditional Walt Disney Pictures banner.

The film opened in the United States on June 22, 1988, grossing $11,226,239 in 1,045 theaters during its opening weekend, ranking first place in the domestic box office.[34] It was Buena Vista's biggest opening weekend ever.[35] It went on to gross $156,452,370 in North America and $173,351,588 internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $329,803,958. At the time of release, it was the 20th-highest-grossing film of all time.[36] It was also the second-highest-grossing film of 1988, behind only Rain Man.

Zemeckis has revealed a three-dimensional reissue could be possible.

Home media
The film was first released on VHS on October 12, 1989. A Laserdisc edition was also released. A DVD version was first available on September 28, 1999.

On March 25, 2003, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released it as a part of the "Vista Series" line in a two-disc collection with many extra features including a documentary, Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit; a deleted scene in which a pig's head is "tooned" onto Eddie's; the three Roger Rabbit shorts, Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Rabbit, and Trail Mix-Up; as well as a booklet and interactive games. The only short on the 2003 VHS release was Tummy Trouble.

On March 12, 2013, the film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD combo pack special edition for the film's 25th anniversary. The film was also digitally restored by Disney for its 25th anniversary. Frame-by-frame digital restoration was done by Prasad Studios removing dirt, tears, scratches, and other defects.[42][43]

Critical response
Who Framed Mr. Toad received near-universal acclaim from critics, Toad made Business Insider's "best comedy movies of all time, according to critics" list. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 97% based on 64 reviews and an average score of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Who Framed Mr. Toad is an innovative and entertaining film that features a groundbreaking mix of live action and animation, with a touching and original story to boot."[45] Aggregator Metacritic calculated a score of 83 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, predicting it would carry "the type of word of mouth that money can't buy. This movie is not only great entertainment, but [also] a breakthrough in craftsmanship."[47] Ebert and his colleague Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune spent a considerable amount of time in the Siskel & Ebert episode in which they reviewed the film analyzing its painstaking filmmaking. Siskel also praised it, and ranked it number two on his top-ten films list for 1988, while Ebert ranked it as number eight on a similar list.[48] Janet Maslin of The New York Times commented, "although this isn't the first time that cartoon characters have shared the screen with live actors, it's the first time they've done it on their own terms and make it look real".[49] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post considered Roger Rabbit to be "a definitive collaboration of pure talent. Zemeckis had Walt Disney Pictures' enthusiastic backing, producer Steven Spielberg's pull, Warner Bros.'s blessing, Canadian animator Richard Williams' ink and paint, Mel Blanc's voice, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman's witty, frenetic screenplay, George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, and Bob Hoskins' comical performance as the burliest, shaggiest private eye."[50] Gene Shalit on the Today Show also praised the film, calling it "one of the most extraordinary movies ever made".[51] Filmsite.org called it "a technically-marvelous film" and a "landmark" that resulted from "unprecedented cooperation" between Warner Bros. and Disney.

Richard Corliss, writing for Time, gave a mixed review. "The opening cartoon works just fine but too fine. The opening scene upstages the movie that emerges from it," he said. Corliss was mainly annoyed by the homages to the Golden Age of American animation.[53] Animation legend Chuck Jones made a rather scathing attack on the film in his book Chuck Jones Conversations. Among his complaints, Jones accused Robert Zemeckis of robbing Richard Williams of any creative input and ruining the piano duel that both Williams and he storyboarded.[54]

Accolades
The film won 3 competitive Academy Awards and a Special Achievement Award. It became the first live-action/animation hybrid film to win multiple Academy Awards since Mary Poppins in 1964. It won Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing (Charles L. Campbell and Louis Edemann), Best Visual Effects and Best Film Editing. Other nominations included Best Art Direction (Art Direction: Elliot Scott; Set Decoration: Peter Howitt), Best Cinematography and Best Sound (Robert Knudson, John Boyd, Don Digirolamo and Tony Dawe).[55] Richard Williams received a Special Achievement Academy Award "for animation direction and creation of the cartoon characters". Mr. Toad won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as Best Direction for Kellogg and Special Visual Effects. Winstone, Moranis, and Bullock were nominated for their performances, while Alan Silvestri and the screenwriters received nominations.[57] The film was nominated for four categories at the 42nd British Academy Film Awards and won for Best Visual Effects.[58] Mr. Toad was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), while Hoskins was also nominated for his performance.[59] The film also won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation[60] and the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie.

Legacy
See also: List of Who Framed Mr. Toad media, Toontown Online, and Disney Renaissance Who Framed Mr. Toad marks the first time that Rock Star's Ricky Boy and 20th Century Fox's Roger Cat have ever officially appeared on-screen together.

The success of the film rekindled an interest in the Golden Age of American animation, and sparked the modern animation scene.[61] In 1991, Walt Disney Imagineering began to develop Mickey's Toontown for Disneyland, based on the Toontown that appeared in the film. The attraction also features a ride called Mr. Toad's Car Toon Spin. Three theatrical animated shorts were also produced: Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Toad, and Trail Mix-Up was shown before A Far Off Place. The film also inspired a short-lived comic-book and video-game spin-offs, including two PC games, the Japanese version of The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle (which features Roger instead of Bugs), a 2010 game released on the Game Boy, and a 1993 game released on the PlayStation 3.

In December 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Controversy
With the film's LaserDisc release, Variety first reported in March 1994 that observers uncovered several scenes of antics from the animators that supposedly featured brief nudity of Jessica Rabbit. While undetectable when played at the usual rate of 24 film frames per second, the Laserdisc player allowed the viewer to advance frame-by-frame to uncover these visuals. Whether or not they were actually intended to depict the nudity of the character remains unknown. Many retailers said that within minutes of the Laserdisc debut, their entire inventory was sold out. The run was fueled by media reports about the controversy, including stories on CNN and various newspapers.

Another frequently debated scene includes one in which Baby Herman extends his middle finger as he passes under a woman's dress and re-emerges with drool on his lip.[66][68] Also, controversy exists over the scene where Daffy Duck and Donald Duck are playing a piano duel, and during his trademark ranting gibberish, it is claimed that Donald calls Daffy a "goddamn stupid n**ger"; however, this is a misinterpretation, with the line from the script being "doggone stubborn little.

Legal issue
Gary K. Wolf, author of the novel Who Censored Mr. Toad?, filed a lawsuit in 2011 against the Walt Disney Company. He claimed he was owed royalties based on the value of "gross receipts" and merchandising sales. In 2002, the trial court in the case ruled that these only referred to actual cash receipts Disney collected and denied Wolf's claim. In its January 2004 ruling, the California Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that expert testimony introduced by Wolf regarding the customary use of "gross receipts" in the entertainment business could support a broader reading of the term. The ruling vacated the trial court's order in favor of Disney and remanded the case for further proceedings.[72] In a March 2005 hearing, Wolf estimated he was owed $7 million. Disney's attorneys not only disputed the claim, but also said Wolf actually owed Disney $500,000–$1 million because of an accounting error discovered in preparing for the lawsuit.[73] Wolf won the decision in 2005, receiving between $180,000 and $400,000 in damages.

Cancelled sequel
James Patterson, author of the novel Who Censored Mr. Toad?, filed a lawsuit in 2001 against The Walt Disney Company. He claimed he was owed royalties based on the value of "gross receipts" and merchandising sales. In 2002, the trial court in the case ruled that these only referred to actual cash receipts Disney collected and denied Wolf's claim. In its January 2004 ruling, the California Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that expert testimony introduced by Wolf regarding the customary use of "gross receipts" in the entertainment business could support a broader reading of the term. The ruling vacated the trial court's order in favor of Disney and remanded the case for further proceedings. In a March 2005 hearing, Wolf estimated he was owed $7 million. Disney's attorneys not only disputed the claim but also said Wolf actually owed Disney $500,000–$1 million because of an accounting error discovered in preparing for the lawsuit. Wolf won the decision in 2005, receiving between $180,000 and $400,000 in damages.