Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (1982) - Plot & Excerpts
In 1988, a movie was made titled: Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Little do people know that this award winning movie, was based on a book. The book was: Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf. Some other titles written by Gary W. Wolf is: KILLERBOWl, Typical Day, The Late Great Show!, and The Resurrectionist. But this is his most Favorited, as not only did it spawn a classic 80s movie, but it's great novel as well. The purpose for Gary K. Wolf is to create a typical mystery/detective novel, but with a twist. That twist is that it involves comic cartoon characters ( Unlike the movie, where its animated characters). There has been many twists to this genre, but none to integrate cartoon characters. The point of view of the novel is 1st person, and it gives those extra details you see in detective stories. It gives an opinion to things, and exaggerates features to things, and it has a lot of analogies. This is a Mystery/Detective book, and Gary K. Wolf wanted to do change the direction to it, take the "loony" route. Its a relatively simple story, same goes with the movie. But many have speculated (Especially with the movie)that the Toons symbolized African Americans in the 40s, which is the time the movie takes place in. But the novel actually takes place in present day, although you wouldn't know it by just reading the book. The story is a crazy one and has lots of dry humor in it.It is also surreal and even a bit of a spoof on the stereotypical detective story. From lines like: "Great place. Shabby and overpriced, but it suited me better than one of those chrome-and-glass stakes that builders keep pounding into the heart of what used to be a picturesque city." and "For the amount of enthusiasm he shower for it, I might just as well have asked him to watch me fold my laundry." Those lines have the detective like details, and the loony type absurdity you would see in a cartoon. I really LOVE cartoons, so you know that love that subject matter that this novel has. This is also the first mystery novel I have read, and I do like the genre, it's not gonna make me an obsessive fan of mysteries, but I did get me interested. It's really creative too, to come up with this type of story deserves an award. But, it did cheat near the end. Without giving away spoilers, it does become rather stupid, and I guess it didn't technically cheat me out of a good ending. But to be honest, it felt like it. Not only that, but the whole reason this story even happens, is essentially ruined at the end. The characters are kinda different to their film counterparts, but the book was made in 1981, and the movie in 1988. So it will be different. Since this is the only mystery novel I have read, I can't recommend similar books. Who Censored Roger Rabbit is a great creative story, but the movie is better.
This book has become hard to find these days. Oh, it was likely very popular with libraries when the movie came out in 1988, but in the years since, copies have worn out and been removed from circulation. That's how I got my copy, through interlibrary loan from the only library in all of Cook-DuPage county that had it. But let's go on.Gary Wolf's original version of Roger Rabbit's work is much different from the movie, which means you get a wholly different story. In this novel, "toons" are also comic strip characters in the human world, who speak in word balloons that break up and litter the landscape. Roger is a second banana in the "Baby Herman" newspaper strip (and Baby Herman has the only line in the book that makes it to the movie). While Roger and Herman's comic strip is staged and photographed panel by panel in photography studios, Roger's wife Jessica, with the same "Va va Voom" we know and love, gets to work in movies as an animated cartoon character. Into this world, Wolf worked to build a standard murder mystery. Roger comes to human detective Eddie Valiant in to get his help in finding why Jessica suddenly leaves him to shack up with one of his cartoon syndicate bosses. Characters get bumped off, and I won't even spoil the question of who dies. Each chapter introduces a new suspect, or adds a possible motive or alibi to a previous character. There are a few MacGuffins, the usual twists, the uncooperative police detectives, and a cameo by Dick Tracy.I will say that the way Wolf set up his world, the solution came to me pretty early, and just seemed more likely as the book went along without discussing my theory. And we can see that Wolf had intended his toons to be stand-ins for many minorities in America, noting that toons were there to help the Pilgrims survive in the New World, or that more had imported from China to build the railroad. But Wolf's world is worth a visit. It is, though, worth noting that Wolf's later novels took places in the setting of the movie with Roger as a movie toon.
What do You think about Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (1982)?
A fun read & a great new concept for the time it was written, 1981. If you have seen the movie & are expecting that story, don't get your hopes up. Aside from a few characters & a line or two, it's a different story all around. Despite all that it's well written & has a lot of great twists & turns. This is a story written for adults& should be taken into consideration when suggesting it to others. It's certainly abook I'll keep on my bookshelf to be read whenever I want a good corny mystery to read.
—Jolene Dretzka
I originally read this shortly after the Disney film came out. As many have said, the only things the book and film have in common are a detective named Eddie Valiant and a Toon named Roger Rabbit, who is accused of killing a human. Roger is married to Jessica Rabbit, a humanoid Toon knockout and he does work with Baby Herman. From there, the stories shake hands and go their separate ways.I remembered the book being good. Unfortunately, I had a cheap mass-market paperback that fell apart if you looked at it cross-eyed, and it's taken me a long time to track down another copy (silly me, for not thinking of my Kindle sooner!). I actually snagged it yesterday afternoon, sat down to read last night, and finished it before going to bed. I'd forgotten some of the characters so it was a pleasant rediscovery. Definitely worth reading again, and I'm sure I'll come back to it from time to time.
—Erin Germain
Like probably just about any other person who has read this book since 1988, I decided to read this book due to my love of the film.Well, the book is definitely not the film. It's a more serious parody of the noir genre, complete with pulpy dialogue and shady characters.I think the problem for me starts with those parody elements. None of them is done particularly well, they serve the purpose, but only to remind you that you're reading a parody rather than a tried-and-true novel. The cartoonish elements are downplayed, somewhat associated with racism and classism, but never really addressed in such a way to get across a point.The plot is windy and twisty, but never particularly engaging. The result is a book that felt, unfortunately, half-realized until it reached the silver screen, where it comes fully into its own.I'm glad I read the book, but would probably recommend to anyone that they skip it and watch the film instead, unless they are a die-hard fan of the story and wants to see where some of the superficial elements of the film came from.It's a worthy effort, but ultimately not quite as good as it wants to be.
—Fil Garrison
