I think most people would agree that Jessica Rabbit is the hottest cartoon character to ever exist, but unfortunately this appears to be the reason why we’ll never get to see a ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ sequel, according to the director of the original.
In fact, director Robert Zemeckis has a script ready, but reckons we’ll never get to see the sequel, because Disney is terrified of the “woke” backlash that the character of Jessica Rabbit would receive in 2024.
Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Zemeckis said Disney “can’t make a movie with Jessica in it.”
He said: “There’s a good script [for a sequel] at Disney, but here’s the thing: The current Disney would never make Roger Rabbit today. 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.”
Which is a shame, because the original Roger Rabbit film, released in 1988, was a perfectly entertaining blend of animation and live action with humour that was enjoyed by both adults and children watching.
It was a $50 million production that made over $351 million at the box office, won three Oscars and a Special Achievement Award at the Academy Awards, and even now boasts a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
So it’s pretty shocking that Disney haven’t already tried to cash in on the IP with a sequel or remake, but it goes to show just how scared they are to make a movie these days that would star an overt sex symbol like Jessica Rabbit. Even if the whole idea behind Jessica Rabbit was to mock the absurd stereotype of that type of character.
Still, I guess it’s not a bad thing that at least one gem from our childhoods will remain unmolested by a modern day Hollywood remake. I meam, if Disney were to go ahead with Roger Rabbit 2, they’d probably reimagine Jessica Rabbit as a 100kg Lizzo-type. No one wants to see that, do they?
