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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Yes, the book is better than the movie. Aside from some basics, toons living among humans and character names, the book is entirely different than the Disney film. Not only is the plot itself different with a different mystery and resolution, but the characters themselves are different. As Disney tends to do, the movie is devoid of the darker aspect of characters and scrubbed clean of some of the more adult themes.
A very fun read, that left me wanting more!
A very fun read, that left me wanting more!
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
I have been wanting to read this ever since I found out that "who framed roger rabbit" was based on a book and was overjoyed to find a copy in a used bookstore.
What a fun pastiche on the noir genre! It's a little tongue in cheek, a lot self-aware, and super creative! The way 'toons exist in the world is very different from how the film portrays it, but IS well suited to the written form. 'Toons are used for the funnies (comic strips) not for animated shorts. And the way 'toons are treated is much closer to that of a racial minority than in the film.
If you can track down a copy and are a fan of Noir I absolutely suggest the book! It's not at all like the movie, the plots are wildly different, so you have a whole new adventure to discover.
Our poor detective gets hired by Roger Rabbit for a job, and instead of digging up information on an employment contract he ends up with two dead bodies, a convoluted plot, an assistant he really doesn't want, and a reluctant desire to see the whole thing through. In the ways of all good noir dicks he drinks like a fish, ogles some dames, tracks some leads, and solves the case (almost in spite of himself).
What a fun pastiche on the noir genre! It's a little tongue in cheek, a lot self-aware, and super creative! The way 'toons exist in the world is very different from how the film portrays it, but IS well suited to the written form. 'Toons are used for the funnies (comic strips) not for animated shorts. And the way 'toons are treated is much closer to that of a racial minority than in the film.
If you can track down a copy and are a fan of Noir I absolutely suggest the book! It's not at all like the movie, the plots are wildly different, so you have a whole new adventure to discover.
Our poor detective gets hired by Roger Rabbit for a job, and instead of digging up information on an employment contract he ends up with two dead bodies, a convoluted plot, an assistant he really doesn't want, and a reluctant desire to see the whole thing through. In the ways of all good noir dicks he drinks like a fish, ogles some dames, tracks some leads, and solves the case (almost in spite of himself).
Only started reading it because I had a vague interest in the origin of Roger Rabbit, but I ended up liking it way more than I would've guessed. The book sticks close to the classic hard boiled detective formula but contrasting it with something as silly as cartoons seems to work much better in this book than in the film. I'm also quite a big fan of some of the more formal elements in the book; the cartoon characters talk with speech bubbles which the book describes and has a lot of fun with (the bubble appearing, falling to the ground, deflating, using it to estimate a toon's character time of death etc.)
Highly recommend it if you have a passing interest in hard boiled detective fiction, comics or the Roger Rabbit film.
Highly recommend it if you have a passing interest in hard boiled detective fiction, comics or the Roger Rabbit film.
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read it out of a sense of nostalgia for the movie (which I enjoyed as a kid), but this book is definitely out-there...
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The basis for the movie 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', 'Who Censored Roger Rabbit' is a much more direct parody of American crime noir. For a parody to be good the details are everything and 'Roger Rabbit' is fuzzy. Heh. The movie brought a lot of charm to the story that the novel lacked, fleshing out the characters and giving them backstories and motivations as opposed to the role-filling aspect of the characters in the novel.
The book has its good points, the characters are more gritty, for one. Jessica Rabbit is a true femme fatale, the corrupt comic syndicates stand in for the wholesome Maroon Studios of the movie, and Eddie Valiant hates 'toons because they're toons not for any justifiable reason. In the Roger Rabbit universe replace any incidence of prejudice or racism or minority exploitation with 'toons and you're on the right track. The movie understandably changed the emphasis from 'toon comic strips to animated characters, but lost out on some gags included most 'toons having to speak in physical word balloons, which were an important part of the plot.
It's a quick, light read but ultimately all I got out of it was a renewed faith that movie adaptions can improve on source material. That and an urge to revist Bonkers, a Disney Afternoon classic that in some ways was spun off of the success of Roger Rabbit.
The book has its good points, the characters are more gritty, for one. Jessica Rabbit is a true femme fatale, the corrupt comic syndicates stand in for the wholesome Maroon Studios of the movie, and Eddie Valiant hates 'toons because they're toons not for any justifiable reason. In the Roger Rabbit universe replace any incidence of prejudice or racism or minority exploitation with 'toons and you're on the right track. The movie understandably changed the emphasis from 'toon comic strips to animated characters, but lost out on some gags included most 'toons having to speak in physical word balloons, which were an important part of the plot.
It's a quick, light read but ultimately all I got out of it was a renewed faith that movie adaptions can improve on source material. That and an urge to revist Bonkers, a Disney Afternoon classic that in some ways was spun off of the success of Roger Rabbit.
There's a lot going on in this book which inspired one of my favourite movies, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
The story in the book is very different from the movie, so it really was only used for inspiration. It goes in many different directions at once. I would say it's mostly inspired by [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1306421260l/29999._SY75_.jpg|980184]. I did have a difficult time following along. The investigation jumped around so much between different clues and characters that I often forgot what it was we were looking for.
This was such a unique idea and I do recommend it to fans of the movie who also like detective books in general.
The story in the book is very different from the movie, so it really was only used for inspiration. It goes in many different directions at once. I would say it's mostly inspired by [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1306421260l/29999._SY75_.jpg|980184]. I did have a difficult time following along. The investigation jumped around so much between different clues and characters that I often forgot what it was we were looking for.
This was such a unique idea and I do recommend it to fans of the movie who also like detective books in general.
A very weird and amazing book. Quite different from the film based on it. Worth your time.