Why Bob Hoskins' Son Froze Him Out After Seeing Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Hollywood has practically built an entire industry around hybrid movies where live-action actors perform opposite animated characters. "The Smurfs," "Detective Pikachu," and the "Sonic" movies are all variations on the two worlds colliding, but it's unfathomable to think of any movie topping the sheer scope of 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." The Robert Zemeckis-directed adventure-comedy-noir is a titanic achievement in the medium's history, as it seamlessly envisioned an alt-history Hollywood where toons and humans co-exist with one another. At the center is Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, a private eye who becomes embroiled in a case surrounding the titular toon (Charles Fleischer) being, well, framed for murder he didn't commit.

Hoskins not only gave the single most convincing performance of any actor working against something that isn't even there, but he also invented the modern blockbuster performance as we know it. He imbues a real sense of dignity to the unprecedented project, and the results speak for themselves. Seeing adults take this seriously is a big factor in helping younger audiences believe the two occupy the same space, almost to Hoskins' detriment. In a 1992 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hoskins talks about how his son wouldn't talk to him because he never orchestrated a personal meeting with his supposed cartoon buddies:

"After I did 'Roger Rabbit,' my younger son wouldn't talk to me. It took me about two weeks to figure out that he reckoned that any father who had friends like Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, and who didn't bring them home to meet him, well, his father was a total (jerk). The basic premise of all this business is that everybody's totally insane. They are. They are completely insane. And that's wonderful."

The fact that Hoskins' kid believed his father was actually in the company of two of the biggest cartoon icons ever speaks to how successful this whole project turned out to be. Hoskins was so deep into the process that he made himself hallucinate his toon co-stars. You'd almost have to upon learning that part of your screen legacy will involve being the recipient of a tire gag co-orchestrated by Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) and Mickey Mouse (Wayne Allwine). Over three decades since the release of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," this pairing is a truly singular moment in movie history. It would have been momentous even if the crossover between Disney and Warner Bros. only resulted in the dueling piano battle between Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo) and Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc).

Steven Spielberg was able to use some of his power as one of the film's producers to get the animation teams to license their likenesses. The stipulation on Warner Bros.' behalf, however, required any of their characters to share equal screentime with Disney's roster. It's a pretty fair compromise to make. The whole appeal lies in seeing two rival companies put aside their egos and allow their animated mascots to mingle with one another. In "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," they all live together in harmony within the confines of Toontown without the contracts and backdoor negotiations of the businessmen who dictate when, where, and how they appear. I can't imagine this going down in the same way through a contemporary lens, partly because Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav frustratingly doesn't see the value in Looney Tunes to begin with. What a maroon.

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is currently streaming on Disney+.