Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

By: Gary K. Wolf

Narrated by: L.J. Ganser

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Private eye Eddie Valiant doesn't like Toons - those cartoon characters who live side-by-side with humans. Not the way they look, and especially not the way they talk: word-filled balloons come out of their mouths and then disintegrate, leaving dust all over his rug.

Eddie will work for a Toon if his cash supply is low enough. So he reluctantly agrees when Roger Rabbit, a Toon who plays straight man (or should that be straight rabbit) in the Baby Herman cartoon series, asks him to find out who's been trying - unsuccessfully - to buy his contract from the DeGreasy Brothers syndicate.

Then Rocco DeGreasy is murdered - and Roger is the prime suspect! The rabbit is also, as Eddie soon discovers, very, very dead. Who censored Roger Rabbit? And who shot Rocco DeGreasy? Was it Roger, or was it Rocco's hot-cha-cha girlfriend, Jessica Rabbit? Why had Jessica - a pretty steamy number for a Toon - ever married a dopey bunny in the first place? And why does everybody want Roger's battered old teakettle?

As Eddie combs L.A. from the executive suites of the DeGreasy Brothers to Sid Sleaze's porno comic studio, he uncovers art thefts, blackmail plots...and the cagiest killer he's ever faced.

©1981 Gary K. Wolf (P)2019 Tantor

Forget it, Jake. Its Toon Town.

I purchased this title right after learning that one of my favorite childhood movies was based on a book. This book has all the fantastic cartoon shock-and-awe of the film, yet a storyline that is much different from it; keeping me both entertained and eager to find out who, in fact, censored Rodger Rabbit.

Like any noir story, it features a gruff, chauvinist, booze hound, gum-shoe P.I. as its main character, Eddie Valiant. Eddie investigates the murder of a famous cartoon alongside our second main character Rodger Rabbit. Rodger is a clumsy yet charismatic, giant anthropomorphic, talking, cartoon rabbit.

With the “cartoon-in-real-life” element of the story clashing with a gritty L.A. detective plot, chalk full of sex, deceit, money, and murder, comes most of the comedy in this book.

There are also several allusions with cartoons being likened to people of color in the American Civil Rights era. Unfortunately the novel never really delves too deep into this particular theme, bringing up the subject but never addressing it beyond exposition. I believe it would have added another level of depth to the story and made the whole book more interesting. This is really my only complaint as far as the story goes. There is also a plot point involving a certain tea kettle that some listers/readers may find ridiculous and hard to suspend their disbelief (But I rather enjoyed it).

In a nutshell,
I very much enjoyed this book and would recommended it to anyone who is a fan of the movie adaptation, as well as any fan of detective stories with comedic themes, neo-noir, or cartoons-in-real-life-style Warner Bros movies.

As for the narrator, L.J. Ganser does an absolutely fantastic job. His old timey detective voice for the main character is perfect. And the voices all the other character are so distinct and well done, it brings to life the cartoon element of the story. Easily one of the best narrative performances in my audible library.

Fun story, great narration

I enjoyed the story, a humorous hard-boiled detective story with comic strip characters, but the narration was a terrific performance.

The movie was mostly a way to combine live action with a lot of recognizable cartoon characters. This holds its own as a novel.

Unexpected Favorite

Never read any of the books, but I'm immediately purchasing the rest of the series.

Fantastic Noir

Though it isn't like the movie, this book brings a new and interesting perspective on the noir story style. Plus since it is a different story, you'll have a good time not knowing what's gonna happen.

very fun book. awesome listen

loved the reading of this book. had not read this before and was completely absorbed by it.the author was great and the narrator was wonderful.

Fun

Obviously much different than the film we know and love. The story is a lot of fun and the reader does a great job.

Don't expect anything like the movie!

I admit it. I saw the movie first, and I did like the movie more. It took me a while to accept that I was reading nothing like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The book presents a totally different Roger and Jessica, so don't let preconceptions lead you astray. The solution to the murder mystery could have been foreshadowed a bit more, but given the cartoon world, it works well.

Inspired

I had no idea that the movie was based (loosely) on a novel. Aside from the world and a few character names, this is nothing like the movie. I can see why someone chose to make a movie of this though. It's a brilliant, original, and HIGHLY visual world that this complex noir story weaves its way through. It's begging to be seen. Who Censored Roger Rabbit asks the question 'what if humans and classic cartoons coexisted' then takes the answers seriously. I'm so glad I gave this a chance.

A lot different from the movie

This is an amazing book. And it is so much different than the movie right off the gate. I highly recommend it. The story is captivating. The twist is… weird but in a fun way and the performance is wonderful.

Don't expect Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

As a kid I was a huge fan of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. As an adult, I'm still a huge fan. For whatever reason, this book escaped me until fairly recently.

Unless you're one of those people who simply can't conceive of a version of Roger not voiced by Charles Fleischer, this is perfectly narrated. L.J. Ganser has a brilliant range of voices that is perfectly suited for noir.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that this is "Who CENSORED Roger Rabbit?" and NOT "Who FRAMED Roger Rabbit?". Two entirely different stories. Eddie Valiant here isn't the toon hating, alcoholic private eye of the film. There's no Judge Doom, the rules and physics of toons are different from the film, there isn't any cashing in on cartoon icons, and the mystery presented is slightly more gritty as it slowly burns to its bizarre conclusion.

This is one of the rare cases where it's hard to say the book is better than the movie due to the fact that they are 99% different stories. Comparing the two would be like comparing apples to Rocko's Modern Life.

That being said, if you're expecting Judge Doom and the Dip, you might find yourself more than a little disappointed.