It’s been a long while since Rob got the chance to take the reins of the Crooked Table Podcast (ever since the new format debuted in December 2018 with our Ace Ventura: Pet Detective episode). Now, with his birthday upon us, Rob — and returning guest Jeannine Yaniz — talk about one of his all-time favorite films, 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Director Robert Zemeckis’s live-action/animated hybrid may be a technical feat that still holds up today, but it is also a formative film for our host. From childhood playthings to childlike inspirations, listen in to find out how the most inappropriate Disney film this side of Return to Oz made a tremendous impact on the birthday boy.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit synopsis, courtesy of Amblin Entertainment:

Director Robert Zemeckis’ feature follow-up to the original Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit continued the filmmaker’s startling blend of humor, imagination, invention and technical innovation to bring together a world where human beings and animated cartoon characters interacted in a comical romantic mystery adventure set in a Hollywood—and Toontown—of yore.

Bob Hoskins stars as Eddie Valiant, a down-on-his-luck gumshoe with a painful past and a dislike of the lunacy of toons—thrust against his better instincts into a whodunnit with a harebrained hare, Roger Rabbit, a cuckolded cuckoo convicted of murdering gag magnate Marvin Acme. Eddie and Roger pair up, much to Eddie’s chagrin, to find Acme’s real murderer, only to uncover a cover-up that could bring ruination (all in the name of progress) to both Tinseltown and Toontown forever!

Featuring lively performances by Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and Joanna Cassidy, along with a gallery of toons both new and beloved—including cameos by no-less animated aristocracy than Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Daffy Duck and many, many more from the Golden Age of animation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the kind of film that must be seen to be believed—and beloved.

SHOW NOTES