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42-464: Eddie Valiant is a hardboiled private eye , and Roger Rabbit is a second banana comic strip character . Roger hires Valiant to find out why his employers, the DeGreasy Brothers (Rocco and Dominic), who are owners of a cartoon syndicate, have reneged on a promise to give Roger his own strip and potentially sell his contract to a mystery buyer. Evidence shows that there was no mystery buyer and

84-479: A circus clown ; they joined the police force in 1925 and started their own private investigation service in 1938. The brothers quickly established a reputation for rescuing Toons in trouble, such as solving the kidnapping of Donald Duck 's nephews and clearing Goofy of espionage charges. In 1942, while they were investigating a robbery in Toontown, an unknown bank robber (later revealed to be Judge Doom ) dropped

126-412: A doppelgänger of Roger's and promises to solve the mystery of his death. At the same time, Roger's former boss, Rocco DeGreasy, is also murdered, and witnesses point to Roger as the killer, as he was allegedly seen fleeing the scene of the crime. While Valiant investigates, the key suspects ask him to be on the lookout for a certain kettle in exchange for a reward. He eventually finds the kettle, which

168-423: A dream. Eddie Valiant Eddie Valiant is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? , and the film adaptation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit . In the original novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? , Eddie Valiant is a fictional Los Angeles –based private detective hired by comic book star Roger Rabbit to investigate the workings of Roger's corrupt employers,

210-450: A huge joke of that, and the ensuing publicity gave the young strip its first big boost in circulation. In 1962, the comic strip was censored because it showed a belly button , and in 2006, the description of Rocky's criminal past was replaced with a non-criminal past. Sometimes Mort Walker created strips with raunchy subject matter for his own amusement. This was done at the sketch stage, and those strips were never meant to be published in

252-434: A mystery of double-crossers, steamy broads, and killer cream pies." Both show author Gary K. Wolf modelling as Valiant. The book and film feature many of the same core characters; however, the plot and many other elements of the film depart significantly from Wolf's novel. The novel is set in the 1980s of the book's publication, albeit in a strange universe in which real humans and cartoon characters co-exist. The cartoons of

294-501: A piano on them from 15 stories up. Eddie survived but broke his arm ; however, Teddy was killed instantly. The tragedy left Eddie with a distaste for Toons in general; his business collapsed, losing the respect of most of the police force and he became an alcoholic , suffering from PTSD and depression . Eddie began living in the office he and Teddy had shared and left Teddy's desk as a memorial to him, refusing to dust it or let anyone sit in his chair. 5 years later, R.K. Maroon, head of

336-400: A piano. The only lines of dialogue from the book that were closely re-used in the film were spoken by Baby Herman ("I've got a 50-year-old lust and a 3-year-old dinky," though in the book, Baby Herman's actual age is given as 36) and Jessica Rabbit ("I'm not bad, Mr. Valiant. I'm just drawn that way"). In 1991, Wolf wrote another Roger Rabbit book, Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? , but (in

378-561: A piece of paper held by Beetle and Snorkel) was published in 2000. In his 1975 memoir Backstage at the Strips , Walker addressed the question of Beetle's eyes, saying: I constantly get inquiries as to the color of Beetle's eyes. As if I knew. Black as ink, I suppose, if he has any. Maybe there's nothing under the hat. Why should there be? There is nothing until I draw it, and I've never drawn his eyes. Why, then, should he have any? One running gag has Sergeant Snorkel hanging helplessly from

420-509: A regular infantry division). The uniforms of Beetle Bailey are still the uniforms of the late 1940s to early 1970s Army, with green fatigues and patrol caps as the basic uniform, and the open jeep as the basic military vehicle. Sergeant First Class Snorkel wears a green dress uniform with a heavily wrinkled garrison cap ; the officers wear M1 helmet liners painted with their insignia. Despite this anachronism , modern weapons and equipment do make rare appearances. While Beetle Bailey's unit

462-547: A small tree branch after having fallen off a cliff, with the first instance running on August 16, 1956. While he is never shown falling off, or even walking close to the edge of a cliff, he always seems to hold on to that same branch, yelling for help. During the first two years of Beetle Bailey ' s run (1950–1952), Walker did all work on the strip himself, including writing, penciling, inking and lettering; however, in 1952 he hired cartoonist Fred Rhoads as his first assistant. After that, numerous people would assist Walker on

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504-503: Is Company A, one running gag is that the characters are variously seen performing activities associated with different types of units in the Army, such as artillery , armor , infantry and paratroops . Occasionally dream sequences have appeared where the characters see themselves as seasoned combat veterans, such as Sarge having a dream he was General " Storming Snorkel " briefing on Operation Desert Shield , or Beetle imagining himself leaving

546-477: Is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker , published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the oldest comic strips still being produced by its original creator. Over the years, Mort Walker had been assisted by (among others) Jerry Dumas , Bob Gustafson , Frank Johnson and Walker's sons, Neal, Brian and Greg Walker, who are continuing

588-410: Is shot and killed by an unknown assailant, his doppelgänger works with the detective to solve his murder before he disintegrates. In the film, toons are more or less unkillable—except by noxious chemical "dip"—and, with a few exceptions, shrug off even the worst injuries, while their slapstick can realistically kill humans, such as Judge Doom killing Teddy Valiant (Eddie's younger brother in the film) with

630-781: The Defenders of the Earth series a few years before) and Hägar the Horrible (co-produced with Hanna-Barbera Productions ). In 1988, a musical based on the comic strip premiered at Candlewood Playhouse in New Fairfield , Connecticut for a limited run. Music and lyrics were by Neil and Gretchen Gould. In addition to the familiar characters from the strip, the plot introduced a wayward computer that promoted Bailey to three-star general. (All titles by Mort Walker. Published by Ace Tempo/ Grosset & Dunlap , unless otherwise noted. Year of publication

672-620: The University of Missouri . On March 13, 1951, during the strip's first year, Beetle quit school and enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he has remained ever since. His reason for enlisting was because he was running away after being nearly trapped by both his angry jealous first girlfriend "Buzz" and a second girl who was chasing him. Most of the humor in Beetle Bailey revolves around the inept characters stationed at Camp Swampy (inspired by Camp Crowder , where Walker had once been stationed while in

714-484: The Army and returning to school on the G.I. Bill , where female students all know him as "Bombshell Bailey, the famous war hero". Beetle is always seen with a hat or helmet which covers his forehead and eyes. Even on leave, his "civvies" include a pork pie hat worn in the same style. He can be seen without it only once—in the original strip, when he was still a college student. The strip was pulled and never ran in any newspaper. It has been printed only in various books on

756-590: The Army), which is located near the town of Hurleyburg at " Parris Island, S.C. " (a real-life Marine Corps base). Private Bailey is a lazy sort who usually naps and avoids work, and thus is often the subject of verbal and physical chastising from his senior NCO, Sergeant Snorkel. The characters never seem to see combat themselves, with the exception of mock battles and combat drills. In fact, they seem to be in their own version of stereotypical comic strip purgatory (initially basic training, they now appear to be stuck in time in

798-606: The CBS network. It has been released on DVD alongside the 1960s cartoons. Greg Whalen played Beetle, Bob Bergen portrayed Killer, Henry Corden was Sgt. Snorkel, Frank Welker was both Zero and Otto, Linda Gary voiced both Miss Buxley and Ms. Blips and General Halftrack was Larry Storch . This special was one of a number of specials made in the same timeframe by King Features/Hearst for TV as potential series pilots; others included Blondie & Dagwood (co-produced with Marvel Productions , who had also collaborated with King Features for

840-524: The DeGreasy Brothers. When Roger is found dead, and his final words having been censored out, Valiant is soon sent on the case of tracking Roger's murderers. This original incarnation of Eddie is a heavy smoker and has a beard as well as being more muscular and chiseled featured than he appears in the film. The 1988 film gives insight into the character, as portrayed by Bob Hoskins . Pictures and newspaper clippings in his office reveal that he and his younger brother Theodore ("Teddy" for short) were sons of

882-458: The Genie, Valiant drops the Genie's lamp into the fish tank and the saltwater dissolves the Genie. With Roger's murderer disposed of, Valiant concludes that Rocco DeGreasy's murderer was the original Roger Rabbit himself. Roger's motive was that Rocco had stolen Jessica from him, and he generated the doppelgänger to be an alibi. He intended to plant the murder weapon at Valiant's office, framing him, but

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924-690: The Maroon Cartoons studio, hires Valiant to photograph Jessica Rabbit , Roger's wife; she is literally "playing pattycake" with Marvin Acme, owner of Toontown and founder of the Acme Corporation . When Acme is murdered and Roger becomes the prime suspect, Valiant teams up with Roger to expose the culprit. Maroon is subsequently killed, and Valiant discovers that Doom is responsible for not only these two deaths, but Teddy's as well. He destroys Doom at Acme's warehouse, finds Acme's lost will that bequeaths Toontown to

966-490: The Toons, and lives happily-ever-after, having avenged his brother's death and rid himself of both his bigotry and alcoholism. In the graphic novel of the film published in 1989 by Marvel Comics , Valiant is the narrator of the story, telling the film through his eyes and in the style of a detective story. According to Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom , Valiant eats jellybeans to cope with his new-found teetotalism . In

1008-542: The U.S. They "end[ed] up in a black box in the bottom drawer", according to Walker. These sketches were sometimes published in Scandinavia , however, with a translation underneath. In Norway , they appeared in the Norwegian Beetle Bailey comic book, Billy , with the cover of the comic marked to show it contained censored strips. To offset any possible negative reaction, the publisher experimented with "scrambling"

1050-553: The animated television film Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter , which debuted on October 7, 1972, as an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie . In the beginning of the show, General Halftrack, and Lt. Flap also appeared in the Chinese Restaurant scene. A 30-minute animated TV special co-written by Mort Walker and Hank Saroyan was produced for CBS in 1989, but did not air due to management changes at

1092-434: The book give different impressions. The first is darker in tone and only shows a shadowed Roger from the back, while Valiant's face is unshaven. It focused on the two in a close-up with a black background. A later edition showed a cleanshaven Valiant while Roger's face was brightly shown. It was panned out and showed the city during day in the background. It also showed a speech bubble coming from Roger saying "Help! I'm stuck in

1134-399: The form of a memo from Valiant) the book says that Roger Rabbit "and his screwball buddies play fast and loose with historical accuracy", which means that the stories do not have much continuity between each other. There is no connection between this novel and the first one, with the exception of Jessica mentioning having a dream containing the events of the first novel, retconning it as just

1176-493: The lantern a third time, but witnessed the apparition, the Genie killed him. Valiant holds the Genie hostage over a saltwater fish tank, saltwater being its weakness. The Genie is then forced to grant a wish made by Valiant for proof of Roger's innocence, which is provided in the form of a suicide note from Dominic DeGreasy confessing to both Roger and Rocco DeGreasy's murders. Not trusting the Genie to keep its word of letting him go, and also knowing that no one would believe him about

1218-534: The novel Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit ? , Valiant has once again vowed to no longer take any Toon cases, but is forced to do so when Baby Herman is found dead. Before Hoskins was cast, other actors who were considered for the role include Bill Murray , Harrison Ford , Jack Nicholson , Al Pacino , Clint Eastwood , Eddie Murphy , Robin Williams , Robert Redford , Ed Harris , Don Lane , Chevy Chase and Edward James Olmos Beetle Bailey Beetle Bailey

1260-517: The novel are primarily comic strip characters, as opposed to animated cartoon stars. Many famous strip characters are mentioned or make cameo appearances, such as Dick Tracy , Snoopy , Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead , Beetle Bailey , and Hägar the Horrible . Strips are produced by photographing cartoon characters. In this version, "toon" characters speak in word balloons which appear above their heads as they talk. Although some characters have learned to suppress their word balloons and speak vocally,

1302-539: The reason Roger Rabbit remained in a secondary role was because of his lack of talent. Soon after, Roger is mysteriously murdered in his home. His speech balloon, found at the crime scene, indicates his murder was a way of " censoring " him; apparently, he had just heard someone explain the source of his success. Valiant's search for the killer takes him to a variety of suspects, which includes Roger's estranged widow Jessica Rabbit , Roger's former co-star Baby Herman , and Roger's photographer Carol Masters. Valiant then meets

Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Misplaced Pages Continue

1344-479: The strip after his death. Beetle was originally a college student at Rockview University, as of September 4, 1950. Although he was as lazy in college as he would be in the service, he did have a broken down jalopy and was the star of the track team (apparently on a scholarship). He had four friends: Bitter Bill; Diamond Jim; Freshman and Sweatsock. He also smoked a pipe. The characters in that early strip were modeled after Walker's Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers at

1386-506: The strip through the years. As of 2016, the strip was being syndicated (by King Features ) in 1,800 papers in the United States and the rest of the world. In Sweden , the strip received a dedicated magazine in 1970, with a Norwegian version being added the following year, which is published to this day as of 2020. Denmark also has dedicated (albeit not exclusive) magazine, named "Basserne", first published in 1973. The early strip

1428-421: The strip's history. One daily strip had Sarge scare Beetle's hat off, but Beetle was wearing sunglasses. In a 3/27/1966 dream sequence by Sgt. Snorkel (a parody of the 1960s Batman , with Sgt. Snorkel as "Fatman" and Beetle as "Slobber"), the heroes try to stop the infamous "Pizza Pete"; Beetle/Slobber wears a mask but his eyes can be seen The only acknowledged picture of Beetle Bailey's eyes (two black dots on

1470-467: The strips in the mid-1990s. To see them, the reader had to view them through a "de-scrambling" plastic card. This was discontinued soon afterward, and the strips later were printed without scrambling. In Sweden , some of these strips were collected in the Alfapocket series. A television series based on the strip, consisting of 50 six-minute animated cartoon shorts produced by King Features Syndicate ,

1512-401: The use of word balloons forms several important plot points. In the book, toons have the power to create duplicates of themselves as stunt doubles for risky shots. Generally, they disintegrate after a few minutes or hours at the most. Roger creates one that lasts two days, although this is an exception, intending it to be as close a match to him as possible in order to be an alibi. When Roger

1554-558: The years, mostly unnamed, including an inspector general who looks like Alfred E. Neuman , and various officers and civilians. Among the few to be given names is Julian, a nondescript chauffeur eventually replaced by Julius. For the most part, Walker's relationship with the real-life US Army has been cordial. But not always. During the early 1950s, the strip was dropped from the Tokyo edition of Stars and Stripes because it allegedly encouraged disrespect for officers. The civilian press made

1596-459: Was animated by Paramount Cartoon Studios in the U.S. and Artransa Film Studios in Sydney, Australia. The series was first broadcast in 1963 as part of The King Features Trilogy . 50 episodes were produced. The opening credits included the sound of a bugle reveille , followed by a theme song specifically composed for the cartoon. In the closing credits Geoff Pike was listed as Director. Beetle

1638-589: Was in Roger's possession, and gives it to Dominic DeGreasy only to find it is actually a magic lamp with a Genie , who then kills Dominic. The Genie explains its origins, and that, over thousands of years, it has become embittered, now only granting wishes with a catch, and admits to being the one who shot Roger. He further explains that the words to command him happen to be part of a children's song that Roger habitually sings, so Roger wished for success without actually realising he had done so. When Roger accidentally activated

1680-489: Was set at Rockview University. When Beetle joined the army, all of the other characters were dropped (although both incarnations of the strip include a bespectacled intellectual named Plato). Four characters from the original cast ( Bitter Bill, Diamond Jim, Freshman , and Sweatsock ) made at least one appearance, in the January 5, 1963 strip. Beetle's family, etc.: Camp Swampy: Numerous one-shot characters have appeared over

1722-411: Was shot by the Genie when he accidentally summoned it. The doppelgänger confirms the truth and confesses that he "had it planned for days". However, for clearing his name and befriending him despite what he did and tried to do afterwards, he praises Valiant for his morals (calling him "a real stand-up guy"). Roger gives Valiant a final heartfelt goodbye before disintegrating. The different covers used for

Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Misplaced Pages Continue

1764-409: Was voiced by comic actor and director Howard Morris with Allan Melvin as the voice of Sarge. Other King Features properties, such as Snuffy Smith and Krazy Kat , also appeared in the syndicated series, under the collective title Beetle Bailey and His Friends . June Foray did the voice of Bunny, plus all of the female characters involved. Beetle and Sgt. Snorkel were featured prominently in

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