There’s a “wonderful” script for a “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” sequel collecting dust somewhere over at Disney headquarters, but the odds of it ever being greenlit are nil to none.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, ‘Roger Rabbit’ director Robert Zemeckis confirms that a screenplay is indeed ready to go, but that Disney is too scared to touch it because of the way it depicts the famously busty Jessica Rabbit.
There’s a good script sitting at Disney, but here’s what you have to know, and you know this: the current Disney would never make Roger Rabbit today…They can’t make a movie with Jessica in it. So the [Peter] Seaman and [Jeffrey] Price sequel script isn’t ever going to see the light of day, as good as it is. Because look what they did to Jessica at the theme park, they trussed her in a trench coat.”
So, in other words, Jessica’s bust is too provocative for Disney? What Zemeckis seems to be referring to is the makeover Jessica Rabbit got at one of the Disney theme parks, which angered some fans in 2021. The character was redesigned to be “more empowered and far less scantily clad.”
Back in 2016, Zemeckis confided that "current corporate Disney culture has no interest in Roger, and they certainly don't like Jessica at all".
The sensual depiction of the character is no secret—she is “renowned as one of the best-known sex symbols in animation,” and that might just not match with current times. Regardless, this sequel has been in development hell for decades, and there’s no reason to believe it’ll ever happen.
Steven Spielberg was originally attached to direct the sequel, titled “Who Discovered Roger Rabbit,” which would have delved into Roger’s earlier years; a young JJ Abrams had penned the screenplay. There have been countless delays and rewrites, but if we are to believe Zemeckis, a final draft of the screenplay is out there somewhere.
Maybe it’s all for the better. A sequel to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” would probably not surpass the original, which was heralded as a landmark in animation at the time.