36 years on from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the director says there’s a really good sequel script that will “never” get made

Robert Zemeckis doesn’t think that a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? will ever be made, despite a script being written. It seems the issue is all down to Jessica Rabbit, or at least that’s what the film director thinks.

“There’s a good script sitting at Disney, but here’s the thing: Here’s what you have to know, and you know this, the current Disney would never make Roger Rabbit today,” Zemeckis said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast recently. “They can’t make a movie with Jessica in it. The sequel script isn’t ever going to see the light of day as good as it is.”

The original, much-beloved Disney movie was released back in 1988, and has become a classic. The hilarious part live-action, part-animated movie follows toon Roger Rabbit as he hires a detective, Eddie Valiant, to find out if his wife, Jessica Rabbit, is having an affair with Marvin Acme. However, when Marvin winds up dead, all eyes turn to Roger as the potential culprit. 

In the interview, Zemeckis went on to point out that Disney made a change to Jessica Rabbit’s design at the Anaheim theme park. He added: “I mean look what they did to Jessica at the theme park. They trussed her up in a trench coach.” At the time, they said this was to bring her more in line with her career as a private detective. 

Next up for Zemeckis is Here, which stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and follows various couples inhabiting the same room over generations. For more upcoming movies, check out our guide to all the new Disney movies on the way.