Kathleen Turner reunited with her Who Framed Roger Rabbit costars at Rhode Island Comic-Con, 38 years after the film reached theaters.
The actress, 72, joined Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer and Lou Hirsch for a November 8 panel in the Narragansett Ballroom at the Omni Providence Hotel, according to PEOPLE.
For Turner, the gathering brought a chance to joke about a familiar rival for fans’ attention, Jessica Rabbit.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the 1988 film starred Bob Hoskins as detective Eddie Valiant, investigating a case involving humans and cartoon characters in 1940s Hollywood. Hoskins died in 2014.
Turner Jokes That Jessica Rabbit Gets More Autograph Requests
Turner said convention visitors frequently bring her pictures of Jessica to sign, putting the animated character ahead of photographs of the actress herself. “I’m a little jealous,” she joked in remarks also covered by Entertainment Weekly.
Jessica, the wife of Fleischer’s Roger Rabbit, remains closely associated with Turner despite her absence from the movie’s on-screen credits. As Disney’s D23 archive confirms, Turner supplied Jessica’s speaking voice, while Amy Irving performed her singing voice.
Turner wasn’t on set during principal photography. Zemeckis kept her updated and sent her drawings of Jessica as the production progressed. After seeing them, she suggested adding gasps to the dialogue so the character would “bounce more.”
Cassidy and Hirsch Recall Costumes, Makeup and an Unexpected Role
Cassidy, who played Eddie’s girlfriend Dolores, remembered arriving early for hair and makeup and sitting beside Lloyd as he was transformed into Judge Doom. She recalled the energy on set and particularly enjoyed wearing the period costumes. “Every day was an adventure,” she said.
Hirsch had initially auditioned for a human role. Instead, he received word that Zemeckis liked his voice and wanted him to play Baby Herman, the cartoon infant with an unexpectedly adult manner. He developed the character’s voice through experimentation, drawing on evenings spent trying different voices with friends in London.
Turner praised the finished movie as a work of art. Its traditional animation was combined with live-action footage, an achievement recognized at the 1989 Oscars. The Academy records wins for Film Editing, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects, plus a Special Achievement Award for Richard Williams’s animation direction.
Zemeckis Previously Explained His Doubts About a Sequel
Zemeckis discussed the possibility of a follow-up in an October 2024 Happy Sad Confused interview with Josh Horowitz. He said Disney had a completed sequel screenplay by original writers Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. However, he doubted the studio would make a film featuring Jessica as she had originally appeared.
Zemeckis pointed to her redesign at Disneyland’s Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin attraction, where she was given a detective-style trench coat in place of her familiar red dress.
He interpreted that change as a sign of the studio’s reluctance to revisit the character in her original form. He also revealed one element of the proposed story. Eddie would be deceased in the sequel’s timeline but occasionally appear as a ghost.