Back in the late 1980s Disney had an active in-house Comic Strip Department as part of the Merchandising Division. Floyd Norman had come back to Disney and was working with Merchandising. The group also included extraordinary artists such as Daan Jippes. The film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, had been released with …
The 1987 Topps Who Framed Roger Rabbit trading card series included 132 cards and 22 stickers. It was back in the day that packages of trading cards included a stick of bubblegum. Interestingly, Topps was acquired by Michael Eisner’s The Tornante Company in 2007.
Collecting Jessica Rabbit figures and images could be a full-time hobby. Many figures were produced as statuettes, snow globes, toys, Christmas decorations, and dolls. Here is a small selection of Jessica figures. In 1997, Disney artists Kevin Kidney and Jodi Daily designed prototype figures for the ‘Tiny Kingdom’ collectible …
The statuette below was released in late 2018, for the 30th anniversary of the film’s release. Many other statuettes and figures have been sculpted over the years… some available through official Disney outlets and some available through the internet directly from the artists. Some Jessica figures portray roles from …
Ruben Procopio was a long-time Disney animator and maquette sculptor. He produced a Jessica figure for the Disney Showcase collection, through Grand Jesster, in 2009. A Jessica ‘Gallery of Light’ figure by Robert Olszewski was available in the Disney parks in 2010. In 2011, Ryuji produced a manga-styled …
Jessica maquettes were made so that the animators could visualize her from all directions for their drawings. Dave Spafford created his own maquette before he had even been assigned to the production. It was based on early character designs. Other film production figures are shown below. Jessica Rabbit has always …
There are all kinds of ‘Who framed Roger Rabbit‘ merchandise, but one of the most fun types is the snowglobe.
Disney has made pinback buttons and cloisonné pins since the earliest Mickey Mouse Club days – and many pins were made at the time of the release of Who framed Roger Rabbit and especially after the costumed Roger Rabbit character came to the theme parks. Pin trading and …
Much of the animation art available in the auction market in the 1980s had been ‘saved’ from garbage cans and dumpsters or ‘walked out the door’ by the artists who created it or studio collectors. In the old days, cels were washed and reused. Animation veterans talk about surfing down …
Disney Marketing developed a ‘Roger Rabbit’ package for its merchandise licensees. It contained folders with design ideas, the pantone color palette used in the film, character poses, pre-production art, and promotional videotapes. Licensees were flown to Los Angeles for the presentation. Steven Spielberg and Michael Eisner were scheduled to be at …
