When one hears the term “tech noir”, the idea is often associated with futurism and high-level technological innovation. As a result, many would not connect 1988 film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with the genre of tech-noir as instead of taking place in the future, it takes place 41 years in the past and the style of animation of the “toons” had been around for decades at that point. However, it’s the ability to integrate this style of animation into the real world as if they’ve always co-existed that provides the example of innovation. At the time of production, this sort of meshing of animation and realism hadn’t really been achieved and was an incredibly novel idea.

Without a doubt, Roger Rabbit is a cult-classic comedy noir featuring common noir archetypes like the hard-boiled detective (Eddie Valiant), the femme fatale (Jessica Rabbit), the wrongfully accused (Roger Rabbit), the corrupt “cop” (Judge Doom), and more. The film takes place in a universe where cartoon characters known as “toons” coexist with humans and the plot centers around P.I. Eddie Valiant and toon Roger Rabbit as Eddie has to work to discover who murdered Marvin Acme, landlord of ToonTown, when all the evidence points to Roger and the judge of ToonTown, Judge Doom, and his toon lackeys, are trying to hunt him down to execute him by means of Doom’s “dip”, a combination of chemicals that is the only real way to kill a toon. It is revealed that Judge Doom was in fact that one that killed Acme in an elaborate scheme to buy ToonTown in order to eradicate it for highways.

Despite this film being an incredibly well known classic and one of the most culturally significant films in the last 50 years, I had never seen it and knew very little about the plot; the only thing I knew about was Jessica Rabbit. However, it piqued my interest for this assignment as I am not generally a cyberpunk/tech noir kind of person, it’s never really been my style, but Who Framed Roger Rabbit didn’t appear to be a conventional take on this aesthetic and theme and I’ve always been a cartoon fanatic. One of the biggest takeaways from the film for me was how incredibly allegorical it is much like many other cyberpunk/tech-noir films and works. Roger Rabbit brings incredible metaphors for racism/prejudice and gentrification to the table in a way that I wasn’t exactly anticipating. It’s understood that toons are seen as inferior to humans with the humans running the show and the purpose of the toons purely being to entertain which can be seen at the humans only Ink and Paint Club that is fully staffed by Toons including a down-on-her-luck Betty Boop who had to resort to waitressing since black and white cartoons have gone out of style (fig. 1). Not to mention, it’s their home of ToonTown that is being sought out to be destroyed and make room for gentrified infrastructure. It really ties into that idea of “low life, high tech” that is often covered in traditional cyberpunk.

It’s themes like this of growing modernization, growth of capitalism, and its effects on those of varying socioeconomic classes that are continuously applicable across generations, decades, and even centuries. This film was released in 1988, but any of us here in 2025 can watch it and think “that’s relatable”. You have inferior groups being used and cast aside or treated like objects while the superior groups act like vultures taking what they please regardless of the consequences on those “below” them. I found the film as a whole to be incredibly well done and innovative as well as allegorical in a way that doesn’t use the traditional aesthetic of cyberpunk/tech-noir that I tend to find overstimulating and overwhelming.