Jessica Rabbit (fictional)
Jessica Rabbit is a fictional character created by author Gary Wolf for his humorous novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. The character was later used by The Walt Disney Company and Amblin Entertainment for the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, loosely based on Wolf's book. In the book version she was a calendar pin-up and porn comic character who was obsessed over her estranged husband, comic strip star Roger Rabbit. She is re-imagined in the film as a sultry human (Rabbit being merely her husband's surname) cartoon singer at a fictional Los Angeles supper club called 'The Ink and Paint Club'. Here, she is one of several suspects in the framing of her husband, who is a famous cartoon star. She is voiced by actress Kathleen Turner, who went uncredited in the film but not in the animated shorts that followed in the movie's success. Executive producer Steven Spielberg's then-wife Amy Irving was cast to sing "Why Don't You Do Right" for Jessica's first scene in the movie.
She claims to Valliant, "I'm not bad...I'm just drawn that way..."
Her marriage, that of a cool, moody and sexy femme fatale to an eccentric, zany and hyper-active rabbit, has been described as one of the strangest marriages in animation. She is however very dedicated to her husband who, she says, "makes me laugh." She is also much taller than Roger Rabbit.
Many film buffs label Jessica Rabbit a "Frankenstein of film goddesses": with a Lauren Bacall-ish speaking voice, Betty Grable's legs, Marilyn Monroe's torso and buttocks, Jayne Mansfield's breasts, Veronica Lake's hairstyle, Rita Hayworth's hair color, Marlene Dietrich's eyes, and a Judy Garland-like singing voice.
Other appearances
- She also made cameo appearances in the cartoon shorts Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Rabbit and Trail Mix-Up.
- She also appeared frequently in the Roger Rabbit comic book series and she has her own feature in most issues of Roger Rabbit's Toontown.
- She is a frequent subject of erotic artist Julius Zimmerman
- She is mentioned in the chorus of the song "Rescue" by Eve 6.
- She is mentioned in the Friends episode "The One with Frank, Jr." where each character is allowed a "freebie list" which is a list of celebrities that each person is allowed to sleep with and their boyfriend or girlfriend can't get angry. On Chandler's list is Kim Basinger, Cindy Crawford, Halle Berry, Yasmine Bleeth and Jessica Rabbit. Rachel then points out that Jessica's a cartoon and that she's well out of his league.
- In the anime film Pom Poko, three boys drop an adult magazine, and the nude model is seen to look just like Jessica Rabbit.
