Pin Release - WDI Attraction Keys

At the 2019 D23 convention a new series of Attraction pins were released, commemorating some special anniversaries. These pins were WDI exclusives, only available to cast members. We've seen some of the best pins as WDI exclusives in the most recent years. Lets take a closer look at the special Limited Edition pin celebrating 25 years of Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin...

Toontown Cabbies March Magic Shirt

A new Roger Rabbit shirt was released as part of Disney's March Magic competition. Disney is looking for fans to crown a winner for the "Ultimate Disney Attraction" by voting through their Facebook Page. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 3. Artwork for the different teams has been created and is available through the Disney Store website as Limited Edition t-shirts and posters.

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin Grand Opening Video

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride in Disneyland recently celebrated another year in Toontown. Last year there was a lot of rumor that we might lose the ride, as well as Toontown, to the new Star Wars Land expansion. However, this is not the case, and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin is still keeping guests entertained.

Pin Release - WDI Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

At the 2015 D23 convention a Walt Disney Imagineering pin series was released commemorating all of Disneyland's attractions for the 60th Anniversary. Attractions included in the series were Disneyland Diamond Celebration Jumbo, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Autopia, Jungle Cruise, Mark Twain Riverboat, Big Thunder Mountain, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Pirates of the Caribbean, Snow White's Scary Adventure, The Enchanted Tiki Room, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, King Arthur's Carousel, Storybook Canal Boats, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Alice in Wonderland, It's A Small World, Peter Pan's Flight and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

The border of the pin is a silver metal relief sculpted scene with all five weasels, the front of the ride building, and some of the toon props found in the ride. In the middle is a clear filled, multi-colord circle which has a stained glass appearance. Roger, Jessica and Benny the Cab are in the center. Jessica's dress is glitter filled. This was released only at D23 as a cast member only exclusive. It is Limited Edition of 300 and sold for $18.95 each.

Now Available: Roger And Jessica Rabbit Vinylmation

After many, many, many long years of waiting, a new Vinylmation has arrived of not just one, but three Who Framed Roger Rabbit characters included in the new 60th Anniversary Collection. The characters are all on one single Vinylmation, but at least we finally have something of Jessica Rabbit! Take a look...

Jessica Rabbit Pin Of The Day #166 - Car Toon Spin 10th Anniversary

Title: Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin 10th Anniversary
Released: January 26 2004 at the Disneyland Resort
Price: $10.50
Limited Edition: 1500

In 2004, the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride celebrated its 10th Anniversary. This special pin was a spinner featuring Roger, Jessica and Benny the Cab. The blue center portion of the pin could be turned to show the front and back side of the characters. The Car Toon Spin logo is above.

Jessica Rabbit Pin Of The Day #161 - Streets Have Character Collection

Title: Streets Have Character Collection
Released: July 15 2007 in Disneyland at the Mickey's Pin Festival of Dreams event
Price: $6.95
Limited Edition: Open Edition

Roger and Jessica Rabbit are out for a spin with Lenny the Cab (Benny's cousin) on the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride. This was released at the special Mickey's Pin Festival of Dreams event. It was released on a special backer card.

Flashback Friday - The Totally unOfficial Toonography Of Jessica Rabbit Part Three

The Totally unOfficial Toonography of Jessica Rabbit was a big project I embarked on in an effort to preserve the character and tell a lot more of her story through the happenings at the time, and from Disney artist interviews. This six part documentary slideshow reveals some information about Jessica, her creation, merchandise and history.

Part 3: The TOON Rides Again - Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Even though Roger and Jessica had been disappearing, we were lucky enough to get this fantastic ride. Originally to be a two-story ride, Car Toon Spin opened in Disneyland's Toontown and is still a very popular attraction. Only a sporadic amount of merchandise was available throughout the years until the 15th Anniversary of the film.

Pin Release - Piece Of Disneyland History Series Jessica Rabbit

The new Piece of Disneyland History pin series has started to be released with a different pin each month. The pins celebrate the history of Disneyland attractions, including the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride. On this pin, Jessica Rabbit is holding a mallet and tied up (after making her escape from the weasels from the end scene) and features a glitter filled dress - and a piece of Jessica Rabbit's purple spandex glove from the ride! The pin is available in Disneyland locations, is a Limited Edition of 1500 and sells for $15.95 each. Should this pin still be in parks 30 days after release, you will be able to order this through Disney Merchandise Guest Services.

"This pin is from a Piece of Disneyland® Resort History Pin Collection. This limited edition pin contains a piece of the purple spandex gloves worn by Jessica Rabbit in Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. This unique pin features a glitter fill embellishment.

Drive through the wacky streets of Toontown as you follow the adventures of Roger Rabbit. Be on the lookout for the dreaded glowing Dip, which could send you into a turbulent tailspin. Come face to face with the wily Weasels and the dreaded Dipmobile. This exciting attraction opened on January 26, 1994.
Please note: Wristbands will be issued in conjunction with this release. Wristband distribution guidelines will apply."

Roger And Jessica Rabbit Merchandise From Japan

It's the stuff Jessica Rabbit Dreams are made of to see a display like this in any Disney park. Jessica had quite a run during 2006-2007 in the US, Paris and also Tokyo. A wide variety of Jessica Rabbit merchandise was released in Tokyo Disneyland at that time, such as notepads, folders, pens, pencils, business card holders and metal bookmarks. This lot is very hard to find now, but was the first of it's kind in a very long time. Not since the release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988 and the days of the Jessica Rabbit store has there been as big of a display of her merchandise all together, especially pens and paper.

The selection was quite interesting, with most of the merchandise printed with or on a shiny material. There were also glitter filled elements such as the hanging charms on the metal bookmark, pens and mechanical pencils. Though the art is of familiar poses, all of it looks to be re-drawn or updated, giving us some slightly new art of her.

Take Jessica Rabbit on the go - to keep track of your most important dates and affairs. In 2010 the Strapya company in Japan released a series of calendar datebooks with characters like Alice in Wonderland, Chip and Dale, and Jessica Rabbit. She was certainly an interesting selection to mix in with those other characters, but definitely had a market. It appears there might have been two different variations in design, one with Jessica's famous over-the-shoulder look and the second one being a close-up. Though both images are of poses we have seen before, much like the Tokyo Disneyland artwork, it looks like the art has been refreshed and updated a little. None of these Jessica datebooks have ever shown up on the second hand market, so it's hard to know if they were ever even released.

The last two items are of Benny the Cab's cousin, Lenny - and Roger himself! Roger Rabbit had not gotten as much love as Jessica in the merchandising department for a long time. Takara Tomy released a series of Beans dolls with an array of different Disney characters, which included Roger. There has not been a plush Roger doll in the US for some time. The last one before this was from Disneyland Paris which featured Roger covered in Jessica's kiss marks. The Lenny the Cab toy is made by Tomica and is an exact replica of the Car Toon Spin ride vehicle. It has actual wheels that work on the bottom, and the details all match those exactly from the ride - right down to the "Lenny" license plate. Both were released in 2013 and pop up on eBay occasionally. This is all a great grouping of merchandise for Who Framed Roger Rabbit - and is something we need to see more of in the US.

Flashback Friday - Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

It's the 20th Anniversary of Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - one of the zaniest, wackiest, tooniest rides ever in a Disney park! The ride was actually quite a challenge to finish, and had to be redesigned at the last minute. Car Toon Spin not only broke ground on being one of few modern "dark-light" rides to the Disneyland park, it also was placed in a section inspired by the Roger Rabbit movie - Toontown! Check out this this very informative interview with Car Toon Spin ride designer Marcelo Vignali, which was an exclusive to this site.

ImNotBad.com - A Jessica Rabbit Site: Exclusive Roger Rabbit Ride Designer Interview - Marcelo Vignali

Pin Preview - Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin 20th Anniversary

This year will mark two big Disney Park Anniversaries. It's the 25th Anniversary of MGM/Hollywood Studios and the 20th Anniversary of the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride in Disneyland. Car Toon Spin opened on January 24, 1994 and is still a popular attraction in Disneyland. This pin features Roger and Jessica Rabbit out for a spin with Benny the Cab. Jessica's dress is glitter filled. The bottom reads Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin which is the ride logo, and 20th Anniversary below. This commemorative pin will be released in Disneyland on January 23rd, is a Limited Edition of 1500 and will sell for $12.95 each.

Pin Preview - Piece Of Disneyland History Jessica Rabbit

Exciting news for Jessica Rabbit collectors. 2014 will see a new Piece of Disneyland History pin series. The pins celebrate the history of Disneyland attractions, including the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride. On this pin, Jessica is holding a mallet and tied up (after making her escape from the weasels from the end scene), features a glitter filled dress - and even a piece of Jessica Rabbit's glove from the ride! As soon as there's more info you'll find it here!

A Visit To Toontown

With all this talk about toons lately - since the new Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? novel is coming out in a few days - you might want to take a trip to the Disney park area inspired by Gary Wolf, the Real Toontown! Can't make your way out there to California, don't worry yourself until you're seeing stars floating around your head - because Daveland Blog has a great article about the town where toons live, complete with photos. You'll be seeing stars, weasels and dancing shoes at the most visited attractions in that area of the park, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. So if you've never been there before, have a read and enjoy the colorful atmosphere of Toontown:
Davelandblog: Trip Report Pt. 7: Toon Town and Roger Rabbit

Roger Rabbit's Hollywood

Here is a small glimpse at the land that never was in the Disney-MGM Studios park. Roger Rabbit's Hollywood was a proposed section of the park, and was all ready to go until plans changed for whatever reason. Here we can see a replica of the Acme warehouse and Maroon Cartoons building doubling as "Maroon Studios" from the description in the photo. We can't tell what this building was going to serve as but it would have been large and served a great purpose if only to bring us that much more into the movie. The other is of concept art for the Roger Rabbit Toontown Trolley ride, which was to be a motion simulation ride much like Star Tours. There were also plans for Baby Herman's Runaway Baby Buggy, another dark-light ride much like Car Toon Spin, that takes you careening through the hospital hallways seen in Tummy Trouble. A Toontown Diner was also planned as the main restaurant.

A recreation of The Terminal Bar where Dolores worked would have been another eatery, and would have connected to the Red Car Trolley, as seen in the film. There's never been any information on how much of a role Jessica Rabbit would have played if this section of the park was created (merchandise, a costumed character, etc) but it has been said that Roger was going to be included in the original gang (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy) and was being pushed to be as famous and recognizable as Goofy.

While Roger Rabbit's Hollywood only made it to concept stage, the area it was to be located in was around the newer Sunset Boulevard (the street leading to the Tower of Terror) during its second phase of construction/expansion in the 90's. The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is roughly one spot the land would have been. A scale model for that area of the park (photo left courtesy MartinsVids.net) shows how invested Disney was with Roger Rabbit. The section was to include what might have been the parks first roller coaster, based on the cartoon short Roller Coaster Rabbit. According to a New York Times article:

Movies Provide Themes For Disney World Attractions
February 18, 1990 | By New York Times News Service

Disney's movie division is providing inspiration for a new series of back lot "neighborhoods," rides and restaurants at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. According to plans for the theme park announced recently, the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?," made by a Disney subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures, will be the source for an area called Roger Rabbit's Hollywood to be built in the mid-1990s.

This will be a kind of Toontown, where-as in the movie-only cartoon characters may live.

Visitors will meet the movie's eponymous cartoon hero, ride a Toontown trolley rocked by flight simulators, hop into Benny the cartoon cab, and careen in overaged Baby Herman's baby buggy through a Toontown hospital.

While plans for a grand Roger Rabbit Land were unfortunately scrapped, a small Roger Rabbit-themed area was created in Disney-MGM Studios where you could buy merchandise, take photos with standees, and play amongst many props - some of which were from the actual movie. (photo right via 2719 Hyperion)

Aside from some presence in the early days of the Disney-MGM Studios, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin was a ride created in the Toontown area of Disneyland, and there was a Jessica Rabbit Store that briefly existed in Disney World's Pleasure Island.

ImNotBad.com 2012 Year End Review

The year has come and gone rather quickly. The world didn't end - but I'll say it stopped briefly with news of a new Roger Rabbit book on the way. Yaya Han brought Jessica Rabbit cosplay to new heights with a stunning look, all created by herself. A very limited edition Jessica Rabbit Champagne was released on the cruise ship Fantasy in the Oh La La Lounge, and she was found hidden away on Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. A photo of Disney's only live version of Jessica Rabbit was brought to attention from the Disney On Ice Show in 1990. ImNotBad.com reached over half a million page views, opened a Jessica Rabbit World Tumblr page, snagged an interview with Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride designer Marcelo Vignali, and saw over 120 posts about Jessica Rabbit news... and some great merchandise.

Jessica Rabbit Premium Format Figure by Sideshow Collectibles - After a year long wait it was finally released this summer. It was well worth it too. This is by far the best, and most accurate, Jessica statue so far. With a special light-up display base, and accompanied by a statue of the Penguin waiter, the Premium Format became THE Jessica collectible to have. From the vibrant colors, to her real form fitting glittered dress, it was enough of a success that even people who were not fans of the movie were buying it!

Hop In, Jessica! Animation Cel - A complete surprise item released at its own special event in Disney's Hollywood Studios. This hand painted animation cel was created by artists, Erin Magill, Theodora M. DeLaney, David Rippberger, Lynn Rippberger and Sharon K. Vincent. It came with a certificate of authenticity, a postcard signed by all the artists, and a Limited Edition pin. Jessica has never looked so good, and is still just drawn that way since 1988.

Jessica Rabbit Coffee Tumbler - Jessica Rabbit apparently likes her morning coffee, as we can see with the I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Drawn To Coffee tumbler mug released at the beginning of the year. Each mug comes with a rubber lid and a beautiful, vibrant picture of Jessica up front, and the slogan on the reverse side.

Mickey's Toontown 20th Anniversary Pin - Disneyland's Toontown is celebrating it's 20th anniversary in 2013, and helping celebrate the occasion are none other than Roger and Jessica. They are surprisingly on this pin - since it clearly says Mickey's Toontown on it, proving the characters still have a lot of popularity among guests (and the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride remains to be one of the more popular ones there.)

Jessica Rabbit Statue by Jim Shore - At long last, folk artist Jim Shore decided to create a Jessica Rabbit statue using his highly recognizable style. Jessica is in all her glory, this time with the quilt-like patters which give charm and uniqueness to the works of Jim Shore.

Roger's Piano Bar and Night Club T-Shirt, Jessica Rabbit Salute! T-Shirt, Casual Jessica Rabbit T-Shirt - Yet another release that took everyone by surprise. Four new Roger Rabbit shirts were release at the end of the year, and three of them featured Jessica Rabbit. There hasn't been a shirt of Roger without Jessica in some 20 years now, so the fact a shirt with him was released had everyone hoping for more good news. Jessica donned two new looks, a Navy uniform, and her very "casual" look. She also shared a shirt with Roger, and since there was quite a selection this time around, each shirt struck a chord with different people.

And last, but not least, Vanity Fair conducted an on-line poll to find out once and for all who was THE sexiest animated cartoon ever. It was a tighter race at the end, coming down to Pocahontas and Jessica Rabbit - but Jessica managed to keep her title and won the poll with 62% of the vote.

Disneyland's Updated Site

Some time ago I noticed the Disneyland web page had revamped and also updated the information to the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin page. On a side note, Benny the Cab had been missing from the ride facade for a time but is now reported to be back in place.

They also added a slide show, and have finally included a great picture of Jessica Rabbit ready to knock out Wheezy Weasel. The page also informs you a little more on the storyline to the ride, in which we see Jessica is an important part of the ride experience.

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

Get behind the wheel of a run-away cab and spin through Toontown as you follow the hare-raising adventures of Roger Rabbit!

The Set-Up:
As you stand in the queue for a taxi into Toontown, uncover the Weasels' awful plan to kidnap Jessica Rabbit. You can also hang out by the Ink and Paint Club to overhear Jessica Rabbit warning her hubby bunny of the pending plot! And as you listen to the radio of Baby Herman's apartment, learn about the dangers of "Dip" — it's a fluid that's toxic to toons.

The Hijinks:
Hop on a toon cab and embark on a turbulent taxi ride through the streets of Toontown. When your tires hit some "Dip" in the road, they start to dissolve! Your taxi then spins wildly out of control — sometimes with your help as you twist the wheel. And the inanimate objects laugh hysterically at your plight.
Continue on this crazy course until your cab hits the local power plant. Get ready for the ensuing audiovisual wack-stravaganza!

To visit Disneyland's Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin Page - Click Here.

Exclusive Roger Rabbit Ride Designer Interview - Marcelo Vignali

Disney World and Disneyland were well known for their exciting rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Snow White's Scary Adventure. After the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Disney was naturally interested in bringing all the familiar characters and hijinks to life in a new ride that would entertain everyone. The ride itself proved to be somewhat of a challenge. Car Toon Spin not only broke ground on being one of few modern "dark-light" rides to the Disneyland park, it also was placed in a section inspired by the Roger Rabbit movie - Toontown! Who came up with the concept for the ride? Why was Jessica Rabbit tied up? Was the ride originally supposed to be two stories tall? Find out in this informative interview with ride designer Marcelo Vignali!

ImNotBad:
The Roger Rabbit ride has become a staple to the Disneyland park, so we'd love to get to know more about its designer. What was your first published professional artwork?

Marcelo Vignali:
Thanks for opportunity. My first published artwork? I do believe it was an ink drawing of Cardinal Ratzinger for the National Catholic Register newspaper. I guess both of us were going places -- since he would later become the Pope, I think he faired better than I did.



INB:
What was your reaction to the Who Framed Roger Rabbit movie?

Marcelo:
There was so much to like, but I was disappointed upon seeing adult humor and sexual vulgarity in the film -- especially since it was marketed for kids. It was a mixed message I found distracting. The movie was good enough, it didn't need to stoop to that level. I remember debating my coworkers at DIC Entertainment (a well known television animation studio where I was working in the late 1980s); needless to say I was the odd man out.