15 Film Adaptations Completely Different From The Book
9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Save for the core concept, Who Framed Roger Rabbit has little in common with the Gary K. Wolf's novel, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? In the beginning, Roger is murdered, seemingly by his estranged wife after the animated rabbit supposedly murdered his boss, Rocco. Believing Roger is innocent, PI, Eddie Valiant, tries to find out who killed him and Rocco.
In the book, Toons aren't cartoon characters. Instead, they're comic strips characters like Snoopy and Dick Tracy. Rather than residing in Toontown, Toons live in segregated regions in human society. Toons can't make sounds vocally and so, communicate purely through speech bubbles. Also, Toons can create temporary doubles of themselves called "Dopples".
After Eddie learns Roger duplicated himself just before he snuffed it, he teams up with the Dopple to try and learn who killed him. Because Dopples fade to nothing after a day or so, Valiant is against the clock to learn as much as possible to discover Roger's murderer.
Eddie deduces that Roger was killed by a kettle-dwelling genie that Roger accidentally summoned. He also learns that Roger DID kill Rocco and intended to frame Eddie. After solving the case, the Dopple disintegrates.