The Saddest Death From Who Framed Roger Rabbit Still Haunts Fans To This Day
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is a film that seamlessly blends fantasy and reality. While the movie is overall light-hearted, the narrative does feature dark undertones that add more complexity to the story. In a world where cartoon characters and real people work side-by-side in Hollywood, the city's gritty underbelly is exposed when a shocking murder rocks the entertainment community. To solve the case, an embittered private investigator named Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is forced to team up with a cartoon performer named Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer), who's been falsely accused of the crime. As the unlikely duo works to clear Roger's name, they come across some of the classic cartoon characters audiences know and love, as well as a few "toons" who are unique to the film.
One of the original characters in the movie manages to toe the line between fact and fiction. Played by Christopher Lloyd, Judge Doom is the movie's primary antagonist. With a billowing black cape and an ominous air, it's clear from the start that Doom is hiding something sinister. While it's hard to keep track of the character's numerous crimes, viewers can't help but remember Doom as the culprit behind one of the saddest deaths in the entire film.
The shoe gets dipped
In a long and varied Reddit thread examining some of the saddest fictional character deaths, one response got more attention than any other answer. After all these years, fans of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" still want justice for the sweet little shoe that was brutally destroyed after being dunked in a mixture of turpentine, acetone, and bleach, a deadly cocktail of Judge Doom's creation known as "The Dip." Within the narrative, toons are characterized as happy-go-lucky beings who exist to bring joy to the world, so it's hard to watch the innocent, sentient shoe get dissolved without cause.
"Those little shoes in Who Framed Roger Rabbit," wrote Reddit u/Fantastic_Love_9451. Other users followed up with similar sentiments, such as Reddit u/katspresso, who said, "Forgot about that one! Watching those little guys get 'Dipped' was the worst." While the scene shows how far Doom is willing to go in his twisted quest for justice, viewers are still haunted by the shoe's demise. "The poor little shoe's red dye made it look like blood," another user chimed in, referencing how the ill-fated character goes from a fully-formed being to a puddle of sludge in a matter of seconds.
Thankfully, the shoe's suffering is short-lived. While the scene is memorable for an unpleasant reason, it serves a clear purpose in the story. Even though Eddie and Roger couldn't save the shoe, they're able to give Doom a taste of his own medicine by the end of the film.