Everett Collection
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit's" femme fatale will be donning a trench coat and fedora for the revamped Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride.
Jessica Rabbit is getting a makeover for Disneyland's revamped Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin ride and the reaction from fans is certainly animated.
Last week, the Orange County Register reported Walt Disney Imagineering was retooling the ride by giving it a "more relevant" backstory with Jessica Rabbit as the central character. Along with tweaking the plot of the attraction -- which previously involved her kidnapping -- Jessica's famously sexy ensemble will apparently be replaced with a trench coat and fedora.
"Citing the recent return of the Toon Patrol Weasels as the main driver behind the recent sharp rise in crime statistics throughout Mickey's Toontown, Jessica Rabbit has determined it is past time for her to throw her fedora into the ring by starting her own private investigations service," reads a poster to be placed in the ride's line. "While taking inspiration from longtime friend and legendary Toon Detective Eddie Valiant, Jessica shows that she certainly means business."
Fans had already noticed the figure of Jessica tied up in a trunk in the original ride had been replaced by barrels of the cartoon-erasing "dip." After the news of the reimagining broke, the backlash was swift, as one disappointed fan wrote, "Is it just me, or is Disney basically just slut shaming Jessica Rabbit?"
Another posted, "Disney blindly stumbling into the objectification vs. sex positivity debate by saying Jessica Rabbit needs to have a masculine job and wear masculine clothes in order to be empowered," with yet another chiming in by simply saying, "Why does Disney hate sexy ppl? Leave Jessica Rabbit alone."
The original concept of the ride, which was based on the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," debuted at Disneyland in 1994.
The move to tweak Jessica Rabbit is the latest in a number of changes Disney has implemented in an effort to make their attractions more politically appropriate and culturally sensitive.
The Jungle Cruise ride was recently renovated to remove negative depictions of native people, while Splash Mountain is moving away from its controversial "Song of the South" inspiration and re-theming it after "The Princess and the Frog," the first Disney film featuring a Black princess.
And over the years, Pirates of the Caribbean ride has removed the depiction of women being chased by pirates and of them being sold at auction.
Keep reading for more reactions to Jessica Rabbit's makeover, below. TooFab has reached out to Disneyland for comment.
