Roger Rabbit Returns to His Creator: Disney Hands Back Rights After 35-Year Clause
Published on 11/10/25 by Craig Smith
In a move that marks a major shift in the world of cartoons and classic film rights, The Walt Disney Company has formally relinquished the rights to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and associated characters back to their original creator, Gary K. Wolf. The transfer, quietly completed around a year ago, arises from the lesser-known 35-Year Copyright Reversion clause — a provision that allows creators to reclaim their works decades after assignment.
Wolf had sold the rights to his characters—originating with his 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? and the 1988 Touchstone/Disney/Amblin film adaptation—but the copyright statute now empowered him to reclaim full ownership of his characters and associated stories.
Despite this change, Disney still retains rights to the original movie and versions of the characters as they appeared under its ownership.
Wolf has outlined ambitions that include a live-action project focused on Jessica Rabbit (based on his novel Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business) and potentially revisiting aspects of the original novel that did not make it into the film.
For fans, this opens the door to fresh stories from the Toontown universe under the creator’s full creative control—provided that any new installments meet the high bar set by the original. “Has to be as good, or better … what the fans want,” Wolf stated.
- News Topic: Disney Movie News
- Disney Character(s) in this Article: Baby Herman (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Benny the Cab (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Eddie Valiant (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Greasy the Weasel (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Jessica Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Judge Doom (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Psycho the Weasel (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Roger Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Smarty the Weasel (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Stupid the Weasel (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Wheezy the Weasel (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
- Movie(s) in this article: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- Attraction(s) in this article: Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin | Disneyland
