Roger Rabbit Returns to His Creator: Disney Hands Back Rights After 35-Year Clause


Published on 11/10/25 by Craig Smith




who framed roger rabbit movieIn 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.





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