Judge Doom is the main-antagonist of the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
History[]
Background[]
Origins[]
Judge Doom's history is shrouded in mystery. Before becoming a judge, he was a 1940s era cartoon character with red eyes and a high-pitched voice. On one incident he robbed Toontown's bank of a large sum of money, during which incident he was confronted by detectives Eddie and Teddy Valiant. The Toon was able to get the drop on the detectives by dropping a piano on Teddy's head, murdering him.
The Toon was able to get away and used his money to create the human identity of, "Judge Doom", disguising himself with a plastic mask, human suit, glasses, fake eyes and teeth. Through bribery with his blood money, Doom was able to buy the election and become the presiding judge of Toontown. As judge, Doom created a fascist, Nazi-like identity and employed a gang of nefarious weasels called the Toon Patrol to act as law-enforcement. Doom also found a way which permanently kills Toons, inventing a green substance called, "The Dip" used for brutal executions of Toons, sometimes without trial.
Cloverleaf Industries[]
Around 1947, Doom happened upon Los Angeles city council's plans to create a, "Freeway". Judge Doom planned to profiteer off of these plans through plotting to destroy Toontown with a Dip Machine, and build a freeway through it. He also created a business called Cloverleaf Industries to purchase and dismantle the Pacific Electric Railway's inexpensive Red Car system of public transit, forcing residents to use the planned freeway.
To destroy Toontown, Doom first needed to remove its owner Marvin Acme of the ACME Corporation and pin the murder on another. For this, Doom offered to buy Maroon Cartoons from its owner R.K. Maroon in-return for him black-mailing Jessica Rabbit, the wife of Maroon Cartoons star Roger Rabbit, into having an affair with Marvin Acme or else he would black-list Roger. Maroon subsequently hired Eddie Valiant to follow Jessica and take photos of her affair then reveal this to Roger, giving him a motive for murdering Acme. That night, Judge Doom murdered Marvin Acme by following his old modus operandi, dropping a safe on his head.
The following day, Judge Doom and the Toon Patrol showed up to blame Roger for the murder, planning to hunt him down and Dip him without trial. Eddie and Roger teamed up however and learned of Cloverleaf's offers to buy both Toontown and Maroon Cartoons, leading to Eddie confronting R.K. Maroon. However, Judge Doom shot Maroon dead before he was able to tell his identity to Valiant. After this, Doom was able to take Eddie and Jessica as captives before Roger showed up to save them, at which point he captured the rabbit as-well.
While Doom left the room, Eddie was able to kill the Toon Patrol through causing them to laugh themselves to death, and kicking their leader into a vat of Dip. When Doom returned, Eddie managed to save his Toon allies then left Doom to be crushed under a steam-roller, revealing the judge's true toon identity. Judge Doom then revealed to Eddie that it was he who murdered Eddie's brother, and attempted to kill Eddie as-well, only for Eddie to activate a Dip nozzle and melt him to death in his own creation, screaming.
Appearances[]
The Great Movie Ride[]
Judge Doom's outfit appeared in the Chinese Theatre with a sign explaining his role in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Oogie Boogie Bash[]
Judge Doom was a face character at the 2023 Oogie Boogie Bash.
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin[]
Judge Doom is does not appear in this attraction. The main-antagonists are his henchmen, the Toom Patrol, using his creation the Dip, and the Dip Machine in the climax. The weasel's car's licence plate is, "DOOM". For 2024's Pixar Fest, a small version of the Pizza Planet truck made to resemble Doom's dip machine was hidden on the ride.[1]
Trivia[]
- Doom's plans mirror real-world Los Angeles history.