Eddie Valiant

Edward "Eddie" Valiant is a Californian private investigator and the main protagonist in Touchstone's 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is portrayed by Bob Hoskins.

Personality
Eddie has a hard-boiled disposition, coming across as stubborn and cynical. He initially harbors a general distate for Toons as his brother, Teddy, was killed by one; since his death, Eddie stopped taking cases for Toons and began drinking heavily. Despite this, he retains his street smarts as well as his knowledge of Toon rules and culture. Underneath his gruff exterior, Eddie proves to be a loyal comrade (aiding Roger in his time of need despite his own reservations), and harbors a soft spot for his sweetheart, Dolores. By the film's end, he gives up drinking; is finally at peace with his brother's death when he defeats   Judge Doom; and has reconciled with the Toons.

Biography
Eddie Valiant and his brother, Theodore "Teddy" Valiant, were sons of a Barnum and Bailey circus clown (shown by the pictures on their desk in the film), who joined the police force; they graduated from the LAPD in 1925. They eventually started their own private investigation service, Valiant & Valiant, in 1934, working largely on Toon cases such as the kidnapping of Donald Duck's nephews in 1937, and clearing Goofy of accusations of espionage in 1940 (both seen as newspaper clippings in Valiant's office). However, when Teddy was killed by the then unknown Toon form of Judge Doom in 1942, Eddie turned to the bottle and disappeared from the public eye.

Role in the film
In 1947, R.K. Maroon of Maroon Cartoons paid Eddie Valiant $100 to photograph Jessica Rabbit, Roger Rabbit's wife, quite literally "playing pattycake" with Marvin Acme, owner of Toontown and founder of the Acme Corporation. When Acme is murdered and Roger becomes the prime suspect of the case, Valiant teams up with Roger to find the killer, and, after a long search, he finds not only Acme's murderer, but the murderer of R.K. Maroon, and his own brother who turns out to be Judge Doom who is a toon wearing a human mask, attempting to destroy all of Toon Town to make a freeway for him to profit retirement from. After defeating Doom and the Toon Patrol at Acme Warehouse, Eddie makes peace with Toons, avenging the death of his brother Teddy at the hands of Doom and walks home with Roger and Jessica Rabbit and his girlfriend Dolores.

In the graphic novel of the film published in 1989 by Marvel Comics, Valiant is the narrator of the story, telling the film through his eyes and in the style of a detective story.

Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom
According to Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom, Valiant has given up drinking, but now tends to consume jelly beans quite a bit.

In the non-canon sub-sequel set after the film, Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?, Valiant is adamant to no longer take any toon cases, but is forced to do so when Baby Herman, Roger Rabbit's co-star, is found dead.

Walt Disney's World on Ice
In the Walt Disney's World on Ice: 10th Anniversary show, Eddie makes an appearance in a scene where Roger brings Scrooge McDuck to meet him. They try to tell jokes to Scrooge to cheer him up.

Disney Parks
Eddie made what is probably his first appearance at a Disney park as a walk-around character in 2013 during the Disneyland Paris portion of the Disney Dreamers Everywhere event.

Behind the Scenes
In Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Eddie Valiant is a fictional Californian private detective hired by comic-book star Roger Rabbit to investigate the workings of Roger's corrupt employers, the DeGreasey Brothers. When Roger is found dead, and his final words having been censored out, Valiant is soon sent on the case of tracking Rogers' murderers. This first incarnation of Eddie is a heavy smoker, has a beard and is active when the book is set (1981), rather than the later, more accepted incarnation of the character.

The 1988 film gave more insight into the character of Eddie Valiant, who was played by Bob Hoskins. He also doesn't smoke, but is a border-line alcoholic. But he doesn't like toons, since his brother was killed by a toon years ago.

Before Bob Hoskins was cast, Bill Murray was in consideration for the role, but ended up not having the opportunity to participate. This regret would lead him to participate in another animation/live-action hybrid film: Warner Brothers' Space Jam.

Trivia

 * Valiant's hard-boiled attitude seems to derive from Dick Tracy or other such detectives. In the 1988 film, Valiant was made to portray the film noir detective character usually found in Humphrey Bogart or Alan Ladd, while maintaining the Dick Tracy attitude.
 * Although little or nothing is heard about the methods employed by Eddie's brother, the items on Teddy's side of the desk in shots of the Valiant and Valiant office suggest that Teddy was based more on Sherlock Holmes, judging by the tobacco pipe and magnifying glass on his desk.
 * Valiant looks like a composite of Peter Falk of the TV series Columbo and film private eye Philip Marlowe, wearing shiny brown suit and beat-up fedora above a craggy face.
 * Valiant's character is somewhat different in the movie. Rather than being a smoker he is an alcoholic and having no facial hair where as in the novel he has a beard.
 * It should be noted that Hoskins is British and Valiant was raised in California.
 * In early screen tests for the film, Disney veteran Pete Renaday portrayed Valiant.

Quotes

 * "Idiot. I got no keys for these cuffs"
 * "That's the closet! Stupe."
 * "For starters don't ever kiss me again!"
 * "GET OUTTA THAT CHAIR! That's my brother's chair."
 * "Wait a minute. You're telling me that in a fit of jealousy you wrote your wife a love letter?"
 * "What's with the "we" stuff? They just want the rabbit."
 * "You keep talkin' like that and I'm gonna have to wash you're mouth out."
 * "Toons."

Gallery
Eddie Valiant