Burlesque Archetypes: Jessica Rabbit

By Man In A Hat

When you think of Burlesque woman, who springs to mind? Who are the names that jump out at you? Well apart from Dita and Immodesty!

It seems very appropriate to begin looking at burlesque archetypes with a loving glance at a fictional character. Burlesque is all about fiction, it’s about creating a reality that is somewhat better than the one found outside the front door. A world which is on so much more beautiful, which sounds better, where speak easys are full of gangsters and molls, and the sweet sounds of jazz turns you round the floor. Into such a world Jessica rabbit appears like a shinning beckon.

Jessica Rabbit came into existence on the pages of “Who Censored Rodger Rabbit?” by Gary Wolf in 1981. Published in the United States by St Martin’s Press. In 1988 Touchstone films realised “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, having substantially adapted the book and provided Jessica with the voice of Kathleen Turner and a body based at least in part on Veronica Lake. The singing voice of Jessica Rabbit is provided by Amy Irving, who sings the Joe McCoy 1941 Jazz hit “Why Don’t You Do Right” for Jessica’s opening scene in “The Ink and Paint Club”. For those of you who missed that glorious moment youtube has preserved it for us all on that new fangled interweb thingy : video. It should come as no surprise that by Nov 1998 Jessica had been officially dubed as a sex symbol and appeared on the front cover on Playboy Magazine.

The earliest burlesque performer to “do” Jessica that I can find is an artist performing in New York in 2003, who performed under the name…”Jessica Rabbit” , but there may well be earlier performances out there, as Bombshell Betty teacher of “burlesquercise” in San Francesco says “Everyone wants to be Jessica Rabbit” in the U.K. today Miss Diamond Blush is swaying through the crowds in her red dress while in America Miss Lily White is wowing crowds as the very memorable lady.

So why Jessica? Quite simply put she is saucy, sexy, elegant and really rather beautiful with a voice that would melt butter and body that stops traffic!

1. “With pasties twirling, burlesque returns to New York” by Devin Smith, 27th April, 2003, Columbia News Service
2. Fox News “Vaudeville Vixens Get Fit With “Burlesquercise” Wednesday, Match 15, 2006 article by Sara Bonisteel