Bunny Tales

She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way. . . . As a result, merchandising executives at ultra-wholesome Disneyland and Disney World aren’t stocking many items featuring va-va-vooooooomy Jessica Rabbit of the “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” live action/cartoon feature movie.

Heck, the “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” coloring book that’s carried by the park doesn’t even include Jessica: It’s all about the adventures of Roger and Baby Herman!

The park does carry a storybook and paint with water book that features cartoon character Jessica. But she’s been “toned down”--no cleavage, and that slit on her skirt doesn’t show much thigh.

“She is a bit racy for the Magic Kingdom,” said one merchandising spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, you can catch a Jessica clone as Playboy’s cover girl for November--in honor of the mag’s annual celebration of “Sex in the Cinema”!

Which marks a kind of first for the folks at Disney.

No, the mag didn’t ask for the studio’s permission to transform September Playmate Laura Richmond into the chanteuse.

“The whole thing came about in a 24-hour period,” said a Playboy rep. “Our photographer (Stephen Wayda) was doing a session with Laura. And our art director (Tom Staebler) had just seen the movie. And they started talking.

“Anyway we figured (Disney head) Michael Eisner would have a sense of humor about this.”

No, the folks at Disney weren’t laughing: “We don’t have any reaction (to the Playboy cover),” said Tom Deegan, director of corporate communications. But--didn’t he at least think it was a tad amusing? “We don’t think anything about it at all. Anyway, that’s not really Jessica on the cover. It’s Playboy’s interpretation of her.”

As to how that “interpretation” was done: Richmond was photographed with Jessica-ish hair, gown and pose. Then came a dye transfer process--for an animated look. And some air-brushing. “We had to pull in her waist quite a bit,” said a Playboy rep, who added, “Jessica’s waist is pretty exaggerated. You won’t find it on too many people--including Playmates.”