Ketchup Entertainment
Spoiler Alert
As any fan of Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes knows, Wile E. Coyote will never catch the Road Runner. Part of the charm of these animated shorts is the lengths this hungry individual will go to. While he handles every failure with persistence, we simply laugh. No early bird can catch the worm here. Instead, Coyote vs. Acme acknowledges why this member of the canine family is so persistent (he’s hungry) and explores what their relationship really means in the wild deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, where the merry chase often unfolds.
When the terrain is dry and empty, Canis latrans is simply trying to survive in the wild, while Geococcyx californianus runs because it’s natural for him. This bird operates on instinct and has enough street smarts to survive this long. While this odd blue-feathered creature seems naive and unaware of the danger he faces each day, the ravenous predator just wants to savour the meat and do what all wild canids do.
It’s a cycle that, in cartoon form, is considered a gag or slapstick comedy. Their opposition is no different from that of Tom and Jerry or Sylvester the Cat and Tweety. They’re rivals. One wants to eat the other, and should that ever happen, it would end a comedy act that’s been around since 1949! And I have to state for the record that Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog are curiously missing, especially when this movie crams in nearly every Looney Tunes character known to date.
Although the executives of this studio tried to shelve the completed production as a tax write-off, the public and members of the film industry demanded its release. Now that it has finally reached the big screen, the irony is impossible to miss. This is a movie about a powerful corporation that believes it can escape responsibility for the harm it causes. That’s the story, and it’s told remarkably well.
Although there is no proof studio executives feared that message, the attempt to bury the film makes its satire prophetic. The company may not have been scared of what Coyote vs. Acme says, but it demonstrated the movie’s point better than Acme ever could. And when we’re dealing with a company that develops everything from everyday conveniences to military-grade toys, there’s a bigger question to ask.
But for now, all Wile E. wants is to sue the company for all the malfunctioning devices he bought and used to catch the Road Runner, while hatching a new plan to catch the boid once and for all! His basic instincts also keep him from considering other critters to snack upon. Along the way, he hires Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a lawyer who prefers to concede rather than pursue a case. Avery’s rival, Buddy Crane (John Cena), represents Acme, and losing could spell disaster for the multibillion-dollar manufacturer.
This legal drama is downright hilarious. Avery and Crane’s shared history makes the conflict even more heated when the court scenes unfold. The new voice cast is great, while the animators get terrific mileage out of Wile E.’s miming. The art design gives him far more emotional range, and careful, subtle shadow effects make this Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style world feel even more alive.
The case couldn’t hold unless the movie connected Wile E.’s complaints to cartoons from the past. I loved how it revisits those classics through flashbacks, which also reveal a telling detail. Road Runner has fun beeping and sometimes lets Coyote come tantalisingly close to achieving his goal. The bird knows he’s destined for the dinner plate, and what this work reveals is that it’s all a game to him. The film also affirms one of the rules of animated storytelling: a toon can’t suffer lasting harm unless the script calls for it!
Whether everyone approves of cartoon violence seems to depend on who is producing it! Foghorn Leghorn (voiced by Eric Bauza) and Acme can argue all they want regarding animated people, as their bodies follow different physics, but when they and humans exist side by side, surely someone must know where the punchline lands. Had director Dave Green, screenwriter Samy Burch, and story contributors James Gunn and Jeremy Slater settled for practicality, none of this would work. Instead, I’d say they know something we don’t. I felt like a fly on the wall observing this uncanny world unfold. Had the film been presented in D-BOX, I’d have had a case to argue too, but unfortunately, I do not.
The filmmakers also understand why Wile E. Coyote has remained lovable. His plans fail, his inventions explode and gravity has a score to settle. But in the end, he always gets back up and tries again. That persistence turns him into the perfect hero. There’s lots more to say about why I think this film is this year’s best North American-made release. The layers of context suggest we’re dealing with neither an accident-prone coyote nor a dumb one. The same can be said about the Road Runner, who is wonderfully naive. Even when Acme sends out a team to catch him, they too fail, emphasising why we love this toon.
In the end, what’s revealed delivers the connective tissue that explains why the two adversaries are what they are: animals acting on instinct. While one wants to eat the other, the other sees something else, a detail I’ll leave for the film to reveal.
And if either ever managed to harm the other, that would mean the end of one of the greatest pairings ever created. The Coyote and the Road Runner may well be the greatest “silent film” cartoon double act ever invented. But when it’s Coyote vs. Acme, we get a narrative where all he wants is to stop being a victim! As for whether he actually wins, you’ll have to see the film for yourself or tune in for the next Merrie Melodies short. That’s all, folks!
4 Stars out of 5
Coyote vs. Acme Final Trailer
