Customer Reviews

Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote's Crash Course [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I found out Chuck Jones passed away late February, my heart broke. In my opinion, he was the greatest animator of all time. His most famous pair, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, has captured audiences of all ages left and right.

The 1993 video Crash Couse, reflects on some fantastic cartoons that were created by the animation pioneer. The cartoon collection continues the neverending chase in many exciting cartoons like Hip Hip Hurry, Scrambled Aches and Ready, Set, Zoom!

In dedication to Chuck Jones, his famous pair, Road Runner and Coyote, still captures the hearts of millions. And that is what makes this crash course so great.

"A fanatic is someone who redoubles his effort when he hasforgotten his aim." So the words of George Santayana are cited byChuck Jones to explain the outlook on life that Wile E. Coyote possesses. Certainly Wile E's fanaticism leads consistently to engaging cartoon antics in this ultimate chase drama.

Of the five cartoons on this tape, my favorites are "There They Go-Go-Go," "Hip Hip Hurry!" and "Scrambled Aches."

"There They Go-Go-Go's" score is immortalized on Warner Records' The Carl Stalling Project, and it is a totally different experience seeing this cartoon and hearing the score when able to differentiate the many nuances covered up by sound effects. The cartoon's gags, sound effects (especially the distinctive deep-throated rocket roar when the Road Runner flies past), and attractive, UPA-influenced stylized backgrounds also are winners.

"Hip Hip Hurry!" was filmed during a musicians' strike at Warner Brothers, so stock music cues used on such shows as The Adventures Of Superman and The Donna Reed Show (I think they came from Gordon Zahler's company; these cues were also used by Hanna-Barbera in the early years of their television work) were assembled by John Seely. This "canned" score has been unfairly criticized by Leonard Maltin and by Jeff Beck & Will Friedwald, for it works quite well, and in this case adds an unexpected and genuine dramatic tension to the proceedings, especially in the thunderous closing gag when Wile E. downs a huge container of speed juice that he can't control.

"Scrambled Aches" opens with a surprisingly well-edited scene of the Road Runner escaping and then Wile E. plunging off a cliff. Three other gags stand out here - Wile E. rides a rocket that gives him two close shaves (Treg Brown makes excellent use of the above-mentioned deep rocket roar effect here); he uses a balloon to drop an anvil on the Road Runner on a cliffside bridge (here Jones, his animators, and designer Maurice Noble use size and atmosphere to splendid effect); finally Wile E., using a motorized paving roll, corners the Road Runner into a cannon, but it appears to be a train tunnel instead.

Chuck Jones stands with Ray Harryhausen and Tex Avery as one of America's three greatest animators.

1. Going! Going! Gosh! (1952)
2. Ready, Set, Zoom! (1955)
3. There They Go-Go-Go! (1956)
4. Hip-Hip-Hurry! (1958; it's such a greatly directed cartoon, but has such horrible canned music from John Seely)
5. Scrambled Aches (1957)

I wanted my grandchildren to know what good animation was like back in the day so I turned to Warner Brothers, the best of the best. Wile E. and Roadrunner cartoons are so minimal but they give so much. My grandaughter laughed and laughed and so did I. To laugh with your granddaughter....PRICELESS.
This tape will be going in with my classics.

WilE coyote is a hoot! Try to count how many times he explodes in the whole video!!! It has the classic "SCRAMLED ACHES" on it, one of the funniest and my all time favorite classic. It had "HIP HIP HURRY" on it and I was very dissappointed at what I saw. To problems with that cartoon. WilE coyote almost always appears off screen, but even worse, WilE takes a speed drug which is not appropriet and unlawful so who cares if he's just a carrtoon!!! Other than that "HIP HIP HURRY" is okay. All the rest is totaly fine, funny, and the best cartoon duo LooneyTunes ever made!!!!!!!!