By Toby Holmes, Second year, Psychology
For those unfamiliar with Wile E. Coyote and his feathered rival, the Road Runner, the duo has a similar relationship to Tom and Jerry. Coyote devises elaborate schemes to catch the bird, often using Acme products, such as dehydrated boulders or comically large anvils, which always hugely and cartoonishly backfire. Finally, it's time for Coyote to get his justice – but someone wants to keep his story quiet.
In 2022, Warner Brothers spent $70 million making a live-action Looney
Tunes legal comedy. It went down very well with test audiences and
featured a great cast, both human and animated. Then, in late
2023, WB decided not to release the movie at all in return for a $30 million tax write-off. They had pulled a similar move the previous year with their cancellation of $90 million DC movie Batgirl.
The irony of a huge conglomerate movie studio cancelling a movie about an underdog fighting back against a huge conglomerate was not lost on the public. The decision sparked an eruption of backlash from filmmakers, the cast of the movie and people online, including one fan who dressed as the titular Coyote and protested outside the WB lot. This response eventually led to WB selling the worldwide rights for the film to Ketchup Entertainment for around $50 million in 2025. The film was finally released in August of this year.
This bizarrely serious premise for a Looney Tunes movie (which, according
to the opening titles, is based on a true story) actually works quite well,
presenting a strong narrative about perseverance, friendship, giant evil
corporations and even animal testing, while still being a goofy,
cartoonish ride along the way. We follow Coyote enlisting the help of
reluctant billboard lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) in his legal battle against
the Acme corporation, opposed by arrogant Buddy Crane (John Cena) and
anthropomorphic rooster Foghorn Leghorn (voiced by Eric Bauza, who also
voices ten other characters throughout).
Kevin and Coyote have sweet on-screen chemistry and the lawyer
himself is a loveable protagonist, supported by a legal team, which is cute
but ultimately forgettable, and his energetic, optimistic niece Paige (Lara
Condor), who mostly acts as a bridge between the two leads. John Cena is greatly enjoyable as the despicable corporate drone. His narcissism and self-confidence are an effective foil for Forte’s meekness, as are his unimpressed and impatient reactions to Coyote’s erratic behaviour.
Of course, the cartoony nature of this movie means it has a very silly, goofy
sense of humour and is packed with visual jokes which stick the
landing most of the time and are a lot stronger than the film's verbal gags, which often fall flat. However, the fast pace of the scenes means they don’t tend to linger on these and the movie still packs a lot of charm. The slapstick rules of
physics also lend themselves well to the fast-paced action scenes in the movie,
such as the first set piece involving Coyote and a pair of malfunctioning rocket skates.
Coyote vs. Acme employs a 3D CGI design for most of the characters,
rather than 2D hand-drawn animation used in previous Looney Tunes live-action movies like Space Jam (1996) and the original cartoons. The film looks
great and holds a lot of the original charm whilst, for the most part, cleanly allowing integration between animation and live-action. However, there are
some scenes where the mix of animation and live-action can look
a bit rough, such as a scene where the protagonists find themselves in a
train tunnel featuring questionable green-screen.
This 3D animation is not used for all characters with Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny presented in the traditional 2D style. Whilst the 3D style looks good, the 2D alternative has a lot more personality and it’s a shame it isn’t used for the whole movie. It also creates a huge visual difference between the characters and is probably why the 2D characters never actually share the screen with Coyote.
Alfie Coan
This movie clearly has a huge beating heart, which bursts out of its chest
and shouts "awooga!" and it is crazy that this level of passion from the cast
and crew was nearly buried by some WB higher-ups. But, for now, the success of Coyote vs. Acme seems to be a win not only for the crazy cartoon canine, but maybe even the film industry as a whole.
Featured image: IMDb / Coyote vs. Acme
Do you think Coyote vs. Acme signals a major turning point in the attitude of movie studios?
