I don’t want to make it seem like I think this is anywhere near the most important issue in the world right now, but if you’ll indulge me, I will get on my soapbox for just a moment. I don’t think it should be legal for a film studio to shelve the hard work of their own employees for accounting purposes and never publicly show the film. That’s the fate which seemed to be awaiting Coyote vs. Acme for years, until Ketchup Entertainment (who previously bought and distributed The Day the Earth Blew Up, another recent Looney Tunes feature film) bought the film from Warner Brothers after the major studio had planned to use it as a tax write-off. As a Looney Tunes fan and an animation nerd in general, it was beyond frustrating to follow the saga that led to Coyote’s release, until the clouds parted last spring with the announcement of Ketchup’s purchase. Now the day has finally come that everybody can see the film I’ve literally been waiting years for, and… it’s about as awesome as it could be.
The notion that Warner Brothers didn’t want to release the film specifically because it centers on Wile E. Coyote suing Acme for its faulty products — thus the literal cartoonish villainy of Acme could be construed for that of any number of corporations — bears little weight in my mind when thinking about why the company was so eager to shelve it. I just think this was one of many, many cases in film history where the executives simply didn’t know what they had. It seems to me that if a Looney Tunes film can’t somehow be tied in to marketing other products, it will get no runway under current Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, who took over while Coyote was about halfway through production. In any event, the Sisyphean task of finally getting Coyote in theaters is ironically meta-textually immortalized within the film itself, as Wile E. Coyote’s lawyer Kevin (Will Forte) uncovers an Acme conspiracy involving a secret project called “Sisyphus.” This also serves as a thematic joke commenting on Wile E.’s never-ending pursuit of the Road Runner.
Even getting this fantastic concept to the green-light stage seems to have been a Sisyphean task in and of itself. It was pitched by producer James Gunn over ten years ago, the concept stemming from New Yorker and National Lampoon parodies with a similar premise decades before that. It somehow feels right that after all this time, that solid idea has led to what I can only describe as the best Looney Tunes movie to date. With its similarities to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in terms of world-building, your mileage may vary on whether you think Coyote is the best live-action/animation hybrid film ever made. However, I think it’s safe to say that these specific characters have never had a better, funnier, nor more emotionally resonant and interesting film made about them. Most other Looney Tunes films feel like mere products to me. By genius or luck or both, Coyote was given the space and talent to be much, much more. I can’t get into all the specifics without spoiling the best gags and character cameos, but suffice it to say that director Dave Green and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Samy Burch (May December) figured out all the best ways to have the animated icons interact with their physical surroundings for the maximum amount of laughs. Oh, and John Cena as Acme’s lead lawyer gives one of the best line readings I’ve ever heard/seen.
Once more, I return to my soapbox. If any of this sounds fun to you, even if you haven’t been following the story of this film’s road to release, please see this film in theaters. Nothing would be a sweeter ending to the legend of Coyote vs. Acme than for audiences to prove the worth of a film like this. This isn’t just a bunch of color and noise for the littlest kids out there, not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that. Filmmaking within historic franchises such as Looney Tunes is rarely so smart, so effortful, and so effective. It’s absolutely worth supporting and defending. | George Napper
