Rollschuhsegler und Dampfwalzen

Scrambled Aches (1957)

*** (out of 4)

Tenth film in the series has Wile E. Coyote up to the same old stuff but this time out we get a few new tricks with the best one being the dehydrated boulder. This is a pretty routine entry in the series but you can't expect too much out of the tenth film especially considering this was pretty much a one-joke series with the same type of jokes being used over and over again. The action is certainly top-notch as our beloved coyote finds one way after another to hurt himself. The small steam roller and escape hatch are very well done. Another thing to mention is the colors used here, which are extremely warm from start to finish. I'm going to guess this was done on purpose and isn't just the work of the remastered DVD since this short is on the same disc as the others.

The tenth pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, features the ever frustrated, but never quiting coyote still trying to catch the very elusive bird using such ingenious schemes as fan powered roller skates, a pebble which turns into a boulder with water, and the old reliable combination of boulders, rockets, anvils, and balloons. I found it highly enjoyable, but perhaps I'm a bit biased as Wile E. Coyote is one of my absolute favorite cartoon personalities of all time. This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. This cartoon also has an optional music only track.

My Grade: A

Fun Road Runner & Coyote short from Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. This one has Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner with dynamite on a string, a homemade windsurfing contraption, a rocket, an anvil, a steam roller, and the classic ACME Dehydrated Boulder. As usual with this series when Jones was at the helm, the gags are funny and well-executed. The animation is great, with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Love the colors. The music is also very nice and suits the action perfectly. Some will criticize this series as being formulaic and repetitive, and it certainly does "return to the well" sometimes, but I find that Jones and Maltese do try and do different things with the gags even if they are similar to previous ones. This moves along at a quick pace and probably doesn't linger on a couple of the gags as long as it should. It's fun, though, and definitely worth a look.

They aren't kidding when they call this cartoon "Scrambled Aches"! The most original gag here, at least in my opinion, is the dehydrated boulder (and you know what happens during combinations of Wile E. Coyote and boulders!). As a previous reviewer noted, a notable aspect of this cartoon is that the backgrounds have an almost mystical feel to themselves. Of course, there's no reason to get all hung up on that when you can luxuriate in WEC getting his just desserts for trying to harm Road Runner. If ever I'm driving through the southwest United States, I'll just keep my eye out in case there is a coyote chasing a road runner; maybe I'll witness the sorts of things that these cartoons portray.

All in all, another classic cartoon.

They don't waste any time here as the opening scene is in the middle another chase as The Road Runner (Tastyus Supersonicus) stays ahead of Wile E. Coyote (Eternali Famishis) who meets his first "demise" when he takes a wrong turn and disappears under the "Danger: Bridge Out" sign. He climbs out of the hole he made many feet below, discards his bib, knife and fork and goes back to work thinking of other ways to catch his prey.

At first, the coyote uses old-fashioned non-expensive methods such as simply tripping him, or a lasso with some TNT or cheap rollers skates with a sail and a fan tied to his torso. Later, he employs his standard boulder, anvil, springs, etc. Actually this was best of the anvil gags I've seen and the "dehydrated boulders" was something new and extremely clever.

Finally, he gets to the expensive "Acme" purchases, this time a "junior steam roller" with an outboard motor, which is pretty funny.

Overall, it was the routine story, but entertaining, and part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Two DVD set. I still laugh at the idea of a "dehydrated" boulder!