Detente, Mira y Corre

Chuck Jones as director, and that means it will be at least entertaining. The Coyote, or Eatibus Anythingus, chases a fly because he is very hungry. When he wants to eat an empty can the Road Runner, or Hot-Roddicus Supersonicus, runs by. Of course the Coyote prefers a Road Runner over an empty can, so the chase can start once again. This time he uses a steel wall that has to pop up, a motorcycle, birdseed on a bridge, vitamins for the muscles in the legs and a Burmese tiger trap.

Most of the gags work very good. The one on the bridge with the birdseed is terrific, the timing and use of the pop-up steel wall is perfect and the gag that involves the Burmese tiger trap, and the freeze frame directly after that (you will recognize the moment) are hilarious. A very good cartoon.

Wile E. Coyote (Eatibus Anythingus) has a bad reaction after eating some flying insect but he's so hungry he'll eat anything, even an empty tin can on the road. The road runner (Hot- roddicus Supersonicus) races by and runs over the poor, starving coyote. Wile gives chase, showing amazing speed, but who can catch the ultra-fast road runner? So, it's back to Wile to try to use his brains, once again, and figure a way to get this delicious-looking bird-meal.

Outside of some of the normal unsuccessful ploys such as falling boulders and TNT, there are several funny original thoughts, such as "The Burmese Tiger Trap," the automated steel- plated shield and the leg-muscles vitamins!

This was fun, and part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Two DVD.

Some Road Runner cartoons don't start with the chase already in progress. In these cases: A) we get to see that cooky Coyote try out some hot cuisine (flies, tin cans, he'll try anything once) and B) when that tasty bird runs by, While E. acts as if he sees it for the very first time (starvation has been known to induce short term memory loss).

The gags in `Stop! Look! And Hasten!' may not be as elaborate as in later R.R. shorts, but the character animation is incredibly rich. Wile E. shows more emotion here than in all of his Sixties' outings combined. Other examples are the realistic body movement of a surprise guest animal and the effects ‘Acme Triple-Strength Fortified Leg Muscle Vitamins' (family size) have on the Coyote (kids, don't do drugs).

The backgrounds and settings are above average too, especially the chase through some Esher inspired train tunnels. We also learn that venturing into human invested parts of the desert can prove quite hazardous when you only communicate by holding up signs (Road Runners avoid problems like this by forming letters in the dust they leave behind).

7 out of 10

Chuck Jones's 'Stop, Look and Hasten' is one of the greatest installments in the whole Road Runner series. The fifth cartoon in the series, 'Stop, Look and Hasten' brings together all the lessons learned in the first four Road Runner shorts and uses them to create a perfect marriage between the ingredients that make these characters and their antics so popular. It combines the breathless pace of 'Going! Going! Gosh!', the wonderful reaction shots of 'Zipping Along' and the experimental extended chase scenes of 'Beep Beep' to hilarious effect. Even the oft-used gags are executed with such perfection that they breathe new life into the joke. Look to the falling bridge gag for proof. But 'Stop, Look and Hasten' isn't just a classic combination of elements from earlier cartoons. It brings to the Road Runner series a very valuable element; the extended set-up. Previous cartoons had just opened with the Coyote in pursuit of or awaiting the Road Runner. 'Stop, Look and Hasten' adds a slower paced opening in which we see the Coyote wandering slowly through the desert, attempting to eat anything from insects to tin cans. It's a great sequence which gives us a glimpse at the sad existence of the character outside of his pursuit of the Road Runner. These steady opening set-ups would go on to become an important part of later cartoons in the series. 'Stop, Look and Hasten' is simply a cut above most Road Runner cartoons. It has everything down perfectly. There's not a wasted second, a rarity in spot-gag cartoons such as this.

For some reason, Wile E. Coyote - aka Eatibus anythingus) never figures out that he just can't catch Road Runner - aka Hot rodicus supersonicus). In "Stop! Look! and Hasten!", he uses a Burmese tiger trap (guess what he catches!), a spring-up metal wall, and muscle-building pills, but absolutely nothing does what he wants. Is this cartoon mostly stuff that we've seen before? Maybe so, but how can you not like seeing him get hung by his own petard? All in all, the combination of director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese, plus Mel Blanc as Road Runner, makes for another classic.

How many cartoons would think to mention anything relating to Burma (or is it called Myanmar)?