Chariots of Fur

'Chariots of Fur' is a Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote cartoon and it was released in 1994. Although it is made so many years after the others it fits perfectly in the series and in my opinion this is one of the better and more funny ones. Coyote tries to catch Road Runner with simple bird seed, a fake road and even a Halloween cactus costume.

Although most gags were pretty predictable they made me smile a lot. The jokes that were written on the screen worked very well. The little interlude where the Coyote plays the harp is brilliant, that ends with a perfectly timed gag. The animation is better than normal, which is not strange for a cartoon from the nineties, and the music fits that animation wonderfully. A great cartoon.

The last Road Runner/Coyote short to be directed by the great Chuck Jones, released in theaters along with the Macaulay Culkin movie Richie Rich. I'm always wary of the later Looney Tunes cartoons made decades after the classic ones. They are usually forgettable at best and sometimes outright terrible. They never have the same level of quality craftsmanship that went into the older shorts. This one's no exception on that front but it is surprisingly watchable for a later effort. That's probably due to Jones' involvement as he crafted many of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons, particularly the Road Runner/Coyote ones. Among the better gags here are the ACME lightning bolts and the cactus costume. The biggest weakness is the audio. The music is irritatingly generic and probably canned. The sound effects in some places are bad, sounding disconnected in a way that just doesn't feel right. Despite some problems, it is watchable and even amusing in places. Fans of the old cartoons will likely see the flaws more than others.

CHARIOTS OF FUR (1994) is a great example of the inexperienced CJFP artists' prowess, as they have recreated almost perfectly the Golden Age cartoon style. It is not perfect in this cartoon, since it's their first cartoon, but in SUPERIOR DUCK (1996) you can't tell the difference. This cartoon is equal to TO BEEP OR NOT TO BEEP (1963), which is the last Road Runner cartoon made at Termite Terrace. The rest were made independently. That's a tribute to the young artists at Chuck Jones Film Productions. Jones taught them well.

When this short was released in theaters it was unfortunately attached to the horrid Macaulay Culkin vehicle "Richie Rich" (one can hardly call that piece of cinematic dreck a film). Well, I wanted to see "Chariots" and so did a couple of my friends, so we bought tickets for a matinee showing and sat back and enjoyed six minutes of pitch-perfect Coyote-Road Runner action. Then, once the credits rolled, we got up, declared that we had seen what we came to see, and walked out, to the bewilderment of most of the rest of the audience. It was a most satisfying exit, and a most satisfying film. Would that it were available on DVD.

In his ongoing quest to eat a decent meal just once, Coyote is still hunting down the roadrunner, despite a warning from the surgeon general that it can damage your health. Undeterred, Coyote employs bird seed, giant mouse traps (or traps for giant mice?) and springs in an attempt to catch the tricky bird.

Usually the modern versions of Warner Brother cartoons are a bit weak, and there's times where the modern touches are weak here, but on the whole it is on a par with the Coyote/Roadrunner cartoons of back in the day. The plot is the same as it always was and has the usual stuff involving acme devices and big falls. Some of the modern references such as the surgeon general and such don't really fit in but are still relatively funny.

The characters are a little more animated and lively than they used to be; Coyote is a bit funnier than he often can be, but it is Roadrunner who has more of a character to him that usual. This is not to say that they go beyond the comments on the signs and such, but it is still a more of a character cartoon than some of the others I've seen.

Overall this will not win over any people who dislike the basic Roadrunner formula, but it is pretty loyal to the originals in terms of laughs, action and characters.