Guided Muscle

I agree the story is pretty standard, and there are some repeated gags, not that that is a bad thing. But there are some new ideas too, and they are clever and well used. The animation is good with some nice backgrounds especially, the music while not taking a significantly-major role has enough energy to bring some dynamic expression into the cartoon and the sight gags are very amusing. The cartoon also moves along briskly and both Roadrunner and Coyote are entertaining, especially Coyote who I have always considered a better character due to his devious and cunning personality.

Overall, enjoyable enough Roadrunner vs. Coyote cartoon, even with some repeated gags and a standard story, Coyote himself and some clever sight gags more than make up for any misgivings. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Another solid Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote short from Chuck Jones. This one starts with poor Wile E. reduced to cooking a tin can over an open fire. No, not a can of beans or anything -- just the can! Desperate times for coyotes. Road Runner shows up and our coyote friend is quickly in pursuit. Who needs to eat metal when you can have Road Runner? A funny cartoon in a great series. It's not one of the best but it's good. Some of the gags here include ACME grease, arrow nose, and another variation on the old bird seed gag. The animation is good but not quite on the level of some of the other shorts from this series around the same time. Carl Stalling's energetic score also seemed to be a bit overbearing at times. Anyway, minor flaws aside it's a good short with plenty of laughs. It only suffers by comparison to others in the wonderful Road Runner series.

Starting off with the Road Runner interrupting the crafty coyote's meal, the seventh pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner has a few gags repeated from the earlier shorts which while old still made me chuckle, but it has a few new ones as well that made me laugh. And as always ANY short with Wile E. in it is so VERY much worth watching, as he's 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: B

By the time Chuck Jones directed 'Guided Muscle', the seventh Road Runner cartoon, he had already perfected the formula. The previous two cartoons, 'Stop, Look and Hasten' and 'Ready, Set, Zoom' were both amongst the best cartoons in the entire Road Runner series, with the latter staking a convincing claim to being the best of the entire bunch. One might ask if Jones could justify continuing a series that threatened to get repetitive. Perhaps surprisingly, however, Jones's stringent rule that the characters must always remain in their natural desert habitat ensured that the series stayed fresh. While Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Tweety series quickly went stale thanks to the same routines being replayed in different settings, the constant location of the Road Runner cartoons pushed writer Michael Maltese to come up with more and more inventive jokes and Chuck Jones to direct them with more and more inventive flair. So 'Guided Muscle' keeps the series right at the top of its game with ample hilarious gags enhanced by glorious reaction shots from the Coyote, whose relationship with the audience was now established beyond doubt. As well as being stuffed with great gags, 'Guided Muscle' continues the run of more inventive opening and closing segments. There's a brilliant opening set-up in which the Coyote prepares a tin can for consumption as if it were the finest delicacy known to man but fails to fight off the reality of the situation when he finally sits down to eat it. There's also a delightful ending in which he finally reaches breaking point and effectively tenders his resignation!

In this cartoon we see the Coyote cooking a meal for himself. When he wants to start eating (his meal is an empty tin can) something better comes along, Road Runner. Coyote, this time introduced as Eatibus Almost Anythingus, tries to catch Road Runner, this time Velocitus Delectibus. He uses himself as a giant arrow, he tries to shoot himself with an elastic, he tries cannon balls, and even follows the instructions from a book called 'How to Tar and Feather a Road Runner'. The Road Runner actually comments on that one.

This is another fine cartoon from the Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote series. The animation is nice, the timing for the gags perfect and the music adds a lot to the funny moments.