Boulder Wham!

The coyote fell off of the cliff about six times. If he was able to survive these falls and to climb back up to the top, then why didn't he just climb up to the other side of the gorge where the roadrunner has been standing? It was pretty comical, and perhaps it was the point.

Overall, cartoon was okay, nothing to write home about though.

Like 'Chaser on the Rocks' that was also made in 1965 'Boulder Wham!' is not one of the best Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Both cartoons are repetitive, both cartoon do not have a real big gag and both cartoons are predictable in a way it is not very funny. The predictability in most other cartoons featuring Road Runner and Coyote is able to make it funny.

Here Road Runner is on the other side of a gorge and Coyote keeps trying to reach the other end. Of course instead of reaching the other side he keeps falling down over and over again. I had my smiles but I never really laughed. The same gag, the same thing that goes wrong every time, is just not that funny.

Of Rudy Larriva's Roadrunners, "Boulder Wham!" has the best story. The gags are well set up with uncommonly good suspense-building, and the hypnotism sequence works especially well.

Unfortunately, the Coyote's many canyon falls are repetitive and poorly animated due to the film's low budget (each Larriva Roadrunner cost only $18,000). Fortunately, the animators devised some funny expressions and poses. The result is a cartoon which is no match for Chuck Jones's Roadrunners but may pleasantly surprise those who've endured other 1965-9 Warner's cartoons.

Of many series cartoons that involved a chase between two characters, the Coyote and Road Runner ones were often the most repetitive that ran for years and years. But when Chuck Jones was at the helm, you at least got some creativity concerning gags that often built to a hilarious crescendo by the end. Here, as directed by Rudy Larriva, it's just a sense of deja vu that often got more boring with each effort. Though it scores some points with a somewhat new premise of having the Coyote trying to find ways to go to the other side of the cliff while the Road Runner just stays at that other side, the results are just meh. So on that note, I'd only recommend Boulder Wham! If you're a completist concerning this particular series.

Wily E. Coyote is chasing the roadrunner, who moves fast enough to easily clear a canyon. With Wily unable to get up the speed necessary to clear it as easily, he falls back onto a series of devices to try and get across to the waiting roadrunner.

You either like the Coyote/roadrunner cartoons or you don't, but that doesn't mean that there aren't good one and bad ones just because they use the same formula. Here the film really lacks a bit of spark and is surprisingly static. Basically the repeating joke is that Wily tries to get across the canyon but keeps falling down. The question `why, when he climbs back up, doesn't he just climb up the other side?' should be dismissed from that start, as logic has no place here.

The very static action, and the fact that it is so repetitive, is a problem as it takes away the very nature of the cartoons in terms of fluidity and energy. Usually these cartoons keep moving so fast that the gags pile up to being funny; here it is just one staged event after another and it doesn't work as well. The animation is pretty basic but it has enough about it not to be awful. The characters are not as good as usual (not that they are ever that well developed) but they look basic and act different from usual.

Overall this is an OK cartoon for those that like Roadrunner stuff, but this is a weak entry in their enjoyable series.