Soup or Sonic

Originally part of the TV special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, this later (and lesser) cartoon by Chuck Jones is yet another exercise in nostalgia, repeating old gags while offering little that's new. What is new and stands out the most about this cartoon is the final gag, which you'll either think is funny or dumb. I hate the sign jokes in a Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon so whatever humor there was in the climax was lost on me due to the signs. The thing I hated most about this was the way the music and sound effects are so loud and obtrusive. In the classic shorts the music flowed with the action and the sound effects enhanced the animation. Here it's typical cheesy TV quality stuff that feels disconnected from the art and tacked-on. And did I mention loud? Because it's frigging annoyingly loud. I didn't think this was a particularly good cartoon but it was the best of the new material produced for the TV special. Certainly the best animation-wise. Road Runner & Coyote are clearly Chuck Jones' babies so it's no surprise he tried harder with this one than the other two lame Bugs cartoons.

As the only Jones-produced R.R. cartoon of the 1980s, with a gulf of over a decade before and after, Soup Or Sonic is a curiosity piece, and not just because of its reputation as the "one where the Coyote finally catches the Road Runner." Jones and his team appear to be scraping off the rust before our very eyes as the cartoon begins with some poorly-timed and obvious gags (Wile E. Coyote pole vaults and plummets, hoists safe only to be mashed himself, etc.). There's even a flat-out blooper when Wile E. fires up a rocket that takes off without him: he then falls to the canyon floor, with the rocket(!). However, the cartoon starts improving measurably as the animators seem to find their feet. Wile E. is at his expressive best when he checks himself for damage after an errant firecracker detonates behind him. Thinking he's survived a close call, he strikes a satisfied pose and exits doing a jaunty impression of Charlie Chaplin, showing the world he's hot stuff.

What the Coyote doesn't know is that his routine is hotter than he imagines, because his rear end is on fire! The remaining gags are also smart (the "giant fly-paper" bit is wonderful), and lead us to the climax in which the Coyote actually gets the bird! It's a clever reversal and if you've never seen it, I won't spill the goods here.

Suffice to say that catching the Road Runner was more than the Coyote bargained for. All in all, Soup Or Sonic is a 50/50 deal, and personally I regard its glass as "half full."

"Some of WHAT?", you ask? THE USER REVIEWS, that's what! Yeah, I know. Opinions are like noses - everyone's entitled to one (we've got to keep this review G-rated, ya know!). There's just SO much negativity in some of these reviews, as a die-hard fan of the late Mr. Charles M. Jones, I could not sit still for all these negative comments. For those who, for whatever reason, didn't like the animation, you must consider that "Soup Or Sonic" DOES have that big 1980 copyright date on the title card. "So what?", you ask. Here's what, wise guys. Warner Bros. CLOSED their animation department in 1963! Therefore, there WAS NO WARNER ANIMATION DEPARTMENT AS SUCH IN 1980, when the venerable Mr. Jones was invited to make this cartoon. That means a good number of Wile E. and the Road Runner's original crew were just plain NOT AVAILABLE.

And there's a famous interview someone did with "Ren & Stimpy" creator John Kricfalusi, in which he complains that modern-day graduates of schools that teach the art of Animation CAN'T faithfully draw any character the way it looks on the Director's Model Sheet more than once in a row! love to see these naysayers make a cartoon as good as this one (or ANYTHING at all, for that matter), so the rest of us can then rip THIER hard work to shreds. Do you guys think it's easy to make even a mediocre cartoon? Whether the finished product is good or it stinks, it's still a LOT of work.

Then, there are plenty of Road Runner cartoons from way back when which have some rather sparse backgrounds, and ALL Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons were animated "on twos". If you don't know what that means, it's simply this. Animating "on ones" means ONE DRAWING for EACH FRAME of film, which is zipping by at 24 frames per SECOND! Walt Disney (the MAN, NOT the Walt Disney COMPANY) insisted on this very expensive method for his cartoons. Animating "on twos" means ONE drawing for every TWO frames of film, which is STILL zipping by at 24 frames per second. This method is far less expensive than the "on ones" method, simply because it requires HALF the amount of artwork than the "Animating on twos" method.

This leaves me with one question. Who among the "Thumbs Down/naysayer" faction can honestly say they've seen ABSOLUTELY EVERY SINGLE Coyote/Road Runner cartoon? How do WE know the naysayers even know what they're talking about?

But then, in defense of one reviewer in the "nay" crowd, I must agree that the low-budget 1960's Road Runner cartoons made by DePatie-Freleng FOR Warner's and not BY Warner's, which feature un-funny and/or recycled-for-the-billionth-time gags, terrible artwork, and had the music for ALL of them recorded in ONE session, are plain LOUSY!

Rating: 10/10 Explanation: Anyone should see it. Ranges from excellent to brilliant classic. This one I always thought had 50s-Looney-Tunes-esque art. The sequences of catching the Road Runner are funny and the way as it was on the earlier shorts. Can't be missed.

This cartoon is just your standard Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon. It's famous because it's where the coyote finally catches Road Runner, though the way he does may not be what your fantasizing about if you haven't seen it. Strange gags and rusty animation--probably because it was made for television in a less extreme form of still animation--are probably the main reason for some negative reviews and low ratings on this one. The rocket gag, I must say, is more than just stupid; it's probably the most mediocre and lousy attempt at comedy by Jones I've ever seen. The coyote uses signs by the ton--unusual but funny. The ending is probably the best of all of them, rivalled maybe only by Guided Muscle (1955) and Zip 'N' Snort (1961). The Road Runner cartoons are supposed to be based on the unlucky attempts of a predator to get a square meal and a hefty dose of cruel irony. The series executes the theme better than any other. Same with Soup or Sonic. Not classic, but good by global standards. At least it's lightyears ahead of the crap pieces of @$%* by the DePatie-Freleng studio!