Soup or Sonic

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.

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."

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!

This cartoon is amateurish in every sense of the word. Many people give it high marks because the Coyote finally "catches" the Road Runner, but the whole production is the work of a novice animation team (Jones notwithstanding). There is no continuity in this short. Granted, C/RR shorts all consist of a collection of 15 - 30 second vignettes, but they maintain a loose confederacy. In this one, there is no such feel.

The aminators took short cuts and it shows. For example, in one scene the Coyote STRADDLES a red rocket and lights it to chase the Road Runner, the rocket shoots away leaving just a collapsed shell and Wile E. plummets to the desert floor sitting SIDE SADDLE on the shell - a highly noticeable continuity error that one would NEVER see in earlier WB shorts. To compound it, in a later scene Wile E. again goes off a cliff and the SAME falling sequence (Wile E. side saddle on the rocket shell) is used. The problem is, there was no rocket when the Coyote went over the edge the second time.

The facial expressions are not genuine. The reactions to events and actions do not ring with the truth or the sardonic bite of earlier cartoons. Timing is non-existent. The orchestrations are not well sequenced with the on-screen action. There are so many problems here that space prohibits naming them all.

The C/RR cartoons are some of the greatest bits of comedic animation in cinematic history, but this one is terrible, and not just in relation to the earlier superior cartoons. Currently produced amination like Spongebob Squarepants and Johnny Bravo put this cartoon to shame. Jones would probably like to forget this one.

Chuck Jones as the director is still the best thing for a Road Runner cartoon. 'Soup or Sonic' proves that again. The Road Runner (this time Ultra-Sonicus ad Infinitum) with his famous "Beep! Beep!" (or Beepius-Beepius) is chased by the Coyote (here Nemesis Ridiculii) and this time he is actually caught. How this happens I will not reveal but it is one of the wonders of this cartoon.

The Coyote uses a couple of rockets, a safe to drop, firecrackers and a frisbee, explosive tennis balls and some giant fly paper. The first couple of minutes are okay but near the end this cartoon becomes really good. The gag with the fly paper and the ending are both great and make sure you will laugh.