Ready, Set, Zoom!

Ready, Set, Zoom! is a 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon in the "Looney Tunes" series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.

Plot

The Road Runner is in the middle of the road, and after surveying his surroundings, dashes at hyperspeed onto a low plateau ("Speedipus Rex"). Then, he continues to another set of mountain roads and leaves dust clouds everywhere.

Meanwhile, Wile E. Coyote ("Famishus-Famishus") emerges from his hibernation and is soon fully waken by the "Beep-beep" of his opponent. He peeks over the plateau to see the Road Runner at the bottom, and runs down the vertical edge with eating utensils to have a nice meal. The Road Runner taunts his nemesis by dodging at the last possible moment and allowing the coyote to hit himself on the rock floor.

The chase moves to the real roads, but before long the Road Runner escapes and creates more dust clouds, causing the coyote's entire jaw to hang open and then drop out as he enters the dust cloud. Wile trails dust as he reclines on a low rock to dream his next plan.

Wile covers an entire section of a canyon with glue, making sure to leave space for himself to stand. However, the approaching Beep-beep belongs to a truck and not the Road Runner. This leaves the coyote without enough time to safely escape the glue before being run over; he tries anyway and cannot leap far enough before he gets stuck, and can only watch as he is flattened.

So instead, the coyote covers a low rockface with glue from a distance and gets ready to throw a dynamite stick at the Road Runner as he passes. However, the Road Runner goes fast enough to cause the glue to part in the manner of the Red Sea, drowning Wile in his hiding place and preventing him from throwing the dynamite away. He tries anyway, but cannot remove the stick. Then, he begins walking in an effort to allow the wind to temper the fuse, then jumps into a nearby river. However, the explosive detonates in mid-leap, and the coyote pauses in midair before he falls into the water.

Wile has set up a "DETOUR Thru Tunnel" through a hollow log, and the Road Runner "falls" for the trap by dashing in at full speed. The camera zooms out to see that the exit leads to nothing but air. But no Road Runner; the camera then cuts to the Road Runner perched on the very edge of the log. Wile is puzzled and climbs in after him. The Road Runner beeps and exits out a hole in the top; the coyote peeks out after him, but his weight causes the log to tip over the cliff and down.

Now, the coyote hopes to flatten the bird with a 10,000-lb weight supported by a pair of pulleys. However, the weight doesn't drop when the coyote lets go of the rope; instead it drops "on" the coyote when he resumes the chase. Wile strolls into view in the posture of a walking barchair.

Hiding behind a cliff, Wile lights a sequence of fireworks attached to a lasso, but fails to throw it at the correct time. Instead, Wile continues spinning the lasso until the fireworks blow up.

Next, Wile is loading himself in a slingshot and is backing up for maximum power..until he backs into the Road Runner, who beeps and surprises the coyote. He turns around and tries to grab the bird, but the slingshot pulls him just far back enough to miss him. The coyote floats 2 feet above the ground and flies into a tunnel, where he meets a truck coming the other way. He gets squashed into the grille as the truck rolls through the road.

Wile uses an outboard motor, a jim-dandy wagon, a wash tub, water, and roller skates to create a hydropowered wagon that will hopefully lead him on his quest. He soon passes a DANGER BRIDGE OUT sign and can do nothing to stop the wagon before he runs off the bridge. He unties himself from the wagon as it runs through the air, but sees the rope dropping to the river below - and worst of all, the wagon arriving safely at the other end of the bridge! The coyote funereally waves at the camera before he falls into the river.

Wile observes the Road Runner's trajectory across the mountain and sets off his rocket to begin the chase again. The camera cuts to both the rocket and the Road Runner chicken-style until the Road Runner is shown to make a turn just before the coyote smashes into the middle of the curve. The rocket continues down through the mountain and out of a mine before giving up the ghost. Wile sighs with relief - and then the rocket explodes.

The coyote uses a female Road Runner costume to attract his counterpart, but (predictably) only attracts a rout of coyotes who chase him down the road as the Road Runner pulls into view with a "THE END" sign.

Censorships

*On ABC, two scenes of Wile E. trying to snare the Runner with dynamite were cut [http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/ltcutsq-r.html] .
**One scene where Wile E. spreads glue across the road and readies to lob a lit dynamite stick at the Road Runner, but instead, the Road Runner runs so fast that he splashes the glue over Wile E., leaving Wile E. stuck to the dynamite and caught in the ensuing explosion.
**A later scene where Wile E. uses a lasso with lit sticks of dynamite tied to it, and the dynamite explodes before he can throw the lasso.

ee also

*Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950-1959)