The Solid Tin Coyote

"The Solid Tin Coyote" is an animated cartoon in the Looney Tunes series released by Warner Bros.. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was directed by Rudy Larriva for release in 1966.

Plot

Wile tries to capture the Road Runner by covering the road with tar, but the bird simply runs directly over it. He stops himself from leaping into the tar (in anticipation of the Road Runner being stuck), and accidentally walks into the road where the tar is located to ascertain where his enemy has gone. Wile E. manages to free himself from the tar pit, but is now stuck onto the bucket of tar. Therefore, the coyote hops across the road, wearing his bucket, until he has to outrun a truck coming from that direction. Ultimately, he fails to do so when he gets himself stuck in the tar pit a second time, and then gets flattened.

Hoping to get the Road Runner to run into it, Wile E. places a mirror on a curve on the very edge of a mountain, but soon discovers that his reflection is mocking him. To figure out where the "reflection" is coming from, the coyote snakes around the mirror to the side and discovers nothing there. Puzzled, the coyote retracts his neck, and soon suffers gravity due to his location in thin air. But in the dump where he falls is an inspiration: Wile scavenges a wealth of spare parts in order to create a robotized coyote, while the Road Runner is left puzzled as to what his opponent is doing. However, puzzlement quickly turns to outright terror when Wile E. unveils his creation: a blue robot at least five times as tall as himself.

Using a remote control, Wile E. gives the robot the following commands (with electric bolts coming out of robot's ears before executing each command):

*WALK: The robot does so, but will not stop or change direction to avoid smashing his creator. Therefore... STOP/HALT: However, the robot fails to stop, crushing Wile E. underfoot.
*LOWER HAND for Wile E. to climb on, then LIFT HAND for him to get a bird's eye-view of the landscape. HUNT: Robot gets "on his mark" and "set", hears the Road Runner coming, and starts chasing him as he passes by (a rendition of "Charge" is played on a trumpet in the background). The Road Runner is petrified at the sight of his enemy on the robot, and Wile is soon in striking distance to issue STRIKE. The robot turns his hand around (the one Wile E. is standing on) and attempts to crush the Road Runner, but misses each time and ends up flattening the coyote like a pancake due to his unfortunate location on the bottom of this hand.
*Standing between the robot's ears, Wile E. hears the Road Runner coming and orders the robot to ATTACK, but the robot's electric bolts from its ears burn him to a crisp.
*Wile E. adds fangs to the robot's mouth, gives the order to HUNT, and the chase is on again ("Charge" is played again). This time, the robot (surprise!) succeeds in catching the Road Runner. However, Wile E. fails to recognize the sensitive personality of his creation and enters the command to EAT, STUPID. The robot promptly eats its "stupid" creator, prompting the Road Runner to escape. Crawling out of one of the robot's ears, and obviously irked, Wile E. flatly commands ONE MORE TRY, YOU IDIOT! "Charge" plays once more, and the robot starts running towards the Road Runner, who is standing on the other side of a collapsed road. Horrified, Wile E. tries vainly to stop the robot (TURN, STOP, HALT, BACK, WHOA, REVERSE, HEEL), but all commands go unanswered and both he and the robot fall into the chasm, leaving Wile E. in the same heap of junk he started with.

Notes

Since Wile E. Coyote did not "personally" catch the Road Runner, rather the robot did, this cartoon does not break the rule prohibiting Wile to catch his prey.

Crew

*Director: Rudy Larriva
*Story: Don Jurwich
*Animation: Hank Smith, Virgil Ross, Bob Bransford
*Layouts: Don Sheppard
*Backgrounds: Tony Rizzo
*Film Editor: Joe Siracusa
*Music: Bill Lava
*Produced by: David H. DePatie & Friz Freleng

External links

*imdb title|id=0061002|title=The Solid Tin Coyote