Cartoon a Day: To Beep or Not to Beep

To Beep or Not to Beep
1963
Directed by Chuck Jones & Maurice Noble
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3

Today's cartoon is a late entry in the Road Runner series. The plot is the same as any other film in this series...Coyote chases Road Runner...but the film have a very different feel than earlier films in the series.

Many of the early Road Runner shorts depend on a series of very short gags. As the series progressed, director Chuck Jones started to go for longer gags. Whereas many Road Runner gags would last a few seconds at longest, some of the gags in this film last several minutes. And it is with mixed results.


One gage which involves a giant spring seems way too labored and just doesn't flow well. On the other hand, the catapult sequence is skillfully paced and plays more like a series of short gags with a big payoff at the end.

The early Road Runner films are stronger but this is a worthy entry in the series. It is actually the final Road Runner short directed by it's creator, Chuck Jones.

Cartoon a Day: Hook, Line and Stinker

Hook, Line and Stinker
1958
Directed by Chuck Jones
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6

The 13th Road Runner / Coyote short is not the strongest of the batch, but it's hard to go wrong when these characters are in the hands of Chuck Jones.

The right elements are all there...the great backgrounds, the crazy inventions (especially the final one used in this cartoon), the great reaction shots...these are the things that make the Road Runner films great. There is one thing that really gets in the way in this short, however. It may seem like nit picking, but the music is just all wrong.

I know nothing of John Seely, who is given the music credit on this film, but for this film he needed to take a few lessons from the maestro Carl Stalling. Stalling knew when to let it rip with the music and when to lay low. Here the music just draws attention to itself...which is exactly what film music should never do.

Cartoon a Day: Beep Beep

Beep Beep

1952

Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)

Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2

The first cartoon on "Cartoon a Day" was a Road Runner short, so it's about time we did another one. "Beep Beep" is one of the earliest Road Runner short and it is a perfect example of what makes these shorts so great.

Really, it doesn't seem quite right to call them "Road Runner shorts." They are much more about the coyote and I think it is that character that makes these films shine. This isn't a character that is defined by voice, and there's not a lot back story to know about him. All you need to know is that he wants to catch the Road Runner. The character comes out in the animation. I think the coyote may be the most expressive character Warner Brothers ever created.

Animators often created model sheets for different characters. They help guide how the character should look when portraying different emotions. I can't imagine what the model sheet must be like on the coyote. It would take several pages just to show the wide range of expressions for "smashed in the face with a boulder."

Every reaction of the coyote is different. And even when his plans blow up in his face, again, he returns to looks of confidence and smugness which could take up several more model sheets. These shorts are all about the timing and the reactions, and their flawless in "Beep Beep."

Cartoon a Day: Stop! Look! And Hasten!

Stop! Look! And Hasten!
1953
Directed by Chuck Jones
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2



My first selection for "A Cartoon a Day" is a classic Road Runner short, "Stop! Look! and Hasten!" This short definitely has a progression to it. Starting slowly with several long takes from the coyote and building to a quick succession of gags.

Of all the bits I think my favorite is the one where the Coyote uses a book called How to Build a Burmese Tiger Trap. Also great is a gag involving a retractable wall that doesn't work early in the film, but that pays off later as the film's closing gag.

Like many of the Road Runner series, this one features some beautiful background paintings and you can start to see hints of some of the unique design styles that would be used for elements such as rocks and bushes that would be taken to greater extremes later in the series.

It's hard to go wrong with a Road Runner short. This one is a favorite!