Grade: A … As a kid, Saturday morning cartoons and a bowl of cereal was a rite of passage. Homework was hardly a thought as you wished to freeze time during the weekend to avoid the inevitable Monday morning school blues. Weekends would consist of soccer games, hanging with friends, and of course cartoons! Every kid would park it in front of the tv to devour all the cartoons that were presented to us at the time. Disney cartoons, Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and the iconic Looney Tunes was “must see tv.” Back then, one of my favorites out of the gigantic cartoon block was the ever continuing cat and mouse game with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
For some reason I always wanted to see Mr. Coyote catch the Road Runner. I was oblivious to the running gag that the Road Runner would never be caught and that is how they easily got me to tune in as much as I could. Maybe the next episode it will happen? Gotta wait and find out! Hundreds of failed ACME devices and products later, the Road Runner has yet to be caught but adult fans of the rivalry were finally able to see some justice carried out in Mr. Coyote’s favor with the new movie “Coyote vs. ACME.”
“Coyote vs. ACME” was almost never released. Warner Bros. was ready to write off the movie because they did not want to pay the marketing costs to release it. The movie was shown to some and it tested very well. Warner Bros. ultimately sold the movie to Ketchup Entertainment back in 2025 and it saved the movie from being lost forever.
“Coyote vs. ACME” is a mix of animation and live action, just like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It jokingly says that some parts were inspired by a true story at the beginning of the movie because that is the brand of comedy the movie serves up. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and it just has fun! The movie is about Mr. Coyote getting retribution from ACME for all the years of failed ACME products and devices he has used in order to catch the Road Runner. After his latest failed attempt to catch the Road Runner, Mr. Coyote sees an ad on tv for a lawyer specializing in cartoon law. The discount lawyer, Kevin Avery (played by Will Forte), is pitted head to head with the big wig of ACME, Buddy Crane (played by John Cena). Avery’s group of lawyers usually just try to get small settlements and avoid trials. Mr. Coyote doesn’t want to settle. He feels that he has been seriously wronged over the course of his life and he really wants to make ACME pay for what they have done.
It would be easy to chalk this up as a “kid’s movie” and tailor the jokes to strictly the kids but many of the jokes were for the adults in the audience. On top of that, they were quality jokes that had the theater laughing throughout the movie! The movie does a great job of portraying Mr. Coyote’s feelings even though he cannot talk and simply uses signs to communicate.
This is a movie anyone will enjoy, regardless of age. You will laugh at the gags from failed ACME products, you will sympatize with the Coyote and you will be surprised to see the sweet message the movie delivers at the end. Luckily Ketchup Entertainment saved this gem of a movie because it would have been a real shame if nobody got to see it.
Grab all of your friends and enjoy a hilarious night out at the movies!
