'Hip Hip-Hurry' is a very funny, mostly well made and mostly great cartoon. It isn't one of the classics of the on-the-most-part enjoyable Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote series but it is miles better than any of the late 60s efforts, which saw the series (and most of the Looney Tunes cartoons actually) declining.
The animation is not the most inventive or luscious of the series, nor did it need to be. The overall quality is still very good, it has beautiful rich colours, nice detail in the backgrounds (while not as meticulous as earlier outings, they're hardly sparse or simplistic either) and the drawing is fluid, a great job as ever is done with the drawing and characterisation of Coyote's many expressions. 'Hip Hip-Hurry' also benefits from being very funny.
As with a vast majority of the series (apart from two) there is no dialogue, the humour all comes from the physical comedy and sight gags. The physical comedy is very nicely drawn, no stiffness at all, while all the gags work thanks to good animation, crisp timing and Coyote as ever being the continually great character that he is. The standout gags being the one with the speedboat and in particular the riotous ending. The story is formulaic (as with pretty much all the RR/C cartoons, but the two characters and their sparkling chemistry, the gags, the animation and the efficient pacing make that not matter.
Roadrunner is cute and amusing if one-dimensional, but Coyote is funnier, more rootable and more interesting.
Unfortunately, 'Hip Hip-Hurry' is let down by two big things. While not as cheap sounding, as dull or as repetitive as Bill Lava's scoring, the music, stock not canned, is indeed no match for Milt Franklyn and especially Carl Stalling. It's not badly orchestrated and it's lively enough, but music in cartoons should add to the action and if you're a good enough composer enhance it and the music here distracts from the action. Rhythmically it doesn't quite fit and it's a bit too over-scored in places. The sound effects are also inappropriately loud and sometimes misplaced, that it becomes irritating.
In summary, apart from two annoyances 'Hip Hip-Hurry' is mostly great. 8/10 Bethany Cox
