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Ready.. Set.. Zoom! (1955)

*** (out of 4)

A motored bathtub, glue on the road, a large rubber band and cross dressing are just a few of the ways that Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner but I'm sure you know how everything is going to end. The sixth film in the series is perhaps the weakest so far but it still manages tog et a few laughs as that poor Wile just keeps trying no matter how badly it hurts him. There are some nice gags this time including the glue on the road, which does harm to the coyote in a few ways. The gag with the female road runner is without a doubt very neat but I won't spoil it for you.

Chuck Jones's 'Ready, Set, Zoom', the sixth Road Runner cartoon, had the mammoth task of following 'Stop, Look and Hasten', one of the best cartoons of the series. Jones and his regular Road Runner writer Michael Maltese more than rose to the challenge and, if anything, 'Ready, Set, Zoom' is even better than its classic predecessor. A startlingly handsome and extremely funny short, 'Ready, Set, Zoom' opens with the unusual sight of a stationary Road Runner. From here, it continues to confound audience expectations with the most unpredictable set of jokes yet. When we do arrive at a gag with an obvious outcome (the enormous weight), Jones opts to trust our instincts as an audience and not even bother showing us the Coyote's inevitable clobbering, instead simply allowing a squashed creature to waddle past the screen after an off-screen clang! The facial expressions of the Coyote are priceless throughout 'Ready, Set, Zoom', from the glorious evil grin as he formulates his first evil plan to the look of horror in the final unexpected twist. The best sequence, however, is the extended scene in which a glue-drenched Coyote attempts to rid himself of a sticky stick of dynamite. Everyone knows what's going to happen. Effectively, the gag has already ended the moment the glue covers the Coyote. Yet Jones wrings out every last laugh from the situation, playing on our sympathies as we hope that just maybe this time he'll be spared and our wicked sides as we savour his desperation to evade the inevitable Ka-boom! It's a glorious sequence in a glorious cartoon which makes a convincing case for being the absolute best of the series.

The story is pretty basic, but Ready..Set..Zoom! is a handsomely animated and very funny Looney Tunes cartoon. In my personal opinion, this is by far one of the better Roadrunner/Wile E.Coyote cartoons. As I have said already, the cartoon is very handsome to look at, very nice colouring and backgrounds. The music is very good as well, not annoying and intrusive but clever and jaunty. But what made the cartoon were the gags. They all worked, but two stood out for me. One was the glue sequence, you could tell what was going to happen but the outcome was hilarious. The other was the ending, easily one of the funniest endings to a Roadrunner/Wile E.Coyote cartoon, like the glue sequence it was hilarious. The two characters play off against each other seamlessly each as crafty as the other. Overall, very handsome and funny, recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The sixth pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, has the crafty coyote trying glue on the road, a giant rubber band, an outboard motor in a wash tub, and in quite possibly the funniest ending of any of these cartoons dressing up as a female road runner. I feel that the ending made it as funny as the great first animated short featuring these two wonderful characters. But perhaps I'm a bit biased as Wile E. Coyote is one of my absolute favorite cartoon personalities of all time. This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

My Grade: A+

This is one of the better Road Runner cartoons I have seen. The Coyote, or Famishus Famishus, is trying to catch the Road Runner, or Speedipus Rex, with some Acme glue on a road, putting himself on a rocket, making fake tunnels, throwing a lasso with some dynamite attached and dressing himself up as a female Road Runner.

This terrific cartoon made me laugh almost constantly. Directed by Chuck Jones, who has made the funniest Road Runner cartoons, 'Ready.. Set.. Zoom!' is perfect and every gag is good for at least a smile. The early sequence with the glue and some dynamite is a great start and the ending where the Coyote wears a female Road Runner costume is one of the funniest endings I have seen. Recommended.