Hairied and Hurried

Despite really enjoying the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons on the whole, with the best of them being wonderful, the mid-to-late-60s saw quite a number of duds.

'Hairied and Hurried' is a little better than 'Shot and Bothered', 'Tired and Feathered', 'Highway Runnery' and 'Boulder Wham', but while not quite one of the duds of the series it's one of the weaker ones. It's not as tired or as dull as the cited cartoons, with the pacing having a little energy in places and a couple of moments induces a very wry smile and not being as repetitive as the mid-late-60s cartoons could be. Wile E. Coyote is appropriately cunning and easy to root for, but he has had stronger material before which allows him to be funnier than he is here, he's not unfunny just not up to what he is capable of.

Roadrunner however, while not as much as some of the other Larriva-directed cartoons, is more annoying than he is funny, and the chemistry between the two is bland. As with all the Rudy Larriva-directed Roadrunner vs. Coyote cartoons, the tight time constraints and limited budget shows in the flat and simplistic animation that contains nothing imaginative or eye-catching. Bill Lava's music score manages to be one of his most grating, and sounds really repetitive and misplaced here.

The gags could have been much worse but they could have also been much better. Nothing squirm-inducing, and there are a couple of small-wry-smile-worthy moments, but there is still a distinct lack of spark and despite not being quite as repetitive as others in the series the material still has an over-familiarity. As does the formulaic story, the series is formulaic to begin with but most of them in a charming and enjoyable way, this just felt uninspired.

In conclusion, not awful but never rises above lacklustre. 4/10 Bethany Cox