There They Go-Go-Go!

This is a very good cartoon featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Instead of starting the chase right away, the Coyote first tries to make a chicken out of mud. After he tastes it, and breaks his teeth on the thing, he also makes a trashcan where he puts the chicken in. At this point the Road Runner enters this cartoon. The Coyote uses a gun, some other things that belong to the army, a broken ladder and some rocks that must fall down.

This is a very good cartoon. The opening sequence that makes it a little different is very nice, the gags work (the Coyote even comments on his own stupid ideas,) and the animation is simple but doesn't distract. A very good cartoon from the Road Runner vs. Coyote series.

Michael Maltese must have liked to start a number of these cartoons showing just how starved poor Wile E. Coyote is, that he will do anything to feed his empty stomach. Here, he bakes mud in his oven, pretending it's a chicken. Once it bites into it, he discovers the sad truth and "Famishius Fantasticus" dumps it into his trash bin. The rude Road Runner (Dig- Outius Tid-Bittius) races by, knocking down Wile and making the trash can land on top of his head....and smugly sticking out his tongue while racing away. (Just once I'd like to see poor Wile give the RR what's coming to him!)

In addition, before the chase starts and Wile's wild ploys to catch the bird, he has to desperately search for water because his butt's on fire.

The spring-loaded gun sequence was excellent and really laughed at Wile's little umbrella trying to protect him falling boulders. Otherwise, overall it just a "fair" Road Runner cartoon. Not bad, but not memorable, either.

There They Go-Go-Go! (1956)

*** (out of 4)

Poor ol' Wile E. Coyote is so hungry the film starts off with him cooking mud to eat but he even messes that up. Then the Road Runner goes pass him and an all new hunt begins. This time out we see Wile try using a sling, a gun, spiked balls and even a rope on a tree but, of course, we know what's going to happen. I'm watching these shorts in order and I must say that I've love to see Wile take one big chunk out of the Road Runner. Considering this is the ninth attempt of Wile you can't help but wish he could just eat one time. If not the Road Runner I wish he could eat anything the right way. The series was certainly starting to repeat itself but there's enough action and explosions here to make it worth watching.

Chuck Jones's 'There They Go-Go-Go', the ninth Road Runner cartoon, is the inevitable moment when this excellent series finally hits a snag. Having managed to sustain genuine brilliance across the last four cartoons, 'There They Go-Go-Go' feels like a very tired entry into the series. Even the title seems to indicate a dearth of ideas. Many people, when they think of the Road Runner shorts imagine a repetitive and not especially funny set of predictable gags. If they wanted proof to back up this argument then 'There They Go-Go-Go' would be the ideal candidate. Set against the more stylised backgrounds introduced in the previous cartoon, 'Gee Whiz-z-z', 'There They Go-Go-Go' fails to offer enough funny gags to distract attention away from the less sumptuous scenery and the impression I am left with is that of an unattractive and unamusing cartoon. There's a couple of chuckles but that can be said of practically any Road Runner cartoon (bar the dire later ones). All in all, 'There They Go-Go-Go' is a disappointment but is easily excused as an inevitable hiccup in a series that managed to sustain the same premise for an astonishing amount of time.

Everybody knows While E. Coyote is the real star of the Road Runner cartoons (after all, he has more of a personality) and occasionally we get a moment alone with him at the start of `his' cartoons. The starving superstar attempts to bake some mud (shaped in the form of a chicken) in his home-made oven. This inspired gag features the first of several elaborate punchlines that set `There they Go-go-go' apart from other R.R. shorts.

Out of all the Loony tunes, Wile E. and Road Runner probably break the fourth wall the most (presumably because they don't speak). The knowing looks While E. constantly throws at the camera are classic. At one point he even gestures to the audience to come closer, as if to let us in on his next cunning plan. After all, he is a selfproclaimed genius.

It is especially good to see Wile E. relying on his own wits and inventions instead of the usual Acme products for a change. He is able to use lots of left over material from the local abandoned mines and army bases (including a ladder, a wheel, some dynamite and even a unused rocket shell). But where did he find that tiny pink umbrella? Perhaps he should try to sell some of his ideas to the Acme company. They might give him a discount on their products.

8 out of 10