Scrambled Aches

The tenth pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, features the ever frustrated, but never quiting coyote still trying to catch the very elusive bird using such ingenious schemes as fan powered roller skates, a pebble which turns into a boulder with water, and the old reliable combination of boulders, rockets, anvils, and balloons. I found it highly enjoyable, 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. This cartoon also has an optional music only track.

My Grade: A

Fun Road Runner & Coyote short from Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. This one has Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner with dynamite on a string, a homemade windsurfing contraption, a rocket, an anvil, a steam roller, and the classic ACME Dehydrated Boulder. As usual with this series when Jones was at the helm, the gags are funny and well-executed. The animation is great, with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Love the colors. The music is also very nice and suits the action perfectly. Some will criticize this series as being formulaic and repetitive, and it certainly does "return to the well" sometimes, but I find that Jones and Maltese do try and do different things with the gags even if they are similar to previous ones. This moves along at a quick pace and probably doesn't linger on a couple of the gags as long as it should. It's fun, though, and definitely worth a look.

Scrambled Aches (1957)

*** (out of 4)

Tenth film in the series has Wile E. Coyote up to the same old stuff but this time out we get a few new tricks with the best one being the dehydrated boulder. This is a pretty routine entry in the series but you can't expect too much out of the tenth film especially considering this was pretty much a one-joke series with the same type of jokes being used over and over again. The action is certainly top-notch as our beloved coyote finds one way after another to hurt himself. The small steam roller and escape hatch are very well done. Another thing to mention is the colors used here, which are extremely warm from start to finish. I'm going to guess this was done on purpose and isn't just the work of the remastered DVD since this short is on the same disc as the others.

Admittedly the story is formulaic, but that can be said for all the Roadrunner/Wile E Coyote cartoons. You could go as far to call the series a "formula" series. Scrambled Aches for me was one of the best of the series as well as one of the funniest. Scrambled Aches is one of the better-looking Roadrunner/Coyote cartoons, the stylised backgrounds do not look cheap at all, the characters look good especially Coyote with his facial expressions and the colours are appealingly warm. The music is energetic and characterful as usual, and the orchestration is clever and beautiful, enhancing the action rather than slowing it down. Scrambled Aches is well-paced and while you do know the outcome of the gags the gags are still really funny, and this is of the non-stop hilarity kind. Especially good were those of dehydrated boulders, steam-roller and the escape hatch. The rocket and rope/dynamite gags are quite familiar but were still funny and not rushed or drawn out. Roadrunner is good, but Coyote has always been the much more compelling character and he doesn't disappoint. Have always loved his sly but frustrated facial expressions and his effortlessly funny and cunning personality, because all the bad stuff happens to him and he is the character that provides the laughs essentially you do feel pangs of sympathy for Coyote as well. In conclusion, those who enjoy the Roadrunner/Coyote cartoons should have no problem having fun with Scrambled Aches. As someone who generally enjoys the series, although there were a few duds in the later years, I do consider Scrambled Aches is a definite standout. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is a perfect example of Road runner at the height of his career. Every joke has an unexpected twist or two and there is a natural progression in Wile E. Coyote's traps. At first the Coyote tries to stop the Runner in his tracks by tripping him up or felling him with a dynamite bolo. When that fails he does his best to match the speed of his prey, by combining roller skates with a sail and propeller, riding a giant firecracker or using a wall mounted spring.

A brief word about the backgrounds. They are simple but very stylized. The artists deliberately neglected to colour between the lines of the purple rocks and just about every pebble and cactus is left unpainted, making them appear translucent. W. E. and double R. on the other hand are perfectly animated. Even in a couple of filler scenes where we see Coyote getting inspiration for another trap, his expressions are priceless.

Obviously getting more and more frustrated, the Coyote becomes intent on destroying his nemesis regardless how much will be left over to eat. Therefore he tries boulder flipping, anvil dropping and best of all makes use of Acme dehydrated boulders (just add water). Finally, his genius level intellect entices him to combine sly deception with brute force. An elaborate double trap uses both the junior size outboard steamroller and a cannon disguised as an escape tunnel. But just like Tom Cruise can use an exploding helicopter to his advantage in Mission Impossible, so can Road runner use a cannon ball as a means of escape.

8 out of 10