Chariots of Fur

While rather on the short side, Chariots of Fur is a great and very memorable cartoon that reinforces why I love Looney Tunes so much. The animation is very lively, with the character designs staying true yet are more animated and the backgrounds more fluid rather than the cheap and lifeless backgrounds that hindered some of the later Looney Tunes efforts. The music is energetic and compliments the gags very nicely. Speaking of the gags, they are very well-timed and funny while never feeling drawn-out. The characters still impress, Coyote is as cunning as ever, but Roadrunner having more character here was the real surprise in my opinion. All in all, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is Chuck Jones' last Road Runner cartoon and it is one of the best. All of his RR toons are good but this one is exceptional.

The last Road Runner/Coyote short to be directed by the great Chuck Jones, released in theaters along with the Macaulay Culkin movie Richie Rich. I'm always wary of the later Looney Tunes cartoons made decades after the classic ones. They are usually forgettable at best and sometimes outright terrible. They never have the same level of quality craftsmanship that went into the older shorts. This one's no exception on that front but it is surprisingly watchable for a later effort. That's probably due to Jones' involvement as he crafted many of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons, particularly the Road Runner/Coyote ones. Among the better gags here are the ACME lightning bolts and the cactus costume. The biggest weakness is the audio. The music is irritatingly generic and probably canned. The sound effects in some places are bad, sounding disconnected in a way that just doesn't feel right. Despite some problems, it is watchable and even amusing in places. Fans of the old cartoons will likely see the flaws more than others.

CHARIOTS OF FUR (1994) is a great example of the inexperienced CJFP artists' prowess, as they have recreated almost perfectly the Golden Age cartoon style. It is not perfect in this cartoon, since it's their first cartoon, but in SUPERIOR DUCK (1996) you can't tell the difference. This cartoon is equal to TO BEEP OR NOT TO BEEP (1963), which is the last Road Runner cartoon made at Termite Terrace. The rest were made independently. That's a tribute to the young artists at Chuck Jones Film Productions. Jones taught them well.

When this short was released in theaters it was unfortunately attached to the horrid Macaulay Culkin vehicle "Richie Rich" (one can hardly call that piece of cinematic dreck a film). Well, I wanted to see "Chariots" and so did a couple of my friends, so we bought tickets for a matinee showing and sat back and enjoyed six minutes of pitch-perfect Coyote-Road Runner action. Then, once the credits rolled, we got up, declared that we had seen what we came to see, and walked out, to the bewilderment of most of the rest of the audience. It was a most satisfying exit, and a most satisfying film. Would that it were available on DVD.