The Wild Chase. Meep beep.

It’s a Warner Bros. Showdown as Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales vie for the title Fastest Cartoon Character.  The tough route, set in the American desert, seems to favour the bird with a home-course advantage.  Still, one should not underestimate the fastest mouse in all of Mexico.  Looney Tunes was never known for subtlety, as we see fans in cowboy hats lined up behind the $2 window placing the bets on Road Runner contrasted with men in sombreros at the 2 peso window placing their bets on Speedy.  The race marshal aims his gun at the audience (duck!) and they are off, in all their Technicolor glory.  If these two live up to their billing as the swiftest creatures in the cartoon world we are in for a nail-biting competition.

As Road Runner and Speedy chase the win, Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote join forces to chase dinner.  Ever the optimists, the inept scoundrels have their knives and forks are at the ready.  Although the race distance is not disclosed, it must be a rather long course given the number of evil plans and traps Syl and Wile have time to set.  As they are apt to in a Warner Bros cartoon, hijinks ensue and the hapless predators predictably (spoiler alert!) fail to nab their prey.  The animated short, however, does not fail to recycle the pranks and pratfalls of episodes past.  Like the toon world’s law of physics dictating no falling until you realize there is no longer land beneath your paws and the ever-popular careening over a cliff, surviving the fall only to have a chunk of the aforementioned rock face fall upon you.  Fortunately puddy tats always land on their feet.  I’m not so sure about hard luck coyotes.

Villainous plot twists do nothing to slow the blistering pace set by the breakneck duo.  I love that the racers come to a simultaneous dead stop midrace to enjoy a snack of birdseed and cheese (my kind of sprinters), unknowing that the bad guys planted -and of course sabotaged- the treats.  I’m still not sure if it’s brains or dumb-luck, but the bird and mouse once again get away unscathed, freshly fueled by the energy boost.  Speedy is especially fortunate; cheese would send me straight to the pot-a-loo, race over.

It occurs to me that Syl and Wile must be rather fast themselves, frequently surging ahead to then wait for the chance to ambush their nemesises.  It’s most impressive when one considers all the energy they waste on their evil plotting, boulder moving, dynamite lighting, and the like.  That and the countless trips to ER must take some time.  If their enthusiasm for killing could be channeled into training this race would have two more contenders for the title Speediest Toon.  I think their running potential has gone unrecognized for far too long.

As we near the finish the announcer proclaims the race to be “neck in neck”, but it looked to me like there was a clear leader.  Maybe the announcer had a better angle (or a bet on the race, ha).  So who won?  I’m not about to spoil that one for you.  I will say that the finish photo features a rocket car, hee.

Enjoy:

Reference: Merrie Melodies, Season 1, “The Wild Chase”, original airdate 27 February 1965.