User reviews

Nominated for an Academy Award, there is nothing especially novel or intriguing about this short. It's just a good example of the series as a whole. Wile E. spends the bulk of the cartoon trying to catch the Roadrunner and giving his insurance agent the ulcer to end all ulcers. It also serves as a warning not to buy anything from Acme unless you are desperate and/or a masochist. Cartoon Network runs this with some frequency. Recommended.

'Beep Prepared' is another nice cartoon from the Road Runner-series, with Wile E. Coyote chasing the bird. This time the Coyote tries to trip the Road Runner, but that doesn't end well. He also uses an arrow, himself as a rocket man, some machine guns, a hole in the ground and a big magnet that makes sure he will be pulled to the Road Runner after the bird has eaten some bird seed with metal. Of course things do not as planned.

This is another nice cartoon from the series and this time it deserved an Oscar nomination. Directed by Chuck Jones it is a perfect example of a successful Road Runner cartoon. The hole in the ground-gag plays very nice and the gag with the big magnet plays pretty good as well.

Elijah Johnson posted a video of him watching it on youtube and it's just such a weird way to watch something he's like laughing and making weird sounds it's so weird.

I didn't always like the "Road Runner" cartoons - I always felt he was a bit too smug as he constantly outwitted the not very "Wile E. Coyote". This time, the increasingly frustrated cat tries just about everything to entrap the racing bird, and goodness only knows how much he was paying the "Acme" company for dynamite, rockets, railroad track - even magnetic birdseed. This is essentially a dozen or so quickly edited escapades that sees an entertaining, if entirely predictable series of failures on the part of a very determined coyote. Maybe try glue next time - it almost worked for "Sylvester" with "Speedy".

Once again, Wile E. Coyote comes up with a series of schemes to catch Road Runner, but they all backfire on him. Although I just saw "Beep Prepared" for the first time, I remember the whole end scene from the compilation film "The Great American Chase" (more commonly known as "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Chase Movie").

Why does WEC keep at it? The people behind these cartoons say that he comes just close enough to catching RR so that he believes that he'll succeed next time. It's George Santayana's description of fanaticism (redoubling your efforts after you've forgotten your aim). All in all, a really good one.

If I were asked whether Beep Prepared deserved its Oscar nomination, it would definitely be yes. It's a wonderful cartoon and one of the best of an entertaining series(apart from a few duds in the mid-late 60s), admittedly it is very formulaic but in all honesty that is true of pretty much all the cartoons in the series. The animation is colourful and has fluidity in the backgrounds, it's not flashy but it's definitely not sparse either. The music is full of energy and character and is lushly orchestrated, none of it sounding canned, the music is a component that is always looked out for by me and it didn't disappoint. The gags are hilarious and wonderfully weird, the arrow and hole-in-the-ground ones faring the best. Beep Prepared's not the first time Coyote has used a rocket or magnet to try and capture the Road Runner but they are still very funny here and not as predictable as you might think. Beep Prepared is never dull and is nicely rounded off. Road Runner is amusing enough in his own right and somewhat cute, he and Coyote work well together, though he can be described as a "plot-device" character(though that might seem unfair). Coyote has always been the much funnier and more interesting character, and he as always is delightful. Especially enjoyable are his facial expressions- something that you don't always pick up upon when you're a child and notice more as an adult, I felt the same way with the humour of the Foghorn Leghorn and particularly Pepe LePew cartoons-, which are always beautifully and cleverly drawn as well as very expressive whether cunning, frustrated or shocked, they even manage to be just as funny and even funnier than the gags themselves. All in all, Beep Prepared's a wonderful cartoon and among the best of the Road Runner/Coyote series, its Oscar nomination justified. 9/10 Bethany Cox

It's about 50 years since I saw these cartoons, and I still remember them with affection. When I saw them I was 'rolling in the aisles' and found them extremely amusing.

Poor old 'Eatus Birdus' (I think that was in the credits for the coyote's 'latin' name): he never gets his dinner! I think this type of humour relates to the silent movies of Charlie Chaplin and the other greats, which I found similarly amusing. Probably says something about me...

Now that I'm old and wrinkly, and in need of a few laughs, I would love to see these cartoons again. Are they on DVD anywhere?

Classic Road Runner & Coyote short from the great Chuck Jones. As is usually the case, the plot is paper thin but no one watches these cartoons for the plot. The gags are all hilarious, including a variation on the infamous Bat-Man costume, the portable hole, and some wonderful treats from the good folks at ACME. The animation is beautifully drawn with bright colors and stylish backgrounds. Love the shot of Wile E. on top of a craggy peak with a series of ladders leading up, for those who wondered how he always made it to the top of these mountains. The action scenes are terrific. The music is whimsical and lively. It's a fantastic cartoon from a fun series that rarely disappointed when Jones was at the helm. This was the only Road Runner & Coyote short nominated for an Oscar.

I just rewatched this Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon as an extra on the Splendor in the Grass DVD. It's yet another one in which the Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner and, well, I don't think I need to tell you whether he succeeds or not. It's hilarious from beginning to end and it was the only one to get an Oscar nomination. So that's a high recommendation for Beep Prepared.