Scrambled Aches

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