Coyote vs. Acme, on VOD

Poor Wile E. Coyote. During an average cartoon appearance, he takes more punishment than Tom from Tom and Jerry. Yet, he keeps on plugging along. However, he might finally get some payback of his own, against the company that sold him all those faulty rockets and the other dangerously negligent consumer items he purchased for his schemes over the years. On the other hand, there is a decent chance Coyote or his underachieving lawyer might just sabotage the case in David Green’s animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme, which releases today on VOD.

Inspired by Ian Frazier’s satirical New Yorker piece of the same title, Coyote vs. Acme directly compares to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, both for their successful blending of animation and live action as well as the ways they conceived of the social interaction between humans and cartoons. In Coyote’s world, cartoons suffer random injuries all the time, but bottom-feeding human ambulance chasers like Kevin Avery (named in honor of Tex Avery) usually just settle them for chump change.

That was Avery’s intention with Coyote’s case. However, the sheer volume of his claims was so mammoth, it added up to much more than the lazy personal injury attorney realized. Suddenly, he finds himself arguing a blockbuster case, representing a client who doesn’t speak (but he has a limited number of signs he can hold up).

Frankly, the actual case against Acme and the rivalry between Avery and Acme chief counsel Buddy Crane are the least interesting aspects of the adapted screenplay, credited to DC studio boss James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, and Samy Burch. Instead, it is all the sly little hat-tips and Easter eggs that celebrate the Looney Tunes franchise that make Coyote vs. Acme such a charmer.

Seeing the longtime Peter Lorre caricature appear as a good guy, an Acme R&D scientist and potential whistle-blower, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, is a wonderful tribute to the actor. Likewise, bits of business involving portable holes, Coyote’s Rube Goldberg-esque traps, and inventive cameos for all the major Looney Tunes characters, keep the good vibes coming.

To give credit where it is due, Avery could very well represent the best performance of Will Forte’s career. He manages to create the illusion of genuine rapport with Coyote, who was present on-set as a puppet created and controlled by David Barclay—and then later animated in post. Their sad sack friendship is warmly endearing.

New Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up

How can they have a Looney Tunes alien invasion movie without Marvin the Martian? Maybe there are some things he just wouldn’t do—but what might that mean for the Earth? Regardless, Daffy Duck could possibly do anything by accident, as his best friend Porky Pig knows only too well. Nevertheless, the duo will be our last and only line of defense in Peter Browngardt’s The Day the Earth Blew Up, a brand spanking new Looney Tunes feature, which opens Friday in theaters.

Like Red Planet Mars and other classic alien invasion B-movies, this Day starts in an observatory, where the “Scientist” first gets a gander at the “Invader’s” ship. Of course, you can guess what happens when he races out to its crash site. Unfortunately, it also took out a chunk of Porky & Daffy’s roof. The officious neighborhood block association president, Mrs. Grecht, is only too eager to threaten them with eviction and demolition, if they do not fix it pronto.

Of course, neither have jobs or marketable skills. However, a chance encounter with Petunia Pig lands them assembly line jobs at the Goodie Gum Factory, where she works in flavor development. She is also a little off-kilter, but she is still quite intriguing if “Pig” is part of your name, like Porky’s. As fate would have it, she cannot stand the new flavor her company just released, which secretly carries the Invader’s mind control virus. That leaves three uninfected Goodie employees to fight back—two of them stutter and the third likes to whack things with a giant hammer.

So really, what’s not to like? Clearly, Browngardt, Kevin Costello, and the rest of the platoon of co-writers channeled a lot of classic sci-fi, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds, and Carpenter’s The Thing. Outright homage is rare, but the influences are obvious.

Perhaps more importantly, this is all-new Porky and Daffy material. There is some chatter about the film “updating” the classic characters, but fans will be relieved to hear this really isn’t readily apparent. Please—enough with the fresh new “relevancy.” However, it is cool to see the well-established but under-utilized Petunia get a major, proactive role.

Indeed, the ruckus Looney Tunes spirit is alive and well. Arguably, Browngardt and company raise it to new heights with their extended regurgitation gags, which younger viewers are sure to love. Older animation fans should also appreciate some pretty impressive astronomical animation (it is not quite Chesley Bonestell-level, but it looks great on-screen).

Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band
Immergent

On Three King’s Day, we should still be able to enjoy Christmas music, and one of the more interesting new recordings of holiday music is Gordon Goodwin’s soundtrack for the Looney Tunes retelling of The Christmas Carol, Bah, Humduck!

Goodwin should be a hero to lad mag scene, for his film credits. Who else can boast of providing music for Attack of the Killer Tomatos, Snakes on a Plane, and Looney Tunes? His Big Phat Band—Coach Mangini would probably call them stout swingers—is one of the best working today. Here, Goodwin finds himself more than able to step into the Carl Stallings-Raymond Scott tradition of scoring Warner Brothers cartoons with swing, verve, and humor.

In truth, some of the selections in Bah do sound episodic, but the band is in fine form, and there strong moments to be heard, like the swinging “Deck the Halls” about 1:46 into “Main Title” and a brassy “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” quoted about 0:51 into “Kiss Me, It’s Christmas.” “Profits on the Rise” is also opens with a notable hard swing. There are indeed swinging passages and nice grooves throughout the soundtrack selections, making it the ultimate thin edge of the wedge, when trying to introduce kids to jazz.

There are also three added tunes “inspired by the motion picture” which really let Goodwin and band cut loose. Goodwin’s original “This is Christmas” is a lovely melody and features fine trumpet work from Doug Savant. Since it is not readily recognizable as a Christmas tune, it could end up as year round staple in your ipod. There are also two longer hip takes on Christmas Carols. “Yo Tannenbaum” has nice solos for the leader on tenor and Andy Martin on trombone, before taking it as on a flag-waving high note. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” starts out sounding traditional, but the band comes in strong around 1:15 and off they go only backing off to let Goodwin take some in the piano chair, then ending it in swinging style.

Bah, Humbug! is an excellent family-friendly disk from a band to look and listen for. Goodwin is again nominated for a Grammy this year, but for many scoring for Daffy Duck and Porky Pig eclipses any industry honors.

(Sorry I couldn’t post this at a more opportune time—as in before Christmas. My copy was buried somewhere in the office mailroom. Some retailers discount holiday CDs after Christmas, so maybe it’s a good time to pick it up.)