Rushing Roulette

Last updated
Rushing Roulette
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story byDavid Detiege
Produced by David H. DePatie
Friz Freleng
Starring Paul Julian (uncredited)
Edited byLee Gunther
Music by Bill Lava
Animation by Warren Batchelder
Bob Matz
Norm McCabe
Manny Perez
Don Williams
Layouts byDick Ung
Backgrounds byTom O'Loughlin
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • July 31, 1965 (1965-07-31)(USA)
Running time
6 min.
CountryUnited States

Rushing Roulette is a 1965 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. [1] The short was released on July 31, 1965, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. [2] It was the second Road Runner cartoon directed by someone other than Chuck Jones, who had almost exclusively used the characters since their debut in 1949 (the first was 1965's The Wild Chase , directed by Friz Freleng). McKimson directed one other Road Runner cartoon the following year, Sugar and Spies .

Contents

Unlike the ten Rudy Larriva-directed Road Runner shorts after Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner (which featured a series of pre-recorded music cues that didn't follow the action on-screen as closely), Rushing Roulette featured an entirely original score by Bill Lava.

The title of the cartoon is a play on Russian roulette.

Summary

1. As the cartoon opens, Wile E. tries snagging the Road Runner with a lasso, but is merely dragged along due to the bird's speed, and ultimately collides with a cactus.

2. Wile E. sets up a fake photo booth which has a cannon behind it. When the Road Runner actually gets a real picture taken at the booth, Wile E., puzzled, then decides to pose for his own picture but is shot (in the smoke, a picture of the charred coyote floats past).

3. Wile E. outfits himself with a pair of ACME Sproing Boots, but is startled by the Road Runner's trademark "Beep Beep!" and ends up falling down a canyon. However, he bounces back up due to his boots, only to bash his head on a boulder hanging over the edge of a cliff, which drops off of the edge. Both Wile E. and the boulder fall to the ground. Wile E. manages to push the boulder aside, only for the force of the shove to back Wile E. into the wall of the canyon, pressing the springs on his boots against it, causing him to spring forward onto the ground right underneath the falling boulder, which flattens him (with the springs sticking out from underneath).

4. Wile E. puts Ajax Stix-All Glue on the pavement to cause the Road Runner to get stuck. His plan backfires when he accidentally steps on the sticky pavement. The Road Runner arrives and startles Wile E. with his "Beep beep!", so much so that the pavement is lifted off of the ground (with Wile E. still attached) and lands face down.

5. Wile E. tries to catch up to the Road Runner with a handcar. This backfires when the Road Runner gets his own handcar, pushes Wile E.'s handcar to the edge of a cliff, and finally startles him off the cliff's edge with another "Beep Beep!", and the Coyote plummets to the ground.

6. Wile E. uses a tall sunbeam to roast the Road Runner, but the bird uses a mirror to reflect the sunbeam back and burn the foundation of the scaffold on which Wile E. is standing, causing the entire structure to collapse. On the ground, the mirror cracks, and so do Wile E.'s eyes.

7. Wile E. sets up a piano rigged with explosives under an awning, accompanied by a wooden signpost advertising "Learn to play the piano for free" - and the eager Road Runner dashes to the piano. He tries to play "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (a repeat gag from the Private Snafu short "Booby Traps", as well as "Ballot Box Bunny" and "Show Biz Bugs", both directed by producer Friz Freleng) but keeps playing the wrong note. Wile E. shoos him and demonstrates to him how to play the right note but in the ill-fated attempt to do so, the piano explodes, leaving the dazed Coyote with the keys in his teeth continuing to play.

8. Standing atop a tall, narrow rocky platform between two sloped canyon walls, Wile E. pushes a boulder off of it in an attempt to squash the Road Runner on the pavement below, but the boulder misses and rolls up the wall of the canyon, then rolls back and collides with the base of his platform, and then rolls up the other wall and back again, continuing to eat away at his platform until he's at pavement level. He manages to duck into a manhole right before getting hit by an oncoming truck, but the boulder lands on top of the manhole, preventing his escape.

9. Finally, Wile E. uses a personal helicopter to drop an anvil on the Road Runner from above, but as the Road Runner enters a tunnel, Wile E.'s helicopter crashes into the wall above the tunnel; as he drops to the ground, so does the anvil, which lands right on his head. Wile E. is then struck by a Greyhound bus, which turns out to be driven by the Road Runner, who delivers one last "Beep, Beep!" as the cartoon ends.

Crew

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon characters

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short Fast and Furry-ous. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, but is always humorously unsuccessful in doing so. Instead of his animal instincts, the coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions to try to catch his prey. They comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the Acme Corporation.

Hopalong Casualty is a 1960 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short, directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 8, 1960, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a play on the Hopalong Cassidy western series of books written by author Clarence E. Mulford.

<i>Beep Prepared</i> 1961 film

Beep Prepared is a 1961 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies American theatrical cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and designer Maurice Noble. The short was released on November 11, 1961, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a play on the Boy Scouts of America motto "Be Prepared".

<i>To Beep or Not to Beep</i> 1963 film

To Beep or Not to Beep is a Merrie Melodies animated short starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Released on December 28, 1963, the cartoon was written by Chuck Jones, John Dunn, Michael Maltese, and directed by Jones, Maurice Noble and Tom Ray receive credit as co-directors. This is the penultimate Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote short that Chuck Jones directed at Warner Bros. during the original "classic" era. This is also the final Warner Bros. cartoon released in 1963.

Paul Hull Julian was an American background animator, sound effects artist and voice actor for Warner Bros. Cartoons. He worked on Looney Tunes short films, primarily on director Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Tweety Bird shorts.

<i>The Road Runner Show</i> American TV series or program

The Road Runner Show is an American Saturday morning animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, which were produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons between 1949 and 1964. Several of the shorts, especially the ones produced from 1965 onward, were produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises after Warner Bros. closed their animation studio. DePatie–Freleng Enterprises provided the animation for the show's intro, closing credits as well as the wrap-around bumpers.

The Wild Chase is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt. The short was released on February 27, 1965, and stars Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. This cartoon was the only Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon to be directed by Freleng or Pratt, who specialized in Speedy and Sylvester cartoons. It is also noted as a crossover between the Sylvester/Speedy and Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons.

Lickety-Splat is a 1961 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short directed by Chuck Jones and Abe Levitow. The short was released on June 3, 1961, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>Going! Going! Gosh!</i> 1952 American film

Going! Going! Gosh! is a 1952 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on August 23, 1952, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>Zipping Along</i> 1953 film

Zipping Along is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on September 19, 1953, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>Guided Muscle</i> 1955 American film

Guided Muscle is a 1955 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 10, 1955, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>There They Go-Go-Go!</i> 1956 film

There They Go-Go-Go! is a 1956 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on November 10, 1956, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>Zoom and Bored</i> 1957 American film

Zoom and Bored is a 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon, being a part of the Merrie Melodies series and directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on September 14, 1957, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet is an animated television special that aired November 15, 1979 on CBS. It stars Bugs Bunny and incorporated parts of several Looney Tunes cartoons. The special followed up on the successful Looney Tunes special Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals that had aired in 1976, which reintroduced the character of Bugs Bunny in his first new material since 1964.

Run, Run Sweet Roadrunner is a 1965 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Rudy Larriva. The short was released on August 21, 1965, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z</i> 1956 American film

Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z is a 1956 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on May 5, 1956, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

A Bird in a Bonnet is a 1958 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc, Daws Butler and June Foray. The short was released on September 27, 1958, and stars Tweety and Sylvester.

Sugar and Spies is a 1966 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon. The short was released on November 5, 1966, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It is the second of two Road Runner shorts directed by Robert McKimson and the only one to feature music by Walter Greene. It is also the final appearances of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote during the Golden age of American animation.

References

  1. Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 353. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  2. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 128–129. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.