Fast and Furry-ous

Fast and Furry-ous
Title card of Fast and Furry-ous.
Directed by	Charles M. Jones
Produced by	Eddie Selzer
Animation by	Ken Harris Phil Monroe Lloyd Vaughan Ben Washam A.C. Gamer (effects animation)
Layouts by	Robert Gribbroek
Backgrounds by	Peter Alvarado
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Running time	6:55

Fast and Furry-ous is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, released on September 17, 1949, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It was later reissued as a Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies cartoon in the beginning opening, with the original Looney Tunes ending sequence. As a result, the Looney Tunes theme (The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down) plays over the Merrie Melodies title card.

Fast and Furry-ous was the debut for Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner. It was also their only cartoon made in the 1940s. It set the template for the series, in which Wile E. Coyote (here given the Latin name Carnivorous Vulgaris) tries to catch Roadrunner (Accelleratii Incredibus) through many traps, plans and products, although in this first cartoon not all of the products are yet made by ACME.

The title is a play on the old expression "fast and furious".

Running gags

A major running gag throughout the cartoon series is the fact that Wile E. Coyote (an ironic pun on "Wily") is continually defeated by his own gadgets, often obtained through a fictitious mail-order company called "ACME". The name of the company is ironic because of its meaning the best or the highest in quality. A commentator in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection pointed out that what keeps Wile E. going is his perception that the gadgets typically almost work.

Plot

• Introduction: The title sign is shown first, and the card is blown away when the Road Runner whips by. The pair whip past the camera to change the credits. The camera zooms to the Road Runner and the scene shows the Latin name he keeps for the first three cartoons: Accelleratii Incredibus. He moves into superspeed and briefly pulls up the road. Wile E., on a cliff, watches with binoculars as the Road Runner tears across the roads. He licks his lips as his name is shown: Carnivorous Vulgaris. The coyote puts on a napkin, grabs a knife and fork, and rushes down the mountain and onto the road behind the Road Runner. However, the bird dashes off. Wile E. stops and drops his utensils, then paces as he thinks of a new scheme.

1. As the Road Runner approaches, Wile E. is hiding between large rocks with a steel trash can lid. He holds it out and the Road Runner stops just short, causing the Coyote to wonder why he didn't hit it. Wile moves the lid while glancing at the road runner, who promptly sticks his tongue out and speeds away. Wile gets ready to follow him, but the Road Runner returns as quickly as he left and holds out the lid, which the Coyote runs into. The Road Runner runs off again.
2. Wile E. takes delivery of a boomerang and throws it over its hiding place, but is quickly hit by another boomerang, thrown by the Road Runner directly behind him. Wile E. steams with rage and chases his opponent, but before he can move, he is hit by his own boomerang.
3. The coyote then paints white lines on the gravel and brings out a SLOW School Crossing sign. Wile imitates a schoolgirl and prances in front of the sign, but the Road Runner blasts by, resulting in Wile holding onto the sign with his arms. The Road Runner returns with the wig he was wearing and a sign that says "ROAD RUNNERS CAN'T READ".
4. The Road Runner is now spiraling up another mountain, while Wile is preparing a rocket-launcher contraption. he launches into a rock instead of the Road Runner.
5. The coyote now tries to squash the passing Road Runner with a gigantic boulder. When Wile pulls the string out from under the boulder, its massive weight causes the boulder to reverse its center of gravity in mid-fall and squash its owner.
6. Having had enough of directly trying to defeat the Road Runner, Wile draws a curve in the right lane of the desert's main road, and continues it across into a rock face. He then paints a lifesize painting of a tunnel on the face. The bird runs directly through it. Then, Wile tries to follow, but flattens himself against the rock. Wile gears up for a 2nd attempt, but the Road Runner runs back out and knocks the coyote down again.
7. Wile leaves a stick of TNT covered in dirt in the middle of the road and connects a detonator to it, but when he pushes down on it, the detonator explodes on himself.
8. Now, the coyote resorts to the Acme Corporation. He dons an ACME Super Outfit, hoping this will give him the ability to fly. He fails to defy gravity.
9. Wile now puts together a meat grinder, a refrigerator, and an electric motor (the motor turns the grinder, grinding the ice cubes the refrigerator is spitting out, creating a path of snow!), and skis towards the road, narrowly missing the bird. The coyote continues across the desert floor and off the edge of another cliff. Wile's expression changes slowly as the power begins to run out of the refrigerator, and then he falls to the ground. Ice from the refrigerator is put onto Wile's head, who holds up a "MERRY XMAS" sign.
10. Having tried most everything, Wile now puts on a pair of Fleet Foot's jet-propelled tennis shoes, and discovers he can now move at the speed of the Road Runner. Happy with himself, Wile returns to his attack base, but then the Road Runner turns up directly in front and beeps. A chase ensues, but when the dust clears, it is revealed that the Road Runner didn't even move! Wile turns around and returns to the Road Runner, infuriated. Both of them start on the "dragstrip" a second time and it is Wile who accidentally initiates the false start. Wile's eyes pop out and he initiates the chase again. As Wile is gaining on the bird, both rivals come to a highway 'cloverleaf', where they circle around and around, constantly changing directions to the tune of "I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover", until they meet in the center stretch. The chase continues down the road until the tennis shoes run out. Wile sees a sign displaying "SHORT CUT" and follows it, looking to intercept the Road Runner.
11. Wile hears the beeps then steps out into the middle of the road with an axe. Before he can swing, that was real a bus which flattens Wile.E. The bird, perched in the back window of the bus, pulls down a shade emblazoned with "The End" .

That's all folks!.

Etymology

• The title is a pun on "Fast and Furious".
• This is the only Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon made in the 1940s.

Goofs

• In the beginning, Wile E. Coyote holds his fork in his right hand and the knife in his left hand. When it cuts to him chasing the Roadrunner, the utensils have changed hands.
• Some frames of the scene where Wile E. holds a boomerang have his tail missing.

Censorship

• When this cartoon aired on ABC, sequence #7 above is cut.

Availability

Fast and Furry-ous is available with is blue ribbon on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, and Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 in 1080p resolution

Music

This short uses music from the Bedřich Smetana opera The Bartered Bride, specifically Dance of the Comedians. It also makes use of the popular songs "Winter", "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "In My Merry Oldsmobile".

See also

• Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)

External links

• IMDB entry for Fast and Furry-ous