"The Wild Chase" is a fairly weak Warner Bros. cartoon that was made after the studio terminated its cartoon department; director Friz Freleng then formed a partnership with producer David H. DePatie to crank out an additional series of Warner Bros. cartoons with much tighter budgets. This particular film features quite an odd combination of character teams: the Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote, and Speedy Gonzales & Sylvester! The plot is very simple: The Road Runner & Speedy compete together in a race, with the uninvited Coyote & Sylvester in hot pursuit. The Road Runner cries his usual "Meep meep!" and Speedy says nothing more than his usual Spanish shouts of excitement while running. Neither the Coyote nor Sylvester speaks one word as they work together to catch their respective lunches; one can only wonder what they would say to each other if they DID speak.
Despite its shortcomings, "The Wild Chase" still contains its share of funny scenes. The single shot of all the Texan cowboys lining up to bet on the Road Runner, as well as all the Mexicans lining up to bet on Speedy, is quite amusing indeed. The Coyote runs through a thick cloud of smoke, not realizing until too late that he is standing in midair (stock footage from "Zoom and Bored" [1957]). The Road Runner beeps Sylvester off a cliff and onto the Coyote, who was slowly climbing up the cliff. With Sylvester watching from close behind, the Coyote takes some dynamite, attached to a TNT pump, through a tunnel underneath the road on which the two contestants travel; the pump, however, operates by itself, and while we don't see what the explosion does to the Coyote, we DO see Sylvester's half-naked carcass outside the tunnel!
"The Wild Chase" might have been interesting during its conceptual stages, but the finished product comes off very flat. Neither the protagonists nor the antagonists are interesting enough to satisfactorily entertain the audience. This cartoon isn't helped very much by the repetitive music score of Bill Lava either.
Despite its shortcomings, "The Wild Chase" still contains its share of funny scenes. The single shot of all the Texan cowboys lining up to bet on the Road Runner, as well as all the Mexicans lining up to bet on Speedy, is quite amusing indeed. The Coyote runs through a thick cloud of smoke, not realizing until too late that he is standing in midair (stock footage from "Zoom and Bored" [1957]). The Road Runner beeps Sylvester off a cliff and onto the Coyote, who was slowly climbing up the cliff. With Sylvester watching from close behind, the Coyote takes some dynamite, attached to a TNT pump, through a tunnel underneath the road on which the two contestants travel; the pump, however, operates by itself, and while we don't see what the explosion does to the Coyote, we DO see Sylvester's half-naked carcass outside the tunnel!
"The Wild Chase" might have been interesting during its conceptual stages, but the finished product comes off very flat. Neither the protagonists nor the antagonists are interesting enough to satisfactorily entertain the audience. This cartoon isn't helped very much by the repetitive music score of Bill Lava either.