Coyote vs Acme
Directed by David Green
A big basket of Easter eggs
I begin by stating the obvious. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts released by Warner Bros between 1930 and 1964 represent the acme (pun intended) of artistic achievement, the highest and best art that humanity has achieved to date. Surely we can all agree on that? We may differ as to which specific shorts are the best. In particular, I was never quite so taken by the Coyote vs Roadrunner shorts—they always seemed to me more like études, intended to help a creator flesh out some ideas, than full-fledged works. Still utterly brilliant.
The film Coyote vs Acme, which I saw on the Big Screen yesterday, began life as a short piece by Ian Frazier in The New Yorker, and subsequently published in his collection of stories Coyote V. Acme. It purports to be the “Opening statement of Mr Harold Schoff, attorney for Mr Coyote,” suing Acme for defective products. If you’d like to read it for free, search the web for “coyote vs acme texas bar journal,” and you will find a free PDF courtesy of Dallas Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, who obtained permission to reprint it.
Frazier’s piece is merely the idea that forms the basis of the movie. To make a movie of it the writers had to invent the story of the lawsuit. It is a basket of Easter eggs that old-time fans of the shorts can catch. The first that caught my eye is the name of the law firm hired by Coyote to sue Acme: Avery, Jones & Maltese. This is a reference to WB animators Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Michael Maltese, Coyote’s Attorney Kevin Avery is played by Will Forte. The film combines animations with live-action. Coyote is a cartoon, his lawyer Kevin Avery, played by actor Will Forte, is human. Most of the movie combines live action and animation. There are plenty of slapstick action pieces reminiscent of the original Looney Tunes shorts. I was not disappointed.