Fast and Furry-ous

Fast and Furry-ous
Lobby card.
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	September 17, 1949
Run time	7:03
Starring	Mel Blanc
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Mike Maltese
Director(s)	Chuck Jones
Animation director(s)	Chuck Jones
Art director(s)	Chuck Jones
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Title card
Second title card

Fast and Furry-ous is the two hundred and twenty-sixth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on September 17, 1949. It was written by Michael Maltese, and directed by Chuck Jones.

In the middle of the American desert, a lone, hungry coyote attempts to capture and eat a roadrunner.

Detailed summary

In the middle of a desert, a burst of speed swoops quickly on the road with each sign accompanying the short's credits. That burst of speed is ultimately revealed to be a single roadrunner, introduced in freeze frame with the caption "Road Runner (Accelleratii incredibus)," before speeding up again to give his signature "beep, beep" sound. As the bird continues to dash in several road, a hungry coyote looks over at a distance with binoculars. He licks his lips before he freezes with the caption "Coyote (Carnivorous Vulgaris)."

Wile E. Coyote runs from down the hill and catches up to the Road Runner, trying to slash him with his fork and knife. The Road Runner turns to the coyote, sticks his tongue at him and makes another "beep, beep" sound before zipping ahead. Wile E. stops in his track and lower his jaw. He then picks his jaw back up and begins to pace, but not long before he thinks of an idea that he decides to run off. Following this, Wile E. attempts to catch the Road Runner through several gags in the short.

The coyote first hides near to the road and tries to use a metal cloche to halt the ambushing Road Runner. But when the Road Runner approaches to his spot, he instantly stops close to the cloche. Wile E. is amazed that the bird had not crashed to it and lowers the cloche. After the Road Runner leaves, Wile E. throws his cloche in frustration. He tries to pursue but before he could leave, the Road Runner holds his cloche and Wile E. crashes to it, leaving him behind as he rapidly vibrates.

Next, Wile E. picks up "One Genuine Boomerang" and throws it off-screen, but is then hit by another boomerang from behind. Wile E. looks at the Road Runner to the right, who has seemingly brought in "Another Genuine Boomerang" with him before leaving. Wile E. prepares to follow but is then hit by his own boomerang.

The coyote paints two parallel white lines the road and sets up a sign saying, "Slow School Crossing." He disguises himself as a school girl and merrily skips along the road crossing, but is instantly hit by the speeding Road Runner, causing him to spin. The Road Runner comes back with his wig, holding a sign that says, "Road runners can't read," before dashing off.

As the Road Runner goes up the hill, Wile E. watches over him while being strapped to a flimsy looking rocket. He sets up the rocket's direction, lights up a match and set its ignition on fire. Just as it is about to ignite, the rocket shoots upwards, causing Wile E. to crash through a cliff.

Wile E. looks over what appears to be a blueprint of his next plan; which involves him pulling the key stone to crush the Road Runner with a boulder as he passes by a plumb bob, attached by a string along with the key stone. The coyote looks over his telescope to see the Road Runner pass through. But by the time he pulls the string, Wile E. is suddenly crushed by the boulder in its reverse direction.

Wile E. paints a white line across the middle of the road. He turns to the left and makes his way to a cavern wall, where he then paints a fake tunnel on it. He hides at at a rock, anticipating the Road Runner to be crushed in the sudden impact of his track. But when the bird passes through the wall, Wile E. becomes furious and attempts to run over it before crashing. The coyote tries to stand up before he is run over by the Road Runner.

The Road Runner appears again while Wile E. has a stick of dynamite hidden on the road, which is connected to a TNT box. He presses on the box as he hears the Road Runner's "beeps", but it explodes, leaving the bird standing near the unlit stick before leaving.

Afterwards, Wile E. is seen wearing a "ACME Super Outfit" consisting of blue uniform and red cape. He starts to jog, gradually paces himself and then jump over a cliff with his arms stretched, as if he was about to fly. The coyote loses momentum and falls off-screen.

The coyote shows up in a contraption (primary consisting of a refrigerator, a pair of skis, an electric motor, and a meat grinder) and creates a layer of snow on a steep hill. He skis downwards and as he approaches near the Road Runner, the bird stops in his track and watches Wile E., who then falls off another cliff. Wile E. crashes to the ground, completely injured and with his machine pouring snow on top of his head. Wile E. holds up a sign saying "Merry Xmas" as Christmas music plays.

Wile E. puts on a pair of "Fleet-Foot Jet-Propelled Tennis Shoes" and begins to run at an extremely amazing pace to test the product. He runs several more times, but shortly after the Road Runner comes near him, Wile E. tries to follow him and ends up passing through a cloud of smoke. When the coyote notices that he passed through the Road Runner (who stays entirely still) he sprints back and stops him, waiting for the bird to leave once more. The Road Runner takes off in a cloud of smoke once more, as does the coyote. Wile E. stops, expecting the Road Runner to do the same thing as last time, but finds that he had left. The coyote then runs off to chase the bird, where they come across a complex path of circles, and occasionally stopping by to look at each other, before continuing to sprint at different routes. Wile E.'s shoes sputters and runs out of energy, however, and when he comes to a full stop, Wile. E spots a shortcut sign to the left.

After taking said shortcut, Wile E. hides behind a tall billboard and prepares use an axe. The coyote comes out of the road, but a passenger bus drives through and runs over him. The coyote–feeling worn out from the impact–looks at the Road Runner riding on the bus' back, who gives two more "beeps" and pulls down a curtain that reads, "The End."

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Wile E. Coyote (carnivorous vulgaris)	N/A
Road Runner (accelleratii incredibus)	N/A

Locations

• Earth
  • United States

Music

The music was composed by Carl Stalling. The short uses music from the Bedřich Smetana opera The Bartered Bride, specifically Dance of the Comedians. This theme would be use as the main theme in later Road Runner cartoons such as "Beep, Beep", "Going! Going! Gosh!", "Ready, Set... ZOOM!", "Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z-z", "Zoom and Bored", "Hot-Rod and Reel!", "Chariots of Fur" and "Little Go Beep".

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: September 17, 1949 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title is a play on the expression "fast and furious".
• In this cartoon, Wile E. is only referred to as "the Coyote." He is christened Wile E. in "Operation: RABBIT."
  • The mock species names for Wile E. (Carnivorous Vulgaris) and Road Runner (Accelleratii Incredibus) make a debut in this short. Their mock species names, or mock latin names would be later used in the 1952 shorts, "Beep, Beep" and "Going! Going! Gosh!".

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States: