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 |
| Series navigation | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Title card | |
| |
| Second title card | |
| |
Fast and Furry-ous is the two hundred and fifty-ninth 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 deliver his signature "beep, beep" sound. As the bird continues to dash on several roads, 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 sets up for a meal by tying a napkin around his neck and pulling out a fork and knife. He then run through the cliffside and tries to catch up to the Road Runner, attempting to slash at him with his utensils. Upon notice, the Road Runner turns to the coyote, sticks his tongue at him and beeps before zipping ahead and dashing off down the horizon roads. Wile E. slowly comes to a 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. tries to catch the Road Runner through a series of attempts.
- 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. After the bird leaves from Wile E.'s proximity, the coyote throws his cloche in frustration and when he tries to pursue, the Road Runner holds his cloche and Wile E. crashes to it, leaving him behind in rapid vibrations.
- Wile E. uses a boomerang from the Acme Corporation and tries to throw 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 boomerang with him before leaving. Wile E. prepares to follow but is caught by his own tool in return.
- The coyote paints two parallel white lines the road to make a fake crosswalk and sets up a sign for "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 rocket. He sets up the rocket's direction, lights up the fuse and prepares for take off. Just as it seems like that the rocket was about to ignite, the rocket instead shoots upwards, causing Wile E. to crash through an overhanging cliff.
- After using a plumb bob to find a vertical reference line for a very, large boulder placed at the edge of a small cliff, Wile E. looks over what appears to be a blueprint of his next plan to catch the Road Runner: toppling a boulder by pulling a keystone. Wile E. then goes up to his telescope to see if the Road Runner is coming. Once he gets a clear view of the horizon, he gets into position and holds onto the end of the rope leading to the keystone and awaits for the Road Runner to come close. But when Wile E. he pulls the string, the large boulder doesn't fall forward but instead falls backward and lands right on Wile E., trapping him underground.
- Wile E. starts painting a white line across the middle of the road's median and starts painting a line outside of it. The fake line is then painted through the desert, over some hills and then leads directly to the wall of a large butte mesa. He then paints a tunnel and road connecting to the fake median he painted. Wile E. hides behind a rock just before he hears the Road Runner coming. Upon approaching the fake tunnel, the bird actually runs straight through the painting. Flabbergasted as to how the Road Runner actually made it through, Wile E. decides to give it a shot himself, but instead runs into his trap and bangs directly into the wall. The Road Runner comes back through the fake tunnel and mows over Wile E., beeping in the process.
- Trying for a more sneakier method, Wile E. covers a large stick of dynamite with dirt and wires it to a detonator. When Wile E. hears the Road Runner coming and pushes the plunger down, the detonator instead blows up the coyote. The Road Runner comes to a halt and hears where the explosion came from, he taunts Wile E. with his beeps before taking off.
- Wile E. orders an "Acme Super Outfit", consisting of blue uniform and red cape. He begins to jog and gradually speeds up in an attempt to make himself fly, but as soon as he jumps off the edge of a cliff, he fails to defy gravity and instead falls to the ground below off-screen.
- Wile E. orders a refrigerator, a meat grinder and an electric motor, and with his tinkering skills, makes an electric-powered snow maker pack by using ice cubes to make snow in front of him. But to actually chase after the Road Runner, Wile E. also orders a pair of snow-skis and poles that will work on the instant snow he makes. After turning on the machine, the coyote prepares to plunge down the hill to chase after the Road Runner. On his way down, he uses his poles to pick up speed, but before he could actually chase him, the Road Runner notices Wile E. and halts by his snow path. Wile E. then notices that he has passed the Road Runner, but also sees that he is heading straight for the cliff. Unable to stop, Wile E. flies across the canyon's gap in midair, but before he could reach the other side of the canyon's cliff, the machine runs out of ice and slowly come to a stop, resulting in Wile E. to fall into the ravine and makes a crash landing below. Upon impact, the machine starts snowing ice on Wile E.'s head, and he holds out a sign saying, "Merry Xmas."
- After ordering a pair of Fleet-Foot Jet-Propelled Tennis Shoes, Wile E. tests out by running to a small mesa and back and then speeding across a plain and up a large plateau. Knowing they work brilliantly, he runs back to his original spot right before the Road Runner stops by. Wile E. attempts to quickly rush through the bird, but run passes beyond his proximity before returning back. Their eventual chase leads them to a cloverleaf interchange, a complex path of curves, and they occasionally stop by to look at each other depending on the routes they've taken. However, as Wile E. continues to chase the Road Runner, his shoes run out of fuel and Wile E. sputters and spins to a stop as the shoes have run out of fuel. After the Road Runner scurry away, the coyote spots a shortcut sign to the left and decides to get ahead.
- In his final attempt, after taking said shortcut, Wile E. hides behind a tall billboard and prepares use an axe to chop the Road Runner in half. When the coyote hears the bird approaching, he jumps out from behind the billboard and raises his axe in the air, ready cleave the bird. However, Wile E. mistook a bus's beeps for the Road Runner's and realizes that it is too late for him to move out of the way as the bus speedily approaches him and flattens him down on the road.
Feeling all worn out and emerging slowly from the road, Wile E. looks at the bus to see the Road Runner riding on the back end of the bus. The Road Runner – thinking, "This is ONLY way to travel" – beeps at the audience and pulls down a curtain that reads "The end."
Memorable quotes
Road Runner: (holding sign) "Road-Runners can't read."
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Organizations
Locations
- Earth
- United States
- Southwest desert
- United States
Objects
- Metal cloche
- One Genuine Boomerang
- Another Genuine Boomerang
- Crosswalk paint
- Fake school crosswalk sign
- Rocket
- Rocket launcher gizmo
- Median-color paint and Fake tunnel paint
- Dynamite and a Detonator
- Acme Super Outfit
- Instant snow maker machine (refrigerator, electric motor, and meat grinder)
- A pair of skis and poles
- Fleet-Feet Jet-Propelled Tennis Shoes
- Axe
Vehicles
- Bus
Production
Development
Filming
Music
The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.
The short uses music from the Bedřich Smetana opera The Bartered Bride, specifically the Dance of the Comedians piece. It would be used in later Wile E./Road Runner shorts of both Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, including Beep, Beep, Going! Going! Gosh!, Ready.. Set.. Zoom!, Gee Whiz-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." You're welcome.
- The running gag of mock species names, or Latin names, for Wile E. and the Road Runner make a debut in this short. Their species names from this entry would be later used in the 1952 shorts, Beep, Beep and Going! Going! Gosh!
- In the short, Wile E. is only referred to simply as the "Coyote."
- Near the end, Chuck Jones' name is alluded with a billboard sign advertising Jones Motel.
Errors
Legacy
- The coyote would later be christened as "Wile E. Coyote" in Operation: Rabbit.
- The Acme Super Outfit scene would be used in The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie.
- Two stages, one "regular" and one "remix" that are named after this short, would be used in the 2008 video game Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor.
- Wile E. in his Super Outfit would be used as a playable character in the 2018 video game Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem.
In pop culture
- The scene where Wile searches for Road Runner with his binoculars has since become a GIF.
- In the Ted Lasso episode "Sunflowers," Ted sends this GIF as a text message to his boss, Rebecca.
Critical reception
In other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
Home availability
- In the United States:
