Guided Muscle

Guided Muscle
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	December 10, 1955
Run time	6:45
Starring	Paul Julian
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Michael Maltese
Animation	Richard Thompson Ken Harris Ben Washam Abe Levitow
Director(s)	Charles M. Jones
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Title card
Second title card

Guided Muscle is a three hundred and fifty-fourth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on June 11, 1955. It was written by Michael Maltese, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Chuck Jones.

After failing to eat his dinner, a stewed tin can, Wile E. decides to try and catch the Road Runner for a much better meal.

Memorable quotes

Road Runner: (holding up sign) Road-Runners already have feathers!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Wile E. Coyote	N/A
Road Runner	Paul Julian

Organizations

• Acme

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Southwest desert

Objects

• Nose blade cover
• Giant bow
• Giant slingshot
• Cannon
• Wrecking ball
• Acme Grease
• Rope swing
• Bird seed
• TNT crate
• Fishing rod with a stick of dynamite
• How To Tar and Feather A Road Runner (10th Printing)
• Remote-wired tar and feather machine
• Dynamite stick with a long fuse
• "Help wanted" sign
• "That's all folks!" end card

Vehicles

• Truck

Music

The music was composed by Carl Stalling.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: December 10, 1955 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title plays on the term "guided missile."
• The MPAA number is 16896.
• This is one of the rare instances where a Warner Bros. cartoon ends differently. In this case, Wile E. actually pulls the "That's all folks!" end card across the screen to end the short.

Legacy

• The bow and slingshot scenes from this short were used in The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie.
• The opening scene where Wile E. cooks a tin can is used in the TV special Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet.
• The title music from this short would be used for chase music in the video game Taz Express.

Critical reception

The short made its place as number 41 in the book The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons, with animation historian Jerry Beck writing, "If I had to pick a 'pure' Road Runner-Coyote film, this would be it. It's one of Chuck Jones' best chase films, produced at the peak of his artistic powers. By this time — this only being the sixth of twenty-three Road Runners that Jones would direct during the golden age — the characters are clearly defined, their motivations firmly established. The gag setups and payoffs are classic. Jones and his team make an art out of split-second timing and extreme facial reactions."

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • November 2, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 on DVD.
  • Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3