Hit or miss: McKimson's Roadrunners

[oceansoul]

OK, not always Marty opens hit or miss thread, so here I go. :)

What do you think about McKimson's 2 RR shorts Rushing Roulette and Sugar and Spies?

The latter IMHO a strong hit, one of the rare great cartoons of the post-64 era. The plot is finally different, original, and the gags are funny. It's much better than everything Larriva directed, and I had to say I rate it higher than some of the later Jones RR-shorts, like War and pieces or Zoom at the top.
Rushing roulette is a so-so. It's more like a mix of a Chuck Jones and a Larriva short. I don't really care for it, but IMO it's an enjoyable short as well.

Overall, while McKimson wasn't as good as Jones on his RRs, he proved to be a competent one.

[Marty26]

I ultimately had to vote "Miss." Both cartoons certainly had potential, but the limited animation and rather bizarre endings for the two (especially Sugar and Spies) seriously hindered them.

[Mark J]

I don't even like the 'classic' era Jones Roadrunner shorts and find most of them unwatchable. McKimson's and all post 1960 Roadrunners are pointless and for me a waste of time.

[Marty26]

On the topic of Wile E. Coyote cartoons, which cartoon is it that ends with day setting to night, the Coyote being blown up, and then being shown as a star constilation?

[nickramer]

While the cartoons are not as good as the Jones cartoons, I thought McKimson did a nice job on these. I just wish he did the others instead of Rudy's. Now if only I can find the inserts he did for The Road Runner Show and that muscle car commercial.

[TnAdct1]

On the topic of Wile E. Coyote cartoons, which cartoon is it that ends with day setting to night, the Coyote being blown up, and then being shown as a star constilation? That was from Beep Prepared.

[Mr. Semaj]

It's unusual to see McKimson take on a Chuck Jones project (or perhaps not, since he revived Henry Hawk two decades sooner).

I voted for a hit, only because his two cartoons are marginally more creative than Larriva's shorts.

[speedy fast]

I voted "hit", even though I don't remember Robert McKimsons Road Runner shorts too well.

[J Lee]

It's interesting that "Rushing Roulette", the first non-Jones Road Runner by McKimson, followed Chuck's playbook pretty closely -- only the handcar gag is out of character for the two characters; the rest of the gags could easily have fit into a pre-64 short, given a bigger budget for the animation.

In contrast, "Sugar and Spies" came after the 11 Larriva cartoons and looks more like a cartoon Rudy would do, only in this case with better animation and slightly better gags. Larriva by the end had done a couple of themed shorts, like "The Solid Tin Coyote" and "Chaser on the Rocks" and McKimson followed in that mode with the spy-themed gags. Since Chuck would do something similar 14 years later with "Freeze Frame", I guess it's not a total violation of the creator's handbook, but copying Rudy Larriva's style has always seemed to me like a bit of a comedown for McKimson.

[rp-j]

My verdict - some nice ideas in there, but the execution lets them down. They remain interesting curios, though, and are at least watchable - it's the Rudy Larriva ones that really make me cringe...:eek:

[angilbas]

Both shorts are hits in my book; so are the bumpers McKimson directed for The Road Runner Show. The art shows more attention to detail than in any of the L11, and the director also coaxed the best from his musicians in the two shorts. Rushing Roulette was obviously scored by the same Bill Lava who got credit in Larriva's cartoons, but Lava's work under McKimson sounds better. Similarly, Walter Greene's music for Sugar and Spies stands tall among his cartoon scores.

Given the often-talky nature of Detiege's stories, it's easy to imagine that he wanted to make the characters in Rushing Roulette verbose as in the Beep Beep The Road Runner comic books ... but McKimson, firm director that he was, said "Nice idea, Dave, but we should maintain the spirit of Chuck's gems as best we can."


-Tony

[doctoon]

In contrast, "Sugar and Spies" came after the 11 Larriva cartoons and looks more like a cartoon Rudy would do, only in this case with better animation and slightly better gags. Larriva by the end had done a couple of themed shorts, like "The Solid Tin Coyote" and "Chaser on the Rocks" and McKimson followed in that mode with the spy-themed gags.

Sugar and Spies gets a hit, while Rushing Roulette is a miss. Walter Greene's music makes the difference.
Sugar and Spies may have the feel of a Larriva-directed cartoon, because Tom Dagenais wrote not only that cartoon but also two of the Larriva eleven--Chaser on the Rocks and Clippety Clobbered.

[Daffyfan2004]

I'd go with "hit" for "Rushing Roulette," but miss for "Sugar and Spies." That one just doesn't do it for a Road Runner cartoon. RR was better because McKimson seemed to use the regular formula that Jones used for the classic Road Runner series.

[SatStorm]

Hit... Just think the budget and the rest limitations of that era! McKimson manage to make something overall interest, at really tuff times!