a cool story about The Wild Chase

[absolutpaul]

My 11 year-old son was at my place for the weekend, as he is every other weekend. He has grown up watching classic cartoons with me, and incidentally, has finally gotten over his hatred of Popeye and now likes the cartoons. He loves to watch the Golden Collection DVDs , so he was excited when I got the fourth one. While watching a random cartoon, Nathan said, "I wonder what would happen if the Road Runner raced against Speedy Gonzales?"

I said, "You want to find out?? It's right here on this DVD!"

He was thrilled to suddenly discover that not only was such a cartoon made, but that he could watch it right now. He kept asking "Who wins?" but I told him to wait and find out...

He watched the cartoon, and was happy at first, and then he immediately picked out the rotoscoped Jones scenes, and said "Hey, what's up with this?"

When it was over, he thought it was boring and the race's ending didn't satisfy him at all. Also, when he saw the "new" WB titles on the cartoon, he said "This looks really old"...

[speedy fast]

I can't decide if that's a sad story or a happy story.

I did notice that before the rocket beat them that Speedy was ahead of The Road Runner by a few feet. Speedy would have won.

[Fibber Fox]

When it was over, he thought it was boring and the race's ending didn't satisfy him at all. Also, when he saw the "new" WB titles on the cartoon, he said "This looks really old"...

Kids aren't dumb. They can tell good from bad cartoons. Just like when we were kids.

FF

[Matt the Y]

Even at 11, your kid has excellent taste.

I too was looking forward to "The Wild Chase" after first hearing about but when finally seeing it and noticing that virtually all the gags had been re-used from earlier Jones cartoons complete with rotoscoped (but decidedly weaker) animation and a VERY unsatisfying and totally anticlimatic ending, the cartoon just falls flat... in fact, flat as a pancake! This is one cartoon that wouldn't bother me at all if it had never been made!

[JPox]

Growing up, my favorite cartoons featured the Roadrunner or Speedy due to the fact of all the fast action.
I remember "The Wild Chase" being played during the Roadrunner Show and I thought it was the greatest thing ever.
Now that I'm older and wiser(?) I still think that the idea behind the cartoon is great, all though all the reused animation and weak ending makes it weak.
I wonder if it would have been a stronger and better short if it was made in the late 50's?
:sylvester:speedy::coyote::beepbeep:

[Debbie]

It might have been a better cartoon if it wasn't a "cheater" cartoon, re-using older animation. This is one of the worst looking WB cartoons, and seeing Chuck Jones' earlier animation alongside rather off-model and relatively lifeless newer drawings (mosly of Sylvester and Speedy, with a few newer Wile E. and Roadrunner scenes) is almost jarring. At least it's a lot shorter than the compilation movies Friz Freleng did years later, where the new footage and voices just don't mesh well at all.

[oceansoul]

I have to concur with your kid absolutpaul. :D

I always wanted to see a chase between the RR and Speedy, and when I saw the start of the Wild chase I was very excited. But when the cartoon ended I felt terribly cheated, and I wanted my 7 minutes back. It was one of the lowlyest and most pathetic cartoon ever made for the studio, even I appreciate the Alex Lovy craptastic shorts more than that tragedy.

Friz Freleng really should have stopped directing cartoons after 1955.