The Wild Chase
The Wild Chase is a Warner Bros. 'Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt.[2] The short was released on February 27, 1965, and stars Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the Cat, with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner along for the race.[3] This cartoon was the only Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon to be directed by either Freleng or Pratt, who specialized in Speedy and Sylvester cartoons.
| The Wild Chase | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Friz Freleng Co-director: Hawley Pratt |
| Produced by | David DePatie Friz Freleng |
| Story by | Friz Freleng (unc.) Created by: Friz Freleng Chuck Jones Michael Maltese (all three uncredited) |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Bill Lava |
| Animation by | Norm McCabe Don Williams Manny Perez Warren Batchelder LaVerne Harding[1] |
| Layouts by | Dick Ung |
| Backgrounds by | Tom O'Loughlin |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date | February 27, 1965 |
Running time | 6 min (one reel) |
| Language | English |
This is the only Speedy Gonzales short to feature Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, and the final time Speedy appears with Sylvester the Cat.
Plot synopsis
Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all Mexico, races against the Road Runner, the Texas road burner. During the race, Sylvester the Cat and Wile E. Coyote join forces in an attempt to catch their speedy nemeses, with predictable results. Often they mistakenly end up injuring each other in comical fashion.
1. As the race starts, Wile E. chases after Road Runner, only to run into a cloud of dust and fall off the cliff. Sylvester tries the same thing, only to find Speedy on the other side of the cliff, before Road Runner scares him off the cliff.
2. As the racers are coming, Wile E. and Sylvester catapult rocks to flatten them, but this backfires when the rocks crash into each other and land on Sylvester and Wile E. instead.
3. The duo then places iron pellets under bird seed and leaves slices of cheese; while the racers eat, the two attach a grenade to a roller skate with a magnet, but only the magnet part of the roller skate leaves and when Wile E. checks it, the grenade blows up in his face.
4. Wile E. rolls a flat rock to flatten the racers, but the rock does not move - it stays on the edge of the cliff. Wile E. attempts to make it drop, but it still does not move. Sylvester comes to help and they both jump up and down on it, then the rock finally drops the two of them off the cliff.
5. The duo decide to blow up the bridge as the racers are coming, but as Wile E. is placing the dynamite it explodes.
6. Finally, they use a rocket car to chase Speedy Gonzales and the Road Runner, but they zoom past them and finish first to win the race, however, nobody gets the trophy. They then fly into the air and the rocket car explodes into a firework as the end card fades in.
They might have tied this year, but next year will be another story!
Crew
- Co-Director: Hawley Pratt
- Story: Friz Freleng, John Dunn
- Animation: Norm McCabe, Don Williams, Manny Perez, Warren Batchelder, Laverne Hardling
- Layout: Dick Ung
- Backgrounds: Tom O'Loughlin
- Film Editor: Lee Gunther
- Voice Characterizations: Mel Blanc
- Music: Bill Lava
- Produced by: David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng
- Directed by: Friz Freleng
References
- Beck, Jerry (1991). I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 153. ISBN 0-8050-1644-9.
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 351. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 137. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.