“Acme Book of Magic”
With what a hit “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” was sure to be, the studio decided to start making some new shorts they could attach to their feature films. The film failed to meet expectations, this was the only short completed, and it never even made it to theaters, instead being a special feature on “Back in Action’s” DVD.
The first Coyote/Roadrunner short made since Jones death. (Rest his soul.) Also notable for actually using their real world scientific names this time. (Geococcyx californianus and Canis latrans.)
It starts off with two wizards in a duel. (Gargamel-Jafar and Dr. Light-Dumbledore.) They are of equal strength and end up killing each other. Their Magic book and black cat fall to earth, just as Wile is chasing his usual prey. Both hit him, and he decides to use the magic to help achieve his prize. He turns the cat into a “panther” (which is not a real animal, I think he wanted a leopard.) It slices him. He orders a magic broom and follows the Roadrunner who runs into a tunnel. Hearing a truck, Wile swerves wildly out of the way. (Turns out it was the Roadrunner clearing his throat.) Now in space, Wile is hit by a comet and plummets back down. He manages to survive, but one “Beep-Beep” sends him off a cliff.
A spell to make himself larger only makes his head grow and crushes his rest of him under it’s weight. Painting a bomb clear, he advertises a free trial to see the future. The Roadrunner peers in and sees the Coyote in an explosion. The bomb rolls over to him and detonates. He levitates a boulder over some free bird seed, but of course it doesn’t fall, until he stands under it himself. Finally, he turns the cat into a winged horse. Which may be a clunky term, but makes a heck of a lot more sense than naming a species after one specific specimen of its kind. (Seriously, call it a “Pegasus” and I will kill you.)
The chase leads to a train, and they crash into a car holding many snakes. The horse uses the Coyote to bat them away. Then he turns into a magic carpet. Then they fly into a bunch of scorpions. And cacti. And cliff walls. Then the rug becomes a Komodo Dragon and bites Wile’s snout off. Then it becomes a lawnmower. THEN it becomes a shark and chases him into a lake. Why all the sudden changing? The Roadrunner got a hold of the book and was testing its powers. As the shark eats Wile, the Roadrunner turns a mailbox (where’d that come from?) into a female Roadrunner and they walk off together.
Personal Rating: 3. It’s actually pretty dang good. Makes we wish we could’ve seen what other shorts could’ve gotten made.