CITY DUMP
Directed by Robert McKimson; Story by Tom Dagenais; Animation by Bob Matz, Manny Perez, Warren Batchelder, Dale Case, and Ted Bonnicksen; Layouts by Dick Ung; Backgrounds by Tom O’Loughlin; Film Editor: Lee Gunther; Musical Direction by Walter Greene. A Looney Tune released on November 5, 1966.
Wile E. isn’t the only one engaged in a chase today. The cops are currently in pursuit of cloning experiment that went awry. We were trying to combine Boris Badenov and Ratfink… Ratfinkerson. This was supposed to make a spy that would be able to rival Solid Snake somehow. Instead, it just wanted to dedicate its life to decimating moose and Rolands. Two of the world’s most endangered species. Or so you’ve been told. The most humane thing to do at this point is cremate it. It wasn’t too keen on the idea.
To lighten its load, it throws out its spy kit. We’ll never catch him now! Wile E. was hit in the face with the case and decides to make use of this free gift. Always committed to the role, he slips on a trench coat and hat. He looks fly as heck, but it probably feels like Heck wearing that in a sunny desert. Well, probably not. If you use ‘spy’ as an adjective, you can explain your way out of anything. Since its a spy coat, it probably has a cooling function. Built in AC or ice in the pockets or what have you.
He first tries the vial of sleeping gas. Warning: This stuff is potent! It can put a cactus to sleep. No doubt it could also get fish to close their eyes and turn caffeine into tryptophan. The one downside is that it’s still just a gas. You can blow it away. I don’t think it being visible is a downside. People are always curious about strange ground level clouds; curious enough to breathe them in. Not Roadrunners though. The one on screen blows it into Wile E.’s face and he sleepwalks off a cliff. Since he’s not aware of the lack of gravity, he’s not falling.
The roadrunner wakes him with an alarm clock. Wait, that was the antidote? We really should have learned that in the beta testing. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some families of test subjects who are about to receive good news! I’ll be back after Wile E. fails to mail a time bomb to his prey. *walking away* An alarm clock, after all this time! I guess it would take one of the world’s most cruel inventions to combat a runner-up.
INTERMISSION (Should you choose to accept it…)
And we’re back. Wile E is using explosive spy putty. Good thing its described as spy putty to explain why its specifically spy putty. It should blast a boulder onto one final plate of birdseed, but it lands on him. He decides to build a car. Yes, Wile E. in a car. Why does it sound so logical, yet look so taboo? He outfits it with all the best tricks, too. Machine guns, and ejector seats, and a cannon. Oil slicks are a gamble. You run the risk of humans thinking there’s a gusher around here to claim, and they destroy the pristine scenery. And probably shoot you.
The guns fire, but the bullets bounce off rocks and take out the hood. There goes the sunroof option. There goes the color in the fur above Wile E’s muzzle. He opts for the seat. It launches him to the bird, but he just misses. The car bumps him back into the seat. Then the bird leads him on a wild roadrunner chase around a natural arch, getting him to waste all his fuel in the process. The cannon can still function, but the blast knocks the car over him, and the rocks ricochet this ammo too.
This calls for remote control missile-bombs. You control where you want them to go, but you still have to program a target. I guess so they know to blow up when they hit your target and not an errant Frisbee? Wait! Wile E. was wearing gloves! That looks even more wrong than the car! The roadrunner hides under Wile’s step stool, darting away at the last minute. I guess the targeting system just tells you if what you want to eradicate is actually around. After the explosion, Wile E. has the missile-bomb wings on his own arms. (They didn’t look that big before.)
In another classic out-of-character move, R.R. chooses the moon as a target. Good thing this was the final picture! Oh, Wile E. could get back. He’s a genius, after all. I just mean that the roadrunner’s identity was murdered.
Favorite Part: The roadrunner (who is in charge of the mail around here) can’t deliver the time bomb, because of insufficient postage. Wile E. begs him to hold on while he fixes this error, and the bird nods. Was it really that easy this whole time?
Personal Rating: 2. Thank goodness the series didn’t end as badly as it had been prior. The gags don’t feel as drawn-out here, and I like that they have a theme. I never thought there was a problem in doing that. I want to now see a short where Wile E. holds auditions for other predators to join him.