''Stop! Look! And Hasten!'' is a 1954

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoon, directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

. The short was released on August 14, 1954, and stars

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short ''Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, t ...

. The title is a play on the railroad crossing safety phrase "stop, look, and listen". The cartoon has been featured in the film '' The Shining''.

Danny Torrance Daniel Anthony Torrance, also known as Doc, Danny, Dan, and later Doctor Sleep, is a fictional character who first appears in the 1977 novel '' The Shining'' by Stephen King as a child with psychic powers called "the shining". His parents are fathe ...

and his mother,

Wendy Torrance Winnifred "Wendy" Torrance is a fictional character and protagonist of the 1977 horror literature, horror novel ''The Shining (novel), The Shining'' by the American writer Stephen King. She also appears in the prologue of ''Doctor Sleep (novel), D ...

, are seen watching this cartoon.

Plot

The famished coyote trudges across the desert floor, and eats a fly. He spots a tin can in the road, but finding nothing inside, eats the can itself before being flattened by the Road Runner. The coyote chases the Road Runner to eat him. Wile E. plans a pulley, rope and rock trap to smash the passing Road Runner. He smashes himself as the Road Runner stops and makes fun of him. Wile E. holds a lasso to catch the bird, but instead gets a truck which pulls him across the hard ground. Wile E. builds a Burmese tiger trap according to ACME instructions. The coyote hides behind a rock and, hearing something, dives in but instead gets a Burmese tiger. Wile E. has now constructed a massive pop-up grate in the middle of the road. It fails to block the Road Runner. He resumes the chase but is stopped at a railroad crossing. The Road Runner taunts the coyote as he slowly prances the tracks and his opponent is lifted into the air by the striped divider. Wile E. drops off and chases the Road Runner down the tracks, which run through mountains. The two pass by opposite lanes and the Road Runner signals the coyote, who stops cold after a few seconds and turns back... but too far again. He starts back the other way and soon finds the Road Runner is on a lower track than he is. They finally chase on the same track until a train stops the chase. The coyote dashes in and out of a rockface and sees a train pass by on a track underneath him. A second train approaches where he is standing from inside the rock. Wile holds up a sign indicating his doom. Wile E. moves into a grooved pipe intending to set TNT underneath the road, but the detonator hangs up on a loose rock and blows him up. He uses a fast motorcycle and starts to chase a passing Road Runner, but he slams into a tree. Wile E. paints a white circle in the middle of a large suspension bridge and baits it with bird seed, then hides underneath to cut out the circle. Instead, he cuts out the rest of the bridge with him underneath it, leaving the Road Runner and the circle floating in midair calmly eating the bait. Wile E. takes vitamins for speed. He burns rubber on the road, then dashes off fast enough to leave the highway on fire. The speedy chase continues until they pass by the cranked-up grate, which finally decides to raise itself in between the sprinters. Wile smashes into the grate, and the Road Runner brakes and views his hapless rival before burning more rubber on the road, spelling out "That's all, folks!" in smoke.

References

{{Chuck Jones Merrie Melodies short films 1954 animated films Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner films Films scored by Carl Stalling 1954 short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese American animated short films Films set in deserts American comedy short films

Plot

See also

References