''The Wild Chase'' is a

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 ...

'' short directed by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

and

Hawley Pratt Hawley B. Pratt (June 9, 1911 – March 4, 1999) was an American film director, animator, and illustrator. He is best known for his work for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as the right-hand man of director Friz Freleng as a layout artist and late ...

. The short was released on February 27, 1965, and stars

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...

and Sylvester, with

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 ...

along for the race. This cartoon was the only Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon to be directed by Freleng or Pratt, who specialized in Speedy and Sylvester cartoons. It is also noted as a crossover between the Sylvester/Speedy and Coyote/Road Runner cartoons. 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. This is also the final classic era cartoon to be directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon largely consists of reused animation and gags from previous Coyote/Road Runner cartoons.

Plot

, the fastest mouse in all

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, races against the Road Runner, the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

road burner, in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

border zone. During the race,

Sylvester the Cat Sylvester Pussycat, Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appea ...

and

Wile E. Coyote 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 episod ...

join forces in an attempt to catch their speedy opponents, with predictable results. Often they mistakenly end up injuring each other in comical fashion. 1. As the race starts, Wile E. chases after the Road Runner, only to run into a cloud of dust and fall off the cliff (reusing animation from

Zoom and Bored ''Zoom and Bored'' is a 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon, being apart of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series and directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on September 14, 1957, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Plot The Coyote and Road Ru ...

). Sylvester tries the same thing, only to find Speedy on the other side of the cliff, before the 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 Bird food or bird seed is food (often varieties of seeds, nuts, and/or dried fruits) intended for consumption by wild and domestic birds. While most bird food is fed to commercial fowl (such as chicken or turkey), bird food is also used to fee ...

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 (A scene reused from

Wild About Hurry ''Wild About Hurry'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 10, 1959, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a pun on the then-popular song, ''I'm Just Wil ...

). 4. More reused

animation is seen as 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 a culvert as the racers are coming, but as Wile E. is placing the dynamite it explodes. This reuses a gag from

Hopalong Casualty ''Hopalong Casualty'' is a 1960 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' theatrical animated short, directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 8, 1960, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a play on the Hopalong Cassi ...

. 6. One more idea from

finds the duo using a

rocket car A rocket car is a land vehicle propelled by a rocket engine. A rocket dragster is a rocket car used for competing in drag racing, and this type holds the unofficial world record for the 1/4 mile. Fritz von Opel was instrumental in popularizing ...

to chase Speedy and the Road Runner, but they zoom past them and technically finish first to win the race. However, they do not get the trophy as the only contestants were Speedy and the Road Runner. Sylvester and Wile E. then fly up into the air and the rocket car explodes into a firework as the end card fades in.

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

External links

The Wild Chase
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Chase, The Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Short films directed by Friz Freleng Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner films 1965 animated films Films scored by William Lava DePatie–Freleng Enterprises short films 1965 short films Animated films about mice Animated films about cats Animated films about birds 1960s Warner Bros. animated short films 1960s English-language films American animated short films Films about Canis Speedy Gonzales films Sylvester the Cat films American comedy short films