Soup or Sonic
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''Soup or Sonic'' is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, starring
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, ...
. It was first aired on May 21, 1980 as a part of the television special ''
Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over ''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over'' is a springtime-themed ''Looney Tunes'' television special which aired on CBS on May 21, 1980. The special includes three new cartoons directed by Chuck Jones and Phil Monroe. Featured cartoons The cartoon ...
'' and was one of three new cartoons released. This is the only canonical cartoon in which Wile E. Coyote catches the Road Runner without him escaping afterward, although due to the existing circumstances, Wile E. is physically unable to actually ''eat'' the Road Runner. "Soup or Sonic" was directed by Chuck Jones and
Phil Monroe Philip Monroe (October 31, 1916 – July 13, 1988) was an American animator and director best known for working for Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of Chuck Jones. Monroe had also worked for UPA. Career Monroe started working at ...
. The title is a
homophonic In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ...
variation, a play on the terms " supersonic" and 'soup or salad', as one might be offered by a waiter in a restaurant. In comparison to other episodes, this is the longest episode, with a length of 9 minutes and 11 seconds.


Plot

''Introduction'': The usual chase occurs until it ends on a mountainside, with the Road Runner ''(Ultra-Sonicus Ad Infinitum)'' and ''(Beepius Beepius)'' ducking behind a corner and leaving a cloud of dust for Wile E. Coyote ''(Nemesis Ridiculii)'' to run into. Wile. E rides the dust cloud all the way through the air and finally stops to determine where he is. He opens a "door" in the dust only to see that he is in midair and sheepishly closes the door as the dust disperses, before the inexorable pull of gravity takes effect. 1. The pair pull up onto opposite outcroppings and Wile E. attempts to pole-vault to his opponent's, but this causes the end of his outcropping to crumble and the Coyote to fall down. Seeing his impending humiliation approaching, Wile E. attempts to make the best of it by climbing up the pole. However, he keeps falling back to the bottom of it. Eventually, the pole turns around so fast that it whirrs like a propeller, and then grinds against a cliff side all the way down to the part Wile E. is holding. When it finally stops rotating, the Coyote then pulls himself onto the narrow bar left of the pole and accepts his fate as he falls into a canyon. 2. Wile E. sits on a rocket and lights the fuse, aiming towards the Road Runner on the opposite site of the chasm. The first attempt fails when the fuel and nosecone launch out of the rocket, leaving Wile E. sitting on an empty hull. The hull crunches down, and then Wile E. falls, annoyed, to the canyon floor. 3. As the Road Runner burns rubber on the ground roads, Wile E. is pulling back on a falling safe attached to a rope and pulley. Eventually, the weight overcomes him and the Coyote is pulled through the pulley, removing all of his chest fur, and then down onto a see-saw as the safe lands next to him. Wile E. then slides off the rock face to fall into the canyon, and is then smashed by the safe. 4. The second attempt at the rocket is foiled when the rocket points directly downwards before it fires, leading to an extra-speedy fifth fall. 5. Wile E. sticks a firecracker into the center hole of a Frisbee and throws it at his prey, but before he releases the disc, the firecracker drops out of the hole and sizzles at Wile E's foot. The Coyote does not notice until he puts his foot down on the firework and instinctively pulls it away just before it explodes, leaving him dazed, but apparently unhurt. Wile E. then walks away with his tail on fire, then screams out an agonized "YEOW!" while he jumps into view, holding his burning bottom. 6. On his third attempt with the rocket, he lights the fuse, but it burns quickly and fires successfully out from under him before he can get ready and leaves Wile E. floating in midair with a cloud of dust blocking his view below. Unable to see what is below him, Wile E. suffers gravity for the sixth time. 7. To get the bird to stand still, Wile E. leaves out a sheet of ''ACME Giant Fly Paper'' in the road. He hears a braking noise, assumes the Road Runner has been caught, and leaps out to catch him, but instead of the Road Runner, he has caught an actual giant fly. The fly is very unhappy about being stuck on the paper and thus wraps the Coyote in it, who tiptoes away from the scene. 8. On his final try with the rocket, Wile E. accidentally ignites his tail instead of the fuse, detects his mistake and leaps up in pain only to smash his head on another outcropping. Fortunately, this causes him to return to the rocket and to light the fuse with his tail. Unfortunately, the rocket is off-target, and it bores through the cliff under the Road Runner, then explodes, blackening the Coyote and throwing him back into the air, holding a sign saying "How did I ever get into this line of work?" before he falls for the seventh and final time. 9. A new plan is formulated, where Wile E. attempts to blow up the Road Runner by pelting explosive tennis balls at him. Wile E. just misses, and the ball then drops directly back into its original slot in the box of balls as Wile E. arrives on the scene and takes stock (Sign 1: For sale: One used tennis racket. Sign 2: Cheap!) before (as the screen puts it) a "GIGANTIC EXPLOSION!" occurs. 10. Wile E. is chasing the Road Runner through a series of pipelines, which causes both of them to emerge in a greatly shrunken state. Upon discovering their situation, they re-enter the pipeline and be transformed back into full size. The Road Runner emerges at normal size, but Wile E. is still in small size when he comes out. Upon discovering this turn of events, the Road Runner stops and allows his rival to "catch" him. The Coyote does not notice anything until he steps over his opponent's feet, and looks up to see he is massively outgunned. The Road Runner utters a low-pitched "beep beep", much to Wile E.'s horror. He can only hold up two signs to the audience stating, "Okay, wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him." and "Now what do I do?" However, this is not answered as the cartoon ends.


Crew

*Voice Characterizations: Mel Blanc & Paul Julian *Co-Director:
Phil Monroe Philip Monroe (October 31, 1916 – July 13, 1988) was an American animator and director best known for working for Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of Chuck Jones. Monroe had also worked for UPA. Career Monroe started working at ...
*Master Animation:
Phil Monroe Philip Monroe (October 31, 1916 – July 13, 1988) was an American animator and director best known for working for Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of Chuck Jones. Monroe had also worked for UPA. Career Monroe started working at ...
,
Irv Anderson Irvin Neil Anderson (June 18, 1923 – November 17, 2008) was a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1965 to 1983, and again from 1991 to 2007. From International Falls, Anderson entered politics at app ...
, Ken Champin,
Tom Ray Thomas Archer Ray (August 2, 1919 – April 6, 2010) was an American animator. Career Ray was born in Williams, Arizona. He began work at Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1937, working under Tex Avery for six months. He applied for a job at MGM and w ...
,
Lloyd Vaughan Lloyd Lincoln Vaughan I (January 2, 1909 – May 19, 1988) was an American animator known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of Chuck Jones. Starting in 1935 as an inbetweener, he became an animator in 1944 under Jones, a ...
, Virgil Ross, Manny Perez & Dick Thompson *Animation, Layouts, Backgrounds & Artwork by Members of the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, Local 839 *Music:
Dean Elliott William Lorenzo Bunt (May 11, 1917 – December 31, 1999), known professionally as Dean Elliott, was an American television and film composer. Career Elliott was born William Lorenzo Bunt on May 11, 1917 in Sioux City, Iowa to George Leroy Bunt ...
& Bill Lava *Editor:
Rich Harrison Richard Christopher Harrison (born 1979) is an American record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C., specializing in R&B and hip hop music. The winner of a Grammy Award, Harrison is well known for producing songs such as " Get Right ...
*Written, Produced & Directed by Chuck Jones


Notes

On the reissue edition, the music used for the title was the music from a previous cartoon '' War and Pieces'' scored by Bill Lava.


References


External links

* {{Chuck Jones 1980 animated films 1980 films 1980 short films 1980s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner films 1980s American animated films Films scored by Dean Elliott Animated films without speech 1980s English-language films