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Notes -
@SnapDragon what did you like about Coyote vs Acme? I watched it yesterday and found it... passable. It's certainly not the second coming of Roger Rabbit.
One problem with it is that the premise is self-limiting. Wile E. Coyote cannot do dialogue, he can only do slapstick and display a limited number of signs. You're hobbling yourself if one half of your designated comedic duo is a mute.
I have no idea what's the deal with Tweety was. Where's the redemption arc? Why does he go back to his owner, whose ethnic depiction is ambiguous but somehow still vaguely racist, like nothing has happened at all?
And last, but certainly not the least. How in the name of our lord Leon Schlesinger did the writers set the story in Albuquerque, cast Bugs Bunny in a supporting role and not have him finally take that left turn?
I've always loved Looney Tunes, and I was laughing all the way through the movie. Yes, it's not deep. And yeah, I never expected it to compare to Roger Rabbit, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. But I just had a good time. YMMV, I suppose. Sure, Tweety and Foghorn didn't have real character arcs, but I didn't care.
Mute comedy has been a thing since, well, forever. Not even counting cartoon characters, there was Charlie Chaplin, Harpo Marx, the monster in Young Frankenstein, Marcel Marceau (who, hilariously, has the only speaking line in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie), Teller... among many others. The important thing is to emote well, and I thought they did a fantastic job of conveying Wile E.'s thoughts and reactions. Just like in the cartoons.
And, wait, are you saying that the Peter Lorre character was "vaguely racist"? That's a caricature of a real actor who appeared frequently in Looney Tunes shorts: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zFC01Ipfo3g (He's a Hungarian Jew, fwiw.)
Good point about Bugs though. :) I was actually thinking that even back when they were first hinting at his presence in Albuquerque. Definitely a missed opportunity!
He looks like a caricature of Peter Lorre in the old shorts. His look in the movie is more generic and about as tasteful as Inki. As an aside, I was so damn scared of the minah bird when I was a kid, for some reason.
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