Stories of Childhood: The Crazed eyes of a Coyote

 There has been much hype with the new Coyote V Acme movie coming our or has come out at this point.  So I decided to bring an old childhood memory to the table.  One that involves one of my earliest memories of the Road Runner and Coyote, but also something that remained a mystery.

There are 3 top earliest memories of watching Looney Tunes when I was a little kid.  All of them were on Nickelodeon.  The first was Ali Baba Bunny where Daffy goes "It's Mine Mine Mine!!!  Go Go Go!!!  Down Down Down!!!  Mine Mine Mine!!!".  The second, though I'd seen Porky before it, was Porky's Poultry Plant where I remember first seeing Fat Porky thinking.....get this......there was this pig at the county fair that looked like Porky but slightly off, was an inflatable costume, fat, and was HUUUGE!  So I thought maybe HE was the pig from the fair.  I wish I had pictures of that pig, but that may be another mystery.

The third, however, was the Road Runner.  My earliest memories of the Road Runner was both him and the Coyote running, the Road Runner going "Beep Beep!" and me with my 2-3 year old babbling going "There they Go!" which strangly enough was the name of one cartoon, "There They Go Go Go!!".  Now of course, that's not the first cartoon I remember.  ALL of the cartoons have the Road Runner go "Beep Beep!"  The next thing I remember was the Coyote falling off the cliff multiple times.  Again, how can you narrow it down to one.....you can't.  But then there was another.....one that doesn't make sense given the context of what is best remembered with these cartoons: Coyote chases Road Runner for his breakfast, Coyote uses Acme products, Coyote fails usually with cartoon violence, then end.  No.....this one is a memory that I didn't understand why.  It would have to be......the Coyote's EYES..........

I first remember seeing such as thing on Nickelodeon and it just hit me for whatever reason.  Not too long after that, I have a distinct memory of seeing the same cartoon on a VHS tape and it being the second cartoon for whatever reason.  And then, somehow, I don't remember ever seeing it again.  Except....obviously, I HAD TO.  I have since seen every Road Runner cartoon, some of which over and over again, and while I memorized some more than others, I still could not recall what that cartoon was that had that Coyote glaze.

At first glance it would be obvious that it would be one of the Rudy Larriva Road Runners since they had weird drawings to begin with, but it had to be one of Chuck's Road Runners because A. that's how I remember it and B. no Rudy Larriva was on home video at that time.  So I decided to compare and contrast two things: what was on VHS at that time and at the time of me watching Nick, what cartoons were airing.  Easier said than done.  The majority of the Road Runners always aired on Nick for whatever reason.  I also narrowed it down to two VHS compilations, both from the Authenic and Original line: The Scrapes of Wrath and The Road Runner and Coyote's Crash Course.

Something that I somewhat remembered was that on VHS it was the second cartoon on the tape.  So I went ahead with The Scrapes of Wrath.  Guided Muscle was the cartoon.  Great one...great gags, the end gag was memorable, but I thought maybe that was it.  And for a while, I did...I thought it was solved.  It would have to be the tar and feather gag when he was testing it.  Wile E gives a grinning smerk when he feels that it could be successful.  Mystery solved right?  Well......then I start having doubts.  First of all, it's not so simple trying to find a look that may have never happened.  Second, this gag happened much later in the cartoon.  I could have sworn what I saw was 2 or 3 gags into the cartoon.  So I went back looking through the cartoons.

At that point, I was about to call Uncle.  I came close one more time with Stop Look and Hasten, and he did indeed have weird eyes in that one, but something told me that wasn't it.  Sure I thought that when I was in high schoool watching that one, but something again still didn't seem right.  The cartoon showed up later on in the tape, and that one time I saw it on tape, I swore it just HAD to be the second cartoon.  As I went through them again, something else dawned on me, "Wait....wasn't there also a gag with roller skates?"  We move onto tape two, The Road Runner and Coyote's Crash Course.  I went into the second cartoon.  Now, I'm not 100% sure; I didn't have a THAT'S IT moment like I did with Wowzer the Dog.  However, too much evidence point to this cartoon......

Ready Set Zoom!!!!!  There was a look that the Coyote made a few gags in and later on in the cartoon, a plan DID involve roller skates.  Not only that but it was also one of the best gags in the cartoon where he unties himself from the contraption only to notice too late it would have gotten him across a couple of cliffs.  But what about that stare?  What was the gag?  Well, it was a typical face the Coyote would make, but I do remember him staying put for a little while.  Here, he is waiting to drop a ten thousand pound weight on the Road Runner.  But then, why is it I found that shot unique?  Was I just noticing his eyes were yellow?  Maybe.....but it just doesn't make sense.  Regardless, Ready Set Zoom is a great cartoon and has some unique moments even in a nerdy way (they use Merrie Melodies rings with the Looney Tunes logo for some reason).  So this must mean it's the earliest FOR SURE Road Runner I can recall, well not so fast.

As I was going through the possible cartoons, something hit me going through Whoa Be Gone.  Remember when I said you really couldn't narrow down what was the first cartoon I remember with the Coyote falling off a cliff?  Well I may have been lying all along.  You see, in the beginning, he falls down the same cliff multiple times.  So much so he had to make a trampoline just in case it happened again.....it didn't work.  When I checked when it aired on Nickelodeon, sure enough, it was during my time.  Could I have remembered this cartoon before Ready Set Zoom?  Who knows.......but regardless, the puzzle is starting to come together.

Ali Baba Bunny, Porky's Poulty Plant, Ready Set Zoom, and Whoa Be Gone.  They may have been typical Looney Tunes cartoons (save for Ali Baba Bunny), but they helped me get introduced to something truly to be treasured.  They were amongst the earliest memories of my childhood, but they were good memories.  And while not enough to make me a Looney Tunes fan just yet, it was still something I enjoyed briefly while watching Nickelodeon.  And I'm very thankful to have such great childhood memories that outweighed the bad ones.