Best Rudy Larriva Roadrunner

[angilbas]

Ten of the "Larriva Eleven" titles are available to vote on.

-Tony

[laugh4me]

You know, it's really hard for me to say "Best Rudy Larriva Roadrunner".
It isn't a question of being tongue tied, just that the it doesn't feel like something someone *should* say...

[lislebartman]

I'd participate in this poll, but I personally don't think there is a best Rudy Larriva-directed Roadrunner cartoon. At least not on this planet!

[Geezil]

Originally posted by angilbas
Ten of the "Larriva Eleven" titles are available to vote on.

-Tony

Why not just call it "Poll: Best Alan Smithee Roadrunner"? (Apologies to any movie industry professionals reading this...)

[J Lee]

Now, now, if you took the best gags from all 11 of Rudy's cartoons you could come up with one so-so Road Runner short.

The drag racer gag in "Tired and Feathered" actually would have been funny even in a Chuck Jones RR if the budget for full animation and non-canned music had been there, and there are a few other gags that are OK, but are hurt by the limited budgets. And the ending with the train in "Clippety Clobbered" (in case anyone wants to know what Cartoon No. 11 was) didn't suck, either.

[barnyarddawg]

I don't know the name of it, but I like the one that ends with the Coyote getting blown into space and falling all the way back down to earth. That is a nice shot, and it would have been a cool way to end the series if it was the last one . Was it the last one

[PorkyandDaffy]

I can't pick out a BEST Larriva RR&C monstrosity...er, uh..cartoon (cause in my opinion, they're all weak), but for the LEAST WORST, I'll say BOULDER WHAM!. There's not anything in particular I like about it, but I pick it over the others probably because I've seen it a lot of times.

[sun]

Originally posted by lislebartman
I'd participate in this poll, but I personally don't think there is a best Rudy Larriva-directed Roadrunner cartoon. At least not on this planet!

Rudy Larriva changed the modus opporundi of the the chase in the Road Runner cartoons. He had less money to work with, no orchestra, and cheap methodology... Some might be ok, but most are not funny. I believe that lislebartman is right. Being ok, does not mean there are any that are best....

[angilbas]

Originally posted by barnyarddawg
I don't know the name of it, but I like the one that ends with the Coyote getting blown into space and falling all the way back down to earth. That is a nice shot, and it would have been a cool way to end the series if it was the last one . Was it the last one

You're thinking of "Highway Runnery." But it wasn't the last of the series--that title goes to "Chariots of Fur" (1994).

-Tony

[Cartoon King]

Personally, I kind of like these cartoons, but then I've never met a Looney Tune I didn't like. (Although Hobby Horse Laffs pushes the envelope). I chose The Solid Tin Coyote because off-hand that's the only cartoon I can actually remember any of. All the rest seem to run together in my mind.

[sun]

Everyone has their own tastes, and perhaps I was too hard on old Rudy...He did provide us with a few more years of toons, and some aren't bad.. This board is here to share ideas, and maybe I will take another look at them....After all, it was not his decision to cheapen them, he worked with what he had. I'll give thos a second look....the previous post by the rabbit, has merit.

[BugsandTweety]

If I were to rank them, it would be in this order:

"Out And Out Rout" (lots of inventive Coyote predicaments)
"The Solid Tin Coyote" (a great idea, well-realized)
"Clippety Clobbered" (another great idea, with some clever inventions)
"Tired And Feathered" (love the log scene, and the bird sanctuary scene has some of the best Lava RR music)
"Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner" (different musical style and a couple of interesting ploys)
"Highway Runnery" (overplayed on CBS but a cartoon very much in the Jones mold)
"Boulder-Wham!" (interesting premise, if some of the gags aren't very inspired- we've seen hypnotism and trampolines before)
"Shot And Bothered" (a few interesting gags, though the animation lets them down, and the Coyote looks a tad too pathetic during some of his failures)
"Hairied and Hurried" (not very inspired, a lot of reused gags)

And well below the rest, "Just Plane Beep" and "Chaser On The Rocks". These 2 were left off the CBS roster for quite awhile, and when they finally turned up, they looked very lame. The biplane is just too bizarre and "Chaser" hot weather gag got tired very fast.

[sun]

Originally posted by BugsandTweety
If I were to rank them, it would be in this order:

"Out And Out Rout" (lots of inventive Coyote predicaments)
"The Solid Tin Coyote" (a great idea, well-realized)
"Clippety Clobbered" (another great idea, with some clever inventions)
"Tired And Feathered" (love the log scene, and the bird sanctuary scene has some of the best Lava RR music)
"Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner" (different musical style and a couple of interesting ploys)
"Highway Runnery" (overplayed on CBS but a cartoon very much in the Jones mold)
"Boulder-Wham!" (interesting premise, if some of the gags aren't very inspired- we've seen hypnotism and trampolines before)
"Shot And Bothered" (a few interesting gags, though the animation lets them down, and the Coyote looks a tad too pathetic during some of his failures)
"Hairied and Hurried" (not very inspired, a lot of reused gags)
Welcome to the board, I see you are new, and got some very good ideas...Here will meet some nice people, and learn, and help us learn more about toons...Best of luck
And well below the rest, "Just Plane Beep" and "Chaser On The Rocks". These 2 were left off the CBS roster for quite awhile, and when they finally turned up, they looked very lame. The biplane is just too bizarre and "Chaser" hot weather gag got tired very fast.

[angilbas]

Here are my assessments of the Larriva RRs, listed in order of preference.

"Boulder Wham!" has a good story with some genuinely suspenseful and touching moments, backed by memorable Coyote poses (one or two of which reappeared in publicity art around 1980). Having our hero hold a "That's All, Folks" sign at the end was a kind gesture to fans, because Warner's had abandoned its traditional cartoon sign-off a year earlier.

"Highway Runnery" is energetic, with a weirdly funny egg-hatching gag followed by a distinctively crafted Coyote fall ( with exceptionally good use of the iris-out).

"Out and Out Rout" is justly famous for the dragster which is built from junk and really works. Also, the Coyote makes like the speedy Roman messenger god Mercury, and tries to use a silently menacing falcon.

"Tired and Feathered" is notable for a log roll and an elaborate climax involving a phony bird sanctuary. The second Larriva RR and the first to be animated by Warner's veterans Virgil Ross and Bob Bransford, both of whom would stay with Larriva at least into 1967.

"Run, Run Sweet Roadrunner," the first Larriva RR, was obviously animated by people who weren't familiar with the characters. The last two gags are slow but likeably elaborate.

"Shot and Bothered" isn't much of a laugh-maker, but has some nice animation of the bird racing through a tunnel.

"Clippety Clobbered" is mostly boring. However, the ending is cleverly animated.

"Hairied and Hurried" has an interesting bit in which the Coyote uses a snow machine; otherwise it never rises above routine.

"The Solid Tin Coyote" may be the most popular film in this poll so far, but it has never impressed me.

"Chaser on the Rocks" has its own weird atmosphere, as the thirsty Coyote hallucinates at times. Unfortunately, there's not a single funny moment.

"Just Plane Beep" is just plain boring. Enough said.

-Tony

[BugsandTweety]

Part of the reason why I like "The Solid Tin
Coyote" and "Clippety Clobbered" is that Wile E. invents his own gadgets, a natural response to the constant failure of ACME's products. And the way the Coyote responds to his robot's ineptitude
and the failure of his invisible painted brick wall. Classic.

The gags in "Hairied And Hurried" that are reused.
Snow-making machine (reminiscent of a similar apparatus in "Zoom At The Top"). Coyote in middle of tornado (from "Whoa Be-Gone!"). Dynamite on the doo-dad (from "Gee Whiz-z-z-z!"). Wall that springs up from road (from "Stop! Look! And Hasten!"). And what few original ploys (bomb on kite, skydiving) there are just aren't very interesting.

[lislebartman]

Personally, I'd rather watch McKimson's "Rushing Roulette" & "Sugar & Spies" than any of the other non-Jones Roadrunners. At least they had some good gags and decent animation.

[J Lee]

One of the key things about Jones' Road Runner series was each individual cartoon never had a plot except for the Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner. Larriva tossed that out the window in two of the 11 cartoons, "The Solid Tin Coyote" and "Chaser on the Rocks."

"Sugar and Spies" suffers from the same problem, but does have slightly better animation and gags. I think McKimson let the Larriva cartoons influence him a little on that, in contrast to "Highway Runnery," which only had the Jones legacy to work with and is by far the best of the D-FE produced Road Runner cartoons, since only the handcar gag on the railroad tracks strays from Jones and Maltese's original vision of the series.

[BugsandTweety]

>"Sugar and Spies" suffers from the same problem, but does have slightly better animation and gags. I think McKimson let the Larriva cartoons influence him a little on that, in contrast to "Highway Runnery," which only had the Jones legacy to work with and is by far the best of the D-FE produced Road Runner cartoons, since only the
handcar gag on the railroad tracks strays from Jones and Maltese's original vision of the series.<

Don't you mean "Rushing Roulette"?

[J Lee]

Yes, as a matter of fact I did. Thanks for the correction.

[angilbas]

Originally posted by BugsandTweety
The gags in "Hairied And Hurried" that are reused.
Snow-making machine (reminiscent of a similar apparatus in "Zoom At The Top"). Coyote in middle of tornado (from "Whoa Be-Gone!"). Dynamite on the doo-dad (from "Gee Whiz-z-z-z!"). Wall that springs up from road (from "Stop! Look! And Hasten!").

Then there's the bird-in-truck ending, similar to what we see in "Going! Going! Gosh!" except for the new hood ornament.

-Tony