Anyone who has ever seen a Looney Tunes is required by law to watch this film in a theater. Coyote opens Aug. 28; buy your tickets now.

The live action/animated hybrid is laugh-out loud funny from stem to stern—a distance which, at 101 minutes, only barely violated my rule that no movie needs to be more than 90 minutes long. We’re not talking polite giggles here; full-scale belly laughs. Roger Rabbit’s in danger of having his crown knocked off.

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Coyote Vs. Acme is rated PG for some language (huh?) and cartoon violence (double huh?). It was fine for my 7-year-old grandson who already knew most of the characters. Daffy and Bugs make delightful cameos, as do many other Warner Brothers Cartoon favorites.

It lives up to its title, based on a short story of the same name in The New Yorker. Wile E. sues Acme for injuries caused by the faulty equipment it sold him over the years. He presents himself with a business card that comes straight out of one of the cartoons: “Wile E. Coyote. Have Genius, Will Travel.”

For a film named after a legal case, Coyote Vs. Acme spends precious little time in the courtroom, but those scenes elicit hardy laughter. 

Does Wile E. win? No spoilers. But anyone not obsessed with Roadrunner and Coyote films might miss one very subtle gag. Wile E.’s attorney heads up the billboard law firm Avery, Jones and Maltese—the names of the creators of the Roadrunner cartoons.

It was necessary for the film to have a plot, so it has one. Somewhat confusing, it serves the purpose of holding the gags[1] together.

Will Forte and John Cena are the name players in a talented cast. Cena’s turn as Buddy Crane, the Acme Corporation’s lawyer, is a performance for the ages; Will Forte kills it as Wile E.’s attorney. Cenna epitomizes sleazy power (with a face/smirk to match); Forte, hapless incompetence. The supporting players know how to perform a stereotype. What with Mel Blanc being dead, Eric Bauza provides most of the cartoon voices.

My grandson M and I started a countdown calendar for the Aug. 28 release date when it was announced. Imagine our surprise when there were preview showings on Aug. 21. We were seated for the first show.

Unless you were obsessed with the film, you may not know the checkered path it followed to the screen. When I first told M about it, we both mourned the fact that it seemed unlikely every to be shown, or even streamed. If not for the courage of the fearless cast and creators, the Coyote would be lost. Instead, he was found. So go enjoy him for yourself.

It’s a can’t-miss film spectacular. And you will finally see something you never saw on a Saturday morning; the characters walking away from you.

Footnote
[1] A gag is a short visual joke. Every time Wile E. falls off a cliff, the fall is different and each fall is a gag.