Soup or Sonic
| Soup or Sonic | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner) series | |
 Now that I've got the Road Runner...what do I do with him? | |
| Directed by |
Chuck Jones Co-director: Phil Monroe |
| Produced by | Chuck Jones |
| Story by | Chuck Jones |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Dean Elliot |
| Animation by |
Master: Phil Monroe Irv Anderson Ken Champin Tom Ray Lloyd Vaughan Virgil Ross Manny Perez Dick Thompson |
| Studio | Chuck Jones Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 21, 1980 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 9 minutes 11 seconds |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Freeze Frame |
| Followed by | Chariots of Fur |
Soup or Sonic is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It was first aired on May 21, 1980 as a part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over and was one of four new cartoons released. This is the only canonical cartoon in which Wile E. Coyote catches the Road Runner without him escaping afterward.[1]
"Soup or Sonic" was directed by Chuck Jones and Phil Monroe. The title is an oronym, 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 ducking behind a corner and leaving a cloud of dust for the Coyote 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 from his 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 whirs 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.
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, however, 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 a fourth time, and is then smashed by the safe, leaving the Coyote's torso thin and flat.
4. The second attempt at the rocket is foiled when the rocket falls out of its aim towards the Road Runner and 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 (from the Freleng Manufacturing Co.) 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; unfortunately for him, his tail is on fire. Only when he passes the horizon does he yelp in pain.
6. On his third attempt with the rocket, after nailing the support brace to ensure the rocket stays straight this time, 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. pokes his foot through the dust and consequently 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 and sits down on a rock, laughing at his "genius". 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, as one might expect, is very unhappy about being stuck on the paper and thus wraps the Coyote with 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, and after it takes off he struggles briefly to get control, then puts out the fire on his tail. Unfortunately, the rocket is off-target, and it bores through the cliff under the Road Runner, who allows the Coyote to be humiliated privately. The rocket finally explodes, blackening the Coyote and throwing him back into the air before he falls for the seventh time.
9. A new plan is formulated, where Wile E. attempts to blow up the Road Runner by pelting explosive tennis balls at him. The first ball seamlessly blows up a cactus with no apparent issues and the Coyote is eager to try them out. As luck would have it, the Road Runner is heard and Wile E. is quick to lob another ball at him, but just misses, and the ball then drops onto the arm of a cactus, which throws it directly back to its owner. A little agitated, the Coyote returns the ball and this time it is caught by power lines and slung back out of Wile E.'s reach. The ball pops directly back into its original slot in the box of balls as Wile E. arrives on the scene and takes stock. Sensing the coming explosions, Wile E. holds up a pair of signs: "For Sale One used Tennis Racket" and "CHEAP!" before (as the screen puts it) a "GIGANTIC EXPLOSION!" occurs.
10. The whole cartoon, however, is best known for its ending gag. Wile E. Coyote 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 agree to 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 rushes back to finally catch the Road Runner. The Coyote is ecstatic, until he stares more closely at the bird's huge legs, and looks up to see he is massively outgunned. The Road Runner gives an amplified "Beep-Beep", causing Wile E. to drop his utensils in shock. 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.
That's all Folks!
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.