Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers.
For generations, the pain and suffering of one cartoon desert mammal has entertained millions. Scheme after scheme, dehydrated boulder after dehydrated boulder, Looney Tunes’ Wile E. Coyote has never quite caught up to Road Runner. In their latest cinematic appearance, “Coyote vs. Acme,” Wile E. Coyote cooks up a plot so devious and so outrageous that Congress becomes involved.
The movie is based on the 1990 New Yorker article “Coyote v. Acme,” in which The Acme Corporation, which has a monopoly on cartoon-oriented devices such as rocket boots and large boxes of TNT, finally has competition after Wile E. Coyote sues them for damages involving every product they produce, claiming that these defects have interfered with the practice of Mr. Coyote’s business. Coyote’s plan is to trap the elusive Road Runner at the witness stand to finally catch him.
The cartoon legal comedy heats up when the Arizona small claims court catches national attention and uncovers a horrifying conspiracy. But the story of this film’s production is more interesting than the plot of the movie itself.
In 2023, Warner Bros. shelved “Coyote vs. Acme” for a tax write-off after fully producing the film. When a distributor “shelves” a film, they are not allowed to release it anywhere. It was essentially dead in the water. It was only after months of public backlash that Warner Bros. decided to pursue buyers who could release the film instead of them. Three years later, Ketchup Entertainment, which previously had distributed another Looney Tunes film, “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” bought the distribution rights and released it in 2026.
“Coyote vs. Acme” is just the latest instance of Warner Bros. shelving a fully produced project. In 2022, even before post-production was complete, “Batgirl,” which was to be included in the now-defunct DC Extended Universe, was shelved for cost-cutting measures. This was an unprecedented and unexpectedly cruel effect of the new streaming landscape that will no doubt become more common.
The film opens on the classic Warner Bros. animation logo, but with a caveat reading, “a subsidiary of the Acme Corporation.” Ironically, Warner Bros. has become the epitome of what the film warns against. Acme has a monopoly over a very large industry. In the film’s world, both humans and cartoons coexist. Cartoons’ physiology is different from that of humans, however, and most cartoons’ livelihoods depend on cartoonish chases and incidents which would otherwise seriously injure or kill humans. Thus, the Acme Corporation dictates how all of them live their lives.
In the process of suing Acme, Mr. Coyote’s lawyer Kevin, played by Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte, uncovers a plot to test and deliberately inflict suffering on cartoons to make the human-oriented Acme-produced products safer for humans. Acme has no regard for the lives of cartoons and even imprisons them for product testing. Cartoons that were fortunately spared from this fate often sustained other damages either mentally or physically. These cases are swept under the rug in the name of progress.
Acme is a symbolic stand-in for all major corporations that operate under the milquetoast value of progress. They hope no one will ask who these supposed benefits help and silence those who are negatively affected. Acme is a company, just like Amazon or Tesla. To them, progress means cheaper ways to produce a good or service at the same price. Ethics are not important if your test subjects aren’t viewed as people. Cartoons, who are marginalized in the film’s world and generally viewed as subhuman, even if they occupy many of the same neighborhoods and jobs that humans do.
The brilliance of the screenplay shines through in a pivotal courtroom scene near the end of the film. Foghorn Leghorn is the cartoon CEO of Acme. He views his financial success as a clear indicator that he is more human than cartoon and thus disregards any concerns for the safety and wellbeing of his cartoon test subjects. Before Congress, he testifies that his corporation knowingly inflicted suffering on countless cartoons because no one cares about them. Congress predictably dismisses the case citing the presence of only one plaintiff, but not before the Road Runner emotionally testifies that he was a witness to Coyote’s suffering.
The end of the movie sees thousands of cartoons sue Acme for similar charges, becoming very hard for the government to ignore. Even though the congressional hearing didn’t result in any punishment for Acme, the film shows how collective action is the most effective way to confront these megacorporations. Somehow, a Looney Tunes movie that beat the odds is the vehicle to tell us this.
Grade: B-