Chaser on the Rocks (1965) User Reviews

Predictable and lacklustre, not the best of the Looney Tunes canon

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 26 May 2010]

Now there is some decent animation, some nice music and there manages to be a worthwhile gag when Coyote transforms dynamite into a glass soda using...green paint, a straw and a slice of lemon. Sadly that is the most original the cartoon is, all the other gags are very hit and miss either taking a while to set up or misfiring on impact. The pacing is off as well, some of Chaser on the Rocks is very slow, while the story is very routine and predictable not the first Looney Tunes to suffer from this problem but it is significantly a problem here. The characters aren't engaging either, Wile E.Coyote is alright but the Roadrunner feels as though he is there because he is just there. Overall, lacklustre, predictable and disappointing, for me it is actually one of the weaker Looney Tunes cartoons. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Not one of the best, but in a way enjoyable

[rbverhoef · 6/10 · 23 April 2004]

'Chaser on the Rocks' is definitely not one of the best Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote cartoons, but I was entertained enough, I think. Coyote keeps seeing mirages of oases, with Road Runner swimming in the water, but of course every time when he arrives at the fake oases something goes wrong. Especially falling down from a cliff is very popular.

This cartoon is very predictable. The charm of most Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote cartoons is the fact that the predictability makes it funny. Most of the time there is also at least one gag you don't expect. Here the predictable moments are not funny at all, although they gave me a smile sometimes, and the surprise gag doesn't really work. Like 'Boulder Wham!' from the same year, it is a little too much of the same formula.

Watered down formula

[Chip_douglas · 29 February 2004]

The idea of the Road Runner and Coyote dying of thirst certainly could have been used effectively, but in `Chaser on the rocks' it only leads to continuity problems and repetitiveness. Wile E. is so thirsty he starts seeing mirages in all the wrong places and when one of them turns out to be real he almost drowns in it, but remains thirsty all the same.

After building a whole bird bath, using an emergency fire hose (sticking out of a rocky mountain wall) and almost drowning for the second time, Wile E. is still dying of thirst. Perhaps there are great lapses of time between the various gags? They certainly take forever to set up and then most of them fail to deliver. Sometimes W.E. even falls down the (same) cliff for no apparent reason than just to end the scene.

On the whole a lackluster effort in the Road Runner series. Probably the most original thing is when Coyote transforms a stick of dynamite into a glass of soda using only a lick of green paint, a straw and a slice of lemon. Not even Bob Ross could do that.

3 out of 10

Larrivatus Garbagecus

[utgard14 · 3/10 · 7 November 2015]

Another stinking Rudy Larriva Road Runner & Coyote cartoon. Just look at that opening shot and tell me something isn't off with this right from the start. Wile E. Coyote is a giant compared to Road Runner. He's easily twice the bird's size. He also appears to be running at half-speed, yet two seconds into it he's winded! A typical lazy effort from Larriva, with no good gags and crappy animation. Not to mention the obtrusively loud sound effects, some of which don't even fit the actions on screen. At one point the Coyote paints a stick of TNT to look like a glass of lemonade. The sound effect used for the strokes of the paintbrush is a very loud slurping sound. Just terrible. I'm not even going to tell you what that dripping fire hose sound effect reminded me of! The worst part of the short is the maddeningly awful canned score, courtesy of Bill Lava. I would advise muting your TV immediately before it has a chance to settle in your brain, where it will lay eggs like a cockroach and you'll never be free of it. I cannot stress enough how much these Rudy Larriva shorts suck compared to the great Chuck Jones Road Runner cartoons.

After they apparently went batty, the loony directors of the Roadrunner series . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 17 April 2021]

. . . kept claiming that there were rules, dicta and guidelines for this film franchise, the Prime Directive of which was that Roadrunner could NEVER hurt the famished coyote. But what happens at the end of CHASER ON THE ROCKS? The dirty bird fires the mammal out of a cannon not once but TWICE, and the finale implies that these jarring assaults may continue indefinitely. So ignore what the demented old gents have to say on their Behind the Tunes DVD extras, because obviously they've lost it.

Personally like this

[rybread-23594 · 7/10 · 25 March 2022]

This is personally one of my favorite cartoons. I actually like the soundtrack. Sure, it's repitive, but makes up for it with catchy tracks, such as the title cars music, which is definitely my favorite instrumental by far.

EDIT: For some reason, one guy who reviewed got the idea that Wile E.'s using explosives, Boulders, and Acme products...to become his Swim Buddy, which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

This booze-fueled "Merrie Melodies" entry . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 23 August 2015]

. . . (if we can believe its title) reveals what a cruel sadist the Roadrunner actually is. CHASER ON THE ROCKS proves that Wile E. Coyote's main goal in life is to have Roadrunner as his Swim Buddy. When I went to Camp, everyone had to have a Swim Buddy. As I recall, this was referred to as "The Buddy System." It was drilled into us Campers that you NEVER should be in the water without your Swim Buddy, because that would be UNSAFE. Why should it be any different in the Desert, where sea horses have no names? Mr. Coyote's Desert is particularly treacherous, since its water mirages are so indistinguishable from the Real Thing, and because it's so scarcely populated, with a head count of only two. Not that there's much choice, but Roadrunner would make a particularly good Swim Buddy for Mr. Coyote, as this bird is a "Bobber," while CHASER clearly shows that Wile belongs in the "Sinker" category. However, instead of paying it forward, the vicious Roadrunner drowns Wile twice, lures him into four death plunges, and sees that he explodes five times in CHASER's brief seven minutes. Even if some of this terrible carnage is exaggerated, I think Roadrunner is a Big Meanie, and a Poor Role Model!

Coyote is Hungry and Thirsty

[nlathy-839-300677 · 8/10 · 5 June 2023]

Coyote suffers from hunger and thirst in this cartoon. I write this review to address the elephant in the room. No Coyote doesn't unleash an elephant as a road block to stop the Road Runner. What needs addressing is the need for these 1965 Road Runner cartoons. These were the only good cartoons Warner Brothers released by '65. This movie isn't vintage Warner Brothers. Still the short is funny. Best part involves a water hose. There's a mini running gag with Coyote counting. These creators will try about anything to get some laughs. And the effort is always appreciated. The final gag is the type of thing done better by Barnyard and Foghorn Leghorn. Still the joke works here, too.