02/09/2026
“Coyote vs ACME” (2026) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The film Warner Br- I mean ACME did not want you to see.
While I am not a die-hard Looney Tunes fan, I did used to watch their shorts and feature films on television before and after school as a child. As I got older and went to study animation, I began to watch, learn and appreciate how much of an impact they had within the animation industry. The last couple of Looney Tunes movies, like ‘Space Jam’, ‘Back in Action’ and ‘The Day That The Earth Blew Up’, while not groundbreaking movies they still gave me a fun entertaining time with some beautiful animation with famous characters. When I first heard about this movie back in 2020s, while I did find it disappointing for all the people that worked on it, I did not think this was a movie that could work. Now in 2026, after all the crowdfunding and words spread about it, I do find it very cool that this film is finally released . . . I did not think it was going to be good. But I wanted to give it a chance to see whether or not it was worth it.
. . AND I ACTUALLY ENJOYED THIS FILM!
This is a movie clearly made by people who clearly love the Looney Tunes more than WB does nowadays.
The premise is very very simple - its based on a funny idea of Wile E Coyote causing a lawsuit against ACME for all their malfunctioning products. But we also get a pretty entertaining story of a trial movie that has a hidden conspiracy involving animated characters. What this film got right was how the makers understood all the Looney Tunes characters and how they would react in certain scenarios and why they connect with us all these years. I think having the history behind this film getting cancelled and almost deleted actually makes it a whole lot funnier.
Having it centre around Wile E Coyote adds more to the message the film wants to say in terms of ‘never giving up, keep trying’, ‘raise your voice’ and ‘prove the doubters or higher up wrong’ (maybe that’s why WB tried to delete it haha). But whether or not you know about the film’s history, it does not matter because it could be interoperated as anything. Be it about attacking politics, physical medias, capitalists, corporations, hierarchy, discriminations, anything. There were literally a few twists and turns that I was not expecting them to go and it got me very emotional at times. It is very clever.
At the heart is Wile E Coyote, trying to get the roadrunner and uses the lawsuit to do so, and Will Forte as out human observer - a down on his luck lawyer who gets a big shot to make a difference not just to the cartoon community but also to his past failures. Wile E Coyote is still the same determined predator we remember from the cartoons and we are still routing for him to succeed in catching the roadrunner. And while Forte’s character is not the best written, the performance does add to the standard writing, that you do want to see him win this case. They do have their strengths and weaknesses, some of which they do use against each other, but they also come to see their similarities and respect each other. Which lead to just some good physical comedy but also to some crushing drama. You are generally routing for these two failed personals to succeed on their one goal. (BTW a nice referential send up to Chuck Jones’ analogy of the man pushing the boulder image).
All the other characters are fun too. John Cena is entertainingly one note. Lana Condor as the female support has a few charming moments. The rest of the human cast all play their roles very straight that it’s actually very believable. The Looney Tunes characters, of course, are all delightful in what they do; Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Granny, Tweety Pie, Porky Pig and more, all wonderfully performed by Eric Bauza, Candi Milo and even the legend Jim Cummings keeping the spirit and philosophies of all the characters alive!
On top of that, the film is funny. I cannot remember the last time I saw an animated . . . well… live action hybrid animated film where I was not only smiling all the way through but also laughing. Even the slapstick humour do not feel added-on, cliché or forced because it is these Looney Tunes characters interacting with the human world, bringing in their style of humour to the real world. The makers also found some cool ways to bring the cartoon tropes into such cool scenarios involving paint, a train, traps and signs. And speaking as an animation and illustration fan, all of them got me smiling. I was having a real blast.
But I am sad to say, while I am enjoying this movie, there is still ONE major issue: the animation.
I can acknowledge it is a personal preference of mine since I do not like this new cel shading animation style - trying to make 3D look like 2D. But it is still a big distraction. I know CG is cheeper and takes less time but when you are trying to have an animation style not just act but look like the hand drawn character, it does not work.
I can understand having Wile E Coyote being mostly 3d animated since he is the main character and there are a few times in which the animation does capture the style the Looney Tunes had in terms of composition, structure and slapstick. But when you have other characters in the background who are beautifully hand-drawn animated, I do not understand why they could not do the same for the other characters?
When you see Bugs Bunny and Pokey Pig appear, they are beautifully animated and visually strikingly stunning to the eye. But most characters like Tweety Pie, Elmer Fudd, Granny and Foghorn Leghorn look weird that it distracts us from what is happening in the scene.
I did not mind the realistic 3D Animation in the ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ film as it was only used in the basketball action climax of the film and they at least took the effect to make the characters look 3-dimensional with the realistic fur textures and the shadows. On top of that, we still had a good majority of the film with actual hand drawn animation that matched the original cartoon style. But here, I think the film would have hit much much harder if certain scenes or certain characters were actually drawn with the tight facial expressions, whole squash-and-stretch technique or the sharp pencil edges that ironically add a lot more dimension and physical effect which Looney Tunes is really good at doing.
Sometimes it works like some of the slapstick and action scenes (which involve a train, paint and catapults) and they do make me laugh, but when it comes to the slower conversational or emotional scenes, the cel shading effect makes the animated characters look more fake as if they were A.I. generated.
But with all that said, there are so many things in this movie that really work. Even the small things that might be distracting or annoying like a few edits or a cliche story trope like a liar reveal, they do not ruin the movie, drag some things with a bad joke or a story trope and they do add things on top of them that feel relevant to these famous cartoon characters.
In conclusion, much like the original cartoons themselves, ‘Coyote VS ACME’ is a perfect example of the ‘man pushing the boulder’ analogy - constantly pushing its way up the hill and never giving up to reach his goal. It is brilliantly written. The story’s message about perseverance and tenacious that the Roadrunner cartoons are well known for is cleverly woven into the film’s plot. The Looney Tunes characters are delightful to see on the big screen. And while the human characters are at time snot the best written, the actors do bring a lot to what could have easily been bland or forgettable human counterparts we see in a lot of these live action hybrid animation movies. It has a lot of colourful quick slapstick humour, quit witted jokes and some cool action sequences that the Looney Tunes are famous for.
This is by far the best Looney Tunes movie!
The things that really work by far outweigh the things that do not work. The only major issue it has is the 3D animation style. I am sorry but that is the one big thing that brings this movie down a little for me. But if it was the best way they could get it done with all the problems they have gone through, fine. I just wish they kept the hand drawn animation style all the way through. This must have been a movie that has gone through production hell and it clearly shows but it plays into the film's theme so much more.
I still cannot believe we have gotten this movie to be finally released and I am so glad I saw it. I hope more people get to see this in cinemas (or at least have the cinemas have more showings of the film). It should be seen on the big screens. Who knows? Maybe this could get other studios to reconsider a few choices they make. And maybe it can inspire other studios to get their cancelled projects to be fully realised in the future.
Keep spreading the word! That’s All Folks!
