Coyote vs ACME

It’s possible that the marketing and PR people at Warner Brothers are absolute geniuses. In a calculated effort to play the long game, they may have intentionally shelved this “little guy vs huge corporation” underdog tale to foment a viral campaign; a narrative that mirrors the story of Wile E. Coyote, recasting him from a clown to a hero. Then they sell the movie to some random company (Ketchup Entertainment), make them shoulder the bulk of the marketing expenses, and sell the gazillions of Looney Tunes merch keeping the profits for themselves. Truly an ACME-worthy scheme. But the only issue is: transforming Mr. Coyote into the protagonist means the Roadrunner is the villain, and that doesn’t sound right. To justify this, part of the story must include the Roadrunner “missing” the Coyote and enjoying being chased, which is the only teeny, tiny disingenuous part of what is otherwise a really satisfying “ret-con” of Mr. Coyote’s saga. He is the hero for never giving up, despite the universe’s obvious bias against him. It’s not his fault. He’s not inept. It’s Big Anvil that’s the problem. Never give up, little guy. The corporations will fall someday, like that corner of the cliff that hovers in the air while the rest of the mountain collapses behind it.