Edgar Allan Pooh . . . just as their grandparents swore by a Timex "watch" (tag-line: "It takes a licking, and keeps on ticking") as these wrist-worn time-tracking devices--back in Fashion today among the UltraRich, but yet to appear during this Century of American Decline in the zip codes of working people--once served as the link between the gold pocket watches in vogue during the 1800s and our current multi-tasking cell phones. Both Energizer and Timex have capitalized upon Warner Bros.' characterization of Wile E. Coyote. For example, in the Looney Tunes animated short ZIPPING ALONG, Mr. Coyote gets raced over nine times by his meal ticket\nemesis, the roadrunner. Wile also gets Smushed by extremely heavy objects thrice, severely mouse-trapped like the JACKASS guy, run over by a truck, sent into four Death Plunges, blown up on five occasions, and shot roughly 63 times (not counting an incident of being shot himself from a cannon). Since this cartoon dates back to the 1900s, I have a hunch that Mr. Coyote padded off to his bed (after a hard day on the set) wearing Energizer Bunny Slippers, as well as a tick-tick-ticking Timex Watch.

Michael_Elliott Zipping Along (1953) *** (out of 4) The fourth Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner series has four way roads, guns, bombs, bird seed, cutting the strings on a bridge and more TNT as the dumb one keeps trying to catch his dinner. Even early on in the series we're starting to get quite a few repeat jokes and this would certainly continue throughout the series but you can help but be entertained by Wile's effort to get something to eat. The joy of watching him try and try harder only to fail is the real key to this series since the Road Runner offers very little outside his classic "Beep Beep". The highlight of the film has to be the free bird seed offer.

Lee Eisenberg More of Wile E. Coyote - aka Road-Runnerus Digestus - trying to get Road Runner - aka Velocitus Tremendus - and always ending up getting himself. Probably the best gag here is the hypnotism trick; it's almost hypnotic to watch (of course, in this sense it won't lead you to do what Wile E. ends up doing!).So, maybe "Zipping Along" doesn't really add anything new to the cinematic landscape, but it's always great to see what happens to WEC. It just goes to show that the more you try to harm others, the more you get harmed.And what was with that train at the beginning?

Robert Reynolds The life of a predator isn't what it's cracked up to be! He must be up to his eyeballs in debt to Acme (or has a sizable source of funds), his medical bills equally large and for what? A singular lack of success in catching one bird! I say give up, get a pizza and take up stamp collecting. Great fun and worth watching. Recommended.