Highs, and lows.
"Hot-Rod and Reel!" is a 1959 cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
After the duo's latest chase ends with Wile E. Coyote falling into a river (and using the surroundings as a thinking spot), the lanky canid resorts to new abortive schemes, like roller skates, an explosive camera, a trampoline, a crossbow with dynamite, a jet-powered pogo stick, a fake railroad crossing, a lengthy wooden ramp like the one seen in "Zoom and Bored", and finally, a jet-powered unicycle.
Tropes:
- Acme Products: A pogo stick and a unicycle, both of which are jet-powered, do no help to the Coyote whatsoever and send him falling off a cliff.
- Artifact Title: Though he's used fishing gear before and will again, there is no Rod And Reel Repurposed in this cartoon.
- Binomium ridiculus:
- COYOTE (famishius-famishius)
- ROAD RUNNER (super-sonicus-tastius)
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress:
- Wile E. gets screwed over by gravity twice during his attempt to cross an outcropping. He manages to land in soft water, though.
- When Wile E. sees that the Road Runner is about to trip him on his roller skates, he leaps up just in time and taunts the bird, only to inadvertently plummet off a cliff.
- The ACME Jet-Propelled Pogo Stick and Unicycle, as said earlier, both cause Wile E. to fall off a cliff.
- Hope Spot: The Road Runner sticks out a leg in the attempt to trip the Coyote. But the Coyote takes a flying leap and shoots him a raspberry, paying no nevermind to the cliff he's about to sail over.
- Impact Silhouette: Wile E. leaves one in a dust cloud left by the Road Runner before the scene where he tries to cross an outcropping.
- Railroad Tracks of Doom: Wile E. sets up a fake railroad crossing (much like in 1952's "Beep, Beep") and plays a record of hi-fi railroad crossing sounds. The Road Runner actually falls for it, but when Wile E. jumps onto the tracks to snatch him, a real train comes out of nowhere and runs him over.
- Rollerblade Good: Wile E.'s first plan is to slide down a plateau with roller skates and catch up to the Road Runner. When the bird tries to trip him, Wile E. manages to jump and taunts his prey with a raspberry, only to fall off a cliff. Once we see the aftermath of his fall, a set of wheels falls off from one of his skates and rolls away.
- Saved by the Platform Below: Subverted. When Wile E. tries to cross the outcropping where the Road Runner passed by, it breaks off and falls, taking the Coyote with it... only to land safely on a branch and a plateau. However, when Wile E. steps on the plateau, it breaks off as well and falls into a river with the Coyote on it.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Wile E. shows no signs of difficulty breathing underwater once he lands in a river, thinking up his next scheme.
- The End: In the wake of the Coyote's landing at the end of the cartoon, we see the phrase over the impact dust.
- Weaponized Camera: Wile E. sets up an explosive camera (a camera with a rifle through it) in order to fool the Road Runner into getting his picture taken. However, the lens cap is still attached, so the camera backfires and blows up on the Coyote. The barrel is still smoking when he goes to remove that cap.
- What a Drag: The Coyote is having a few problems with his unicycle at the start.
