Coyote vs. Acme: Lovingly Looney, Unhinged Heart

Here we are!

Whether you posted online (and totally called what the marketing strategy would be), contacted companies, watched and promoted other new Looney Tunes movies and media, both new and retro, packed Comic-Con’s biggest hall, watched and shared the first and/or final trailer, or some combination thereof… we all got to the light at the end of the painted tunnel… that’s actually a train called Coyote vs. ACME (2026).

… Okay, my metaphor derailed there (pun intended), but you get it. If you smash the Looney Tunes with the ACME anvil of cancellation, they’ll just turn into an accordion and keep walking (a very specific Looney Tunes gag I always love… and was delighted to see is in this movie!).

As a reviewer, I have to set aside my empathy, compassion, and excitement for the creatives who created Coyote vs. ACME (already an arduous process combining animation and live action and a roller coaster from “Streaming exclusive,” to “Just kidding! Big screen tentpole,” to “Canceled,” to “Just kidding! Maybe not canceled…”) and went through a three-year battle to get it to audiences. I have to set aside my frankly absurd number of Daffy Duck shirts signifying my lifelong Looney Tunes fandom. I have to set aside my love of strange, specific stories that counterintuitively resonate deeply and universally… and deliver you an honest review.

Coyote vs. ACME is catastrophically clever, delightfully deranged, brilliantly bonkers, and lovingly looney with unhinged heart.

It’s so good, you’ll want to smack yourself in the head with a cartoon mallet, giving your head a huge lump and amnesia, so you can watch it again like it’s the first time. (For legal purposes, unless you’re a cartoon, please don’t do that.)

Coyote vs. ACME posits itself as a legal thriller comedy and grows into a mystery with heart. The difficulty in writing a review about a mystery is that, when it’s good, if you say specifically why it’s good, you’ll ruin the experience for everyone. The writing in Samy Burch’s screenplay, from the dialogue to the visual storytelling, is so consistently sharp, it should come with a “Warning: Sharp Objects” label. It’s as smart as the “Genius” Coyote believes himself to be. References abound, of course, but they’re always employed in a way that those unfamiliar will either understand the context or not need it.

I refuse to give away the best jokes, many of which are also integral to the plot, so I’ll sprinkle some of my super specific non-spoiler favorites. Porky Pig starting one word and stuttering his way into another is here and it’s smartly used. A character saying a very specific phrase that is then repeated verbatim by someone else. Onscreen text that tells additional jokes and additional story. Shadows doing something completely different from their hosts. “Squash & Stretch.” “It’s my ACME day.” So-called “throwaway” dialogue that’s funny on its own, but extra funny if, for example, you’re a lifelong Looney Tunes fan. There’s so much comedy, your laughter could break the sound barrier (read that again after you see the movie).

Yet amongst the comedy, it never loses its emotional core. The writing shifts from jaded and cruel, to earnest and heartfelt, and back again without losing either element. So many people remember the Looney Tunes shorts for their slapstick, they sometimes forget the clever dialogue we still quote. Coyote vs. ACME is endlessly quotable. (One specific line made someone laugh and say aloud, “I’m gonna use that later.”) Every character is funny in their own unique way.

Speaking of, the performances are top notch. These are all comedic characters, and they’re all believable. Dottie Jones (Martha Kelly) is a deadpan delight. Bill Pelicanos (P.J. Byrne)’s superior, yet bootlicking toady is fun to watch as he alternates between the two. He both gels and clashes well with the head of ACME’s legal department, Buddy Crane (John Cena). Crane has a lot of long-winded, verbose, sometimes rapid-fire dialogue that would twist any tongue, and he delivers it with the smoothness and confidence of… well, a corporate lawyer. Crane also gets an interesting dimension when, as literally and figuratively imposing as he is, he finds himself shrinking before someone even more imposing than he is. The casual, yet easily-frustrated Sal Maltese (Tone Bell) and the self-described “no-nonsense, no silly stuff” Judge Troppogrosso (Luis Guzmán) forced to have a cartoon in his courtroom are both very funny. The persistent courtroom stenographer and the recurring condescending, yet kiss-up newscaster are very memorable. Kevin Avery (Will Forte), while comedic with his easy caving and his bitterness from being beaten down by the world, isn’t fully hardened yet: you can still sense his heart even at the start, as he gives well-meaning, but woefully awful advice to his niece. His niece, Paige Avery (Lana Condor) is just as funny on the other side of the spectrum: her eager earnestness and enthusiasm, combined with her intelligence that matches her uncle’s, is so much fun. Both Averys have emotional journeys that both the writing and performances let develop naturally over the course of the film.

The live action actors are often interacting with animated characters who weren’t there on set. (Coyote’s a big star and his time is expensive: he can’t show up to set.) Production used puppetry and other techniques to give the live action stars context for their cartoon counterparts. I never once felt like the animated characters or props weren’t actually there. The live action actors, props, settings, and effects fully interact with the animation. The animated actors, props, settings, and effects fully interact with the live action. None of it feels out of place. The direction from Dave Green weaves the two together into a single, coherent world.

Speaking of actors, which Looney Tunes characters are in this film? I can’t even list them all. For someone like me who’s both a horror and Looney Tunes appreciator, one specific character who’s a deep cut and hasn’t been officially revealed in marketing is a risky, yet clever inclusion that pays off big time. Voice performances by Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, and Jim Cummings bring all of these cartoon characters to looney life… except Wile E. He stays his silent self. Both well-known and obscure characters have roles that range from significant to memorable pop-up appearances or references. Even a non-Looney Tunes character, Droopy, gets a fun moment. (Droopy’s from MGM, though he was, like many Looney Tunes characters, created by Tex Avery.)

To my personal joy, Daffy Duck is used delightfully well, being the duck we know, but now cranked up to an even loonier level (“looney” in… many senses of the word), and given the featured spotlight he deserves.

In a film like this, the production design and animators have to work together to create the world, characters, and story. ACME’s offices and some of their more high-end products are stark, too-clean white, bold red, and gaudy gold. The ACME logo featuring an anvil in the “A” is on everything, from the cartoon products we expect to see it on to computers, cell phones, microphones, and more, making it more than just a running gag: you feel just how far-reaching, ubiquitous, and inescapable the ACME corporation is. The cinematography throughout encompasses and supports both the animation and live action without being static: the camera moves with the emotion and action as it would for any effective film. The costuming for Will Forte (including fun graphic T-shirts) and Lana Condor (showing her educational background) and the, shall we say, hairstyling for P.J. Byrne added extra fun.

Combining live action and animation requires extensive planning: for the live action crew, the animators, the actors, and basic safety. All that planning would logically lead to a very safe-feeling, predictable result. And yet, as many will attest, extensive planning is what allows chaos to ensue and to truly shine. The specific choices of what is animated and what is live action would be an article all their own. I don’t have time for that right now as I tell you all to see this movie on the big screen to take it all in. But when you do get to that big screen, you won’t be able to predict what will bend, twist, leave a specifically-shaped impact hole, or blow up spectacularly next. Poor Kevin Avery’s going to have a heck of a car bill. Best of all, each and every one of these choices serves the story. Even the aspect ratio isn’t safe!

Steven Price’s score is an unhinged highlight: a maniacal mix of tradition (Looney Tunes setting visual gags to music, including classical music), new (a more modern rap I won’t spoil), and a few strategically-placed wrenches in the works to grab your attention (what the singers are singing… my goodness, what the singers are singing…). The score’s understated to underscore key moments when it needs to be, and it’s as anarchic and scenery-chewing as the onscreen action when it needs to be.

Coyote vs. ACME is a film with a ton of weight hanging just above its head. Cast and crew for whom this was their first break. Cast and crew for whom this was an opportunity to showcase a new side of their talent. The Looney Tunes, a longstanding showbiz underdog that managed to break through into franchise territory, but has slipped below mainstream visibility in recent years. It uses genres and mediums often dismissed as “lesser”: it’s a live action/animation hybrid comedy that’s both jaded and earnest. (As someone who loves and has experience in horror, comedy, musicals, and any combination thereof, I feel the pain of everyone so excited about this movie, only to have people drop an anvil on their excitement by dismissing it out of hand.) A film that fought so hard for release, people expect it to be a masterpiece so saving it was “worth it.” Plenty of mediocre or even bad movies get released, some even with huge marketing and merchandising blitzes. No one should have to be pitch perfect to get a shot. This film shouldn’t have to be a masterpiece to justify its existence.

… And yet, crazily enough, it is.

Dismissing and deriding certain stories, genres, or mediums as universally “lesser art” stops you from seeing beyond the first dimension of art. And the Looney Tunes have at least two dimensions, so you’re missing out.

If I weren’t already a Looney Tunes fan, Coyote vs. ACME would make me want more Looney Tunes and go back into their history to find more. … Heck, even though I am one, this movie makes me want more Looney Tunes.

There’s so much to this film in visuals, sound, dialogue, music, performances, effects, writing, cinematography, and so much more… I can’t fit it all here. All these elements cobbled together could make a film feel overwhelming. When they’re woven together with love, care, and a little––– okay, a lot––– of lunacy, the film’s immersive, engaging, entertaining, moving, and not leaving your brain or heart anytime soon. Since this film isn’t the streaming exclusive it was originally supposed to be, it doesn’t have to. It’ll be on physical media that we can own and keep forever.

… Unless the discs are made by ACME.

Take the left turn at Albuquerque into the biggest blast (literal and figurative) that’s crashing into theaters this summer.