Boulder Wham! (1965) User Reviews

Just falling down over and over again

[rbverhoef · 6/10 · 23 April 2004]

Like 'Chaser on the Rocks' that was also made in 1965 'Boulder Wham!' is not one of the best Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Both cartoons are repetitive, both cartoon do not have a real big gag and both cartoons are predictable in a way it is not very funny. The predictability in most other cartoons featuring Road Runner and Coyote is able to make it funny.

Here Road Runner is on the other side of a gorge and Coyote keeps trying to reach the other end. Of course instead of reaching the other side he keeps falling down over and over again. I had my smiles but I never really laughed. The same gag, the same thing that goes wrong every time, is just not that funny.

Canyon fodder

[angilbas · 7/10 · 27 April 2001]

Of Rudy Larriva's Roadrunners, "Boulder Wham!" has the best story. The gags are well set up with uncommonly good suspense-building, and the hypnotism sequence works especially well.

Unfortunately, the Coyote's many canyon falls are repetitive and poorly animated due to the film's low budget (each Larriva Roadrunner cost only $18,000). Fortunately, the animators devised some funny expressions and poses. The result is a cartoon which is no match for Chuck Jones's Roadrunners but may pleasantly surprise those who've endured other 1965-9 Warner's cartoons.

Why?

[Richie the G · 5/10 · 3 August 2002]

The coyote fell off of the cliff about six times. If he was able to survive these falls and to climb back up to the top, then why didn't he just climb up to the other side of the gorge where the roadrunner has been standing? It was pretty comical, and perhaps it was the point.

Overall, cartoon was okay, nothing to write home about though.

Et tu, Warners? ET TU?

[rapt0r_claw-1 · 13 July 2004]

The 60's Road Runner cartoons by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises make my skin crawl. Thinking of the old Chuck Jones cartoons, I feel nauseous watching these compilations of humorless, unentertaining "gags". In "Boulder Wham!" (another one of those lame titles, nothing like the witty puns and jokes by Maltese), the Coyote is trying to capture the Road Runner, a calm spectator on the other side of a gorge.

The animation is worse than today's television-budget, mass-produced cartoons on Kids' WB, Cartoon Network and Nickelodean. Every time I sit through this cartoon and others like it, it's a painful ordeal to get to the classics that hopefully follow. The gags are absolutely dry and the characters hardly have detectable expressions. Coyote resorts to stuff that he would never have used in a Jones cartoon. Disney might have gone down the drain, but Warner Bros.? Once upon a time, I didn't even know these cartoons existed, only having seen the Golden Age cartoons. I was happy then.

Most likely the inspiration for "Wrecking Ball" . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 9 January 2016]

. . . a totally naked Wile E. Coyote dangles over an abyss while clinging to a huge round swinging stone. Of course, a seven-minute set from Mr. Coyote is far more daring than a couple hours of Miley Cyrus' comparatively tame provocations, as the former adds high wire Hijinks, hypnosis, karate, judo, and pole vaulting in his dogged pursuit of the Terrorists, embodied by the Roadrunner. The latter, suspiciously, says BOTH "Beep, Beep" AND "Meep, Meep," according to the close-captioning for a Looney Tunes DVD (though this BOULDER WHAM! episode is labeled on-screen as a "Merrie Melody"). WHAM's primary lesson can be summed up as follows: "Parents, beware of how you handle that rainy afternoon when your young daughter is driving you nuts and you try to shut her up by playing some cartoons in your century's format-of-the-day. What if a nude Wile E. Coyote swings in front of her on a wrecking ball when you're not looking? Try ignoring her a decade later, when SHE'S the one swinging on a ball, in the buff for all the world to see!"

More of a whimper than it is a wham

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 31 August 2015]

Mostly, the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons are very enjoyable, and the best of them are brilliant . This said, the later years did see some duds, and unfortunately Boulder Wham is one of them.

Boulder Wham is not a complete and utter waste of time. The opening title credits are quite clever, there is a good hypnotism sequence which is by far the most successful of the gags. Wile also a few amusing moments, as to be expected a good job is done with his expressions and you still root for him, the thing is though he has been funnier and better drawn in previous cartoons and his cunning side is a little downplayed here.

Roadrunner is very one-dimensional, and while in the earlier cartoons he was amusing and cute and worked well with Wile (who is by far the funnier and more interesting character) he is more annoying than funny here. The two's chemistry is rather bland too. The animation sadly is rather limited, as was the case with most of the Looney Tunes around the late 60s period due to lower budgets., the Daffy and Speedy cartoons are notable examples.

Wile and Roadrunner are rather poorly drawn, the backgrounds are far too sparse (taking simplicity to extremes, making it simplistic instead) and it's all very flatly and garishly coloured. None of the visuals are very imaginative either, whereas before some of the humour actually came from the visuals in the gags, here it's rather basic. Bill Lava's score also disappoints, it does sound very stock and cheap and lacks energy and is somewhat discordant. Milt Franklyn and especially Carl Stalling's scores fitted far better, sounded great and enhanced the action as well as adding to it, Lava's here feels misplaced and an ill-match for the material, almost as if Lava had forgotten the sort of cartoon he was writing for.

As for the gags, the gags themselves conceptually were pretty good (if not the most original ) but the execution of them didn't come over very well. The funniest they get is the odd mild smile, but nothing stands out as hilarious,. It all feels very tired and repetitive, and the action is far too static instead of the non-stop energy of the best of the series. The story is very predictable, even for a rather formula series like the Roadrunner and Wile cartoons, the thing was the best of the material in the earlier cartoons was inspired with sharp timing, genuine hilarity and visual imagination. Boulder Wham doesn't really have any of those things and it is a shame. Even the cartoon's title feels uninspired.

Overall, disappointing and among the weakest of a mostly enjoyable series of cartoons. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Crappicus Larrivatus

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 12 October 2015]

Typically weak Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote short from Rudy Larriva. Lame gags that are unimaginative retreads of material from earlier cartoons. The animation is flat and unimpressive. Why are the mountains and desert backgrounds colored pink? So much pink in this. The worst part of any Rudy Larriva Road Runner short is the awful Bill Lava score. It sounds like stock music that is the same in every short with no effort to match the action and pace of the cartoon. Also the sound effects are louder and more obtrusive than usual. This cartoon is a par for the course effort from Larriva, which is another way of saying don't watch this trash. Seek out any of the great Chuck Jones shorts instead.

Boulder Wham! is an underwhelming Coyote and Road Runner cartoon from the latter run of the series

[tavm · 3/10 · 4 October 2022]

Of many series cartoons that involved a chase between two characters, the Coyote and Road Runner ones were often the most repetitive that ran for years and years. But when Chuck Jones was at the helm, you at least got some creativity concerning gags that often built to a hilarious crescendo by the end. Here, as directed by Rudy Larriva, it's just a sense of deja vu that often got more boring with each effort. Though it scores some points with a somewhat new premise of having the Coyote trying to find ways to go to the other side of the cliff while the Road Runner just stays at that other side, the results are just meh. So on that note, I'd only recommend Boulder Wham! If you're a completist concerning this particular series.

Animation poor, material OK

[bob the moo · 31 January 2004]

Wily E. Coyote is chasing the roadrunner, who moves fast enough to easily clear a canyon. With Wily unable to get up the speed necessary to clear it as easily, he falls back onto a series of devices to try and get across to the waiting roadrunner.

You either like the Coyote/roadrunner cartoons or you don't, but that doesn't mean that there aren't good one and bad ones just because they use the same formula. Here the film really lacks a bit of spark and is surprisingly static. Basically the repeating joke is that Wily tries to get across the canyon but keeps falling down. The question `why, when he climbs back up, doesn't he just climb up the other side?' should be dismissed from that start, as logic has no place here.

The very static action, and the fact that it is so repetitive, is a problem as it takes away the very nature of the cartoons in terms of fluidity and energy. Usually these cartoons keep moving so fast that the gags pile up to being funny; here it is just one staged event after another and it doesn't work as well. The animation is pretty basic but it has enough about it not to be awful. The characters are not as good as usual (not that they are ever that well developed) but they look basic and act different from usual.

Overall this is an OK cartoon for those that like Roadrunner stuff, but this is a weak entry in their enjoyable series.