RE: What's up with the "Acme Company"?

[MichaelFox]

It was mentioned in the answer that coyotes are not native to Michigan. Well, according to the Detroit News and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, coyotes are native to Michigan. Please check out the following links:

http://www.detnews.com/2002/outdoors/0201/07/d07-383629.htm http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/state-plans/mi-wolf-plan.pdf

Thanks,
MichaelFox

[Danalan]

Can’t forget Ian Frazier’s classic ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ from the New Yorker. Here’s a link to it, and to Acme’s response.

[Scott_Plaid]

Don’t want to put you down or anything, but we should give credit where credit is due. Larry Borgia’s post #17 already contains Coyote v. Acme, though not the reply you posted.

[UncleBeer]

@UncleBeer

Could be. Like I said, some weekend “research” is in order. My recollections of the 'toon may be faulty due to smoking too much MaryJane while watching the Saturday cartoons in my college years. The girlfriend has a Looney Tunes DVD I’ll look at. I think there’s a whole disc dedicated to the interminable Wile E./Roadrunner battles.

And sadly I am mistaken. The DVD the girlfriend owns is Volume One which has no Wiley E. Coyote/Roadrunner 'toons. Guess we’ll hafta get Volume Two before the research can commence.

[Danalan]

@Scott Plaid

Don’t want to put you down or anything, but we should give credit where credit is due. Larry Borgia’s post #17 already contains Coyote v. Acme, though not the reply you posted.

Missed it. Sorry Larry.

[Peter_Morris]

ACME got its name because its A Company that Makes ** E**verything.

That’s actually in the dictionary.

[FatBaldGuy]

In regard to the “rules” set forth by Chuck Jones:

1. The coyote never catches the road runner;
2. The road runner never actively interferes with the coyote’s plans;
3. The road runner must stick to the road;
4. Whenever possible, gravity is the coyote’s biggest enemy.

It seems like I have seen #2 violated on several occasions. One that comes immediately to mind is when the RR paints a fake tunnel on the side of a cliff and zips through it, while the coyote smashes into the painted wall. Another time I remember the RR coming up behind the coyote and going “beep beep,” startling the coyote and causing him to spring his trap on himself. I’m sure there are more, but these two stand out.

[Farmwoman]

@UncleBeer

Guess we’ll hafta get Volume Two before the research can commence.

Or toon (heh) into Boomerang. My sons are addicted to Looney Toons and (much to my husband’s and my delight) we get to watch a 1/2 hour each night before the kids’ bedtime.

I’m particularly tickled by my 5 year-old’s serious, slow and sad head shake every time the Coyote sets up another contraption. “Oh man,” he says “this isn’t gonna work.”

[UncleBeer]

@FatBaldGuy

In regard to the “rules” set forth by Chuck Jones:
It seems like I have seen #2 violated on several occasions.

#3 is violated quite regularly, too. The RoadRunner is frequently seen off-road.

[samclem]

@Peter Morris

ACME got its name because its A Company that Makes ** E**verything.

That’s actually in the dictionary.

They say that’s one possible explanation. I don’t accept it.

[mobo85]

@FatBaldGuy

One that comes immediately to mind is when the RR paints a fake tunnel on the side of a cliff and zips through it, while the coyote smashes into the painted wall.

I thought it was always the Coyote who paints the tunnel, figuring the Road Runner will attempt to run through it and hit the rock. The Road Runner comes, and runs through the tunnel. The Coyote, startled, tries it himself. BAM!

@FatBaldGuy

Another time I remember the RR coming up behind the coyote and going “beep beep,” startling the coyote and causing him to spring his trap on himself.

Actually, this is in accordance with the rules. The rules that show up in the column are actually paraphrased. Here are the rules as they appear in Chuck Jones’ book Chuck Amuck (©1989 Chuck Jones Enterprises, Inc.):

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going “Beep-Beep!”
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote-only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products.
3. The Coyote could stop at any time- if he were not a fanatic. (“A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim”- George Santayana)
4. No dialogue ever, except “Beep-Beep!”
5. The Road Runner must stay on the road- otherwise, logically, he would not be called Road Runner.
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the characters- the American Southwest desert.
7. All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote’s greatest enemy.
9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.

Rule #1 in particular is key to this argument. The Road Runner often surprises the Coyote by running up behind him and going “Beep Beep!” thus causing the Coyote to knock his head into a rock or fall down or something.

@zelie zelerton

Does anyone know if there is a real Acme Co? Is the name owned by whoever made the Wily Coyote cartoons?

There are a number of real Acmes, and Warner Bros. does hold a trademark on “Acme” for the purposes of marketing Looney Tunes products.

The situation zelcat refers to in the OP was from the 1980 cartoon Soup or Sonic, produced for the television special Bugs Bunny’s Bustin’ Out All Over.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

Quoth Dictionary.com:

@Dictionary.com

Acme=The highest point, as of achievement or development: reached the acme of her career. See Synonyms at summit.

Greek, if I’m not mistaken. I’m sure it used to be a much more common business name 100 years ago, since back then most people who even made it all the way through high school generally had some Greek.

[TasCat]

5. The Road Runner must stay on the road- otherwise, logically, he would not be called Road Runner.

I believe I’ve seen the roadrunner defy gravity and not stay on the road by running from clifftop to clifftop…although I am old and senile, while the coyote does indeed fall to his enemy gravity. And I guess, logically, while the roadrunner goes through a solid mountain or plateau in the painted issue…he does stay on the road while doing so! If I am correct and not senile…which is very very possible, the latter of course, gravity would pull the roadrunner down…I seem to believe the clifftops were of equal height, if so, he would hit the opposite cliff top due to gravity…despite his amazing speed…and aren’t there times when he hovers in the air while the coyote falls, I know he always stops short while the coyote hovers for a few seconds, then realized his predicament, that is probably what I’m thinking about…

The situation zelcat refers to in the OP was from the 1980 cartoon Soup or Sonic, produced for the television special Bugs Bunny’s Bustin’ Out All Over.

err, zelcat? I may not be a member but sheesh. I just followed up on the post I made, I had made a favorites on the page and wanted to see what the experts had to say, and indeed they did verify to me, it WAS a special, hence the reason not as many fans have seen the episode. And the sign quote was what I remembered, but I wasn’t sure, so put the “essence” of the sign in my post. Now back behind the yellow line for me…as membership is not an option in my case…and boy are there some harsh critics around here!

[TasCat]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Quoth Dictionary.com:

Greek, if I’m not mistaken. I’m sure it used to be a much more common business name 100 years ago, since back then most people who even made it all the way through high school generally had some Greek.

Although if looked further down at the same site…

n. The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and
non-functional gadgetry - where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson
(two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop.
The name has been humorously expanded as A (or American) Company
Making Everything. (In fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears
Roebuck catalogs in the early 1900s.) Describing some X as an “Acme
X” either means “This is insanely great”, or, more likely, “This
looks insanely great on paper, but in practice it’s really easy to
shoot yourself in the foot with it.” Compare pistol.

This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained
here for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner
Brothers’ series of “Roadrunner” cartoons. In these cartoons, the
famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with,
trap, and eat the Roadrunner. His attempts usually involved one or
more high-technology Rube Goldberg devices - rocket jetpacks,
catapults, magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were
usually delivered in large cardboard boxes, labeled prominently with
the Acme name. These devices invariably malfunctioned in improbable
and violent ways.

Source: Jargon File 4.2.0

[don_t_ask]

@Danalan

Can’t forget Ian Frazier’s classic ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ from the New Yorker. Here’s a link to it, and to Acme’s response.

Wow. How much credit did Frazier give to Cliff-Hanger Justice by Joey Green which ran in three parts in the August, September, and October '82 issues of National Lampoon? It was about the Wile E. Coyote vs. Acme Corp. trial.