Sonoran Saviors: A Coyote and Road Runner Movie/Tropes

Sonoran Saviors: A Coyote and Road Runner Movie is a Direct to Video movie in the Looney Tunes franchise starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It made its premiere on September 17, 2024, on both DVD and digital platforms.
After yet another failed attempt to capture the Road Runner with a pair of rocket skates, Wile E. Coyote sees a billboard promoting the upcoming Sam's Sonoran Settlement and snoops in on Yosemite Sam planning to have a building constructed in one spot. Believing that the plan is harmless, Wile E. decides to resume his pursuit of the Road Runner, but he doesn't know one thing: Sam is trying to fill the entire American Southwestern desert with buildings! A second failed attempt to catch the bird using wearable bat wings lands the Coyote in trouble with Sam, who chases off not only him, but the Road Runner as well. The predator and prey eventually learn about Sam's dastardly plan to get rid of all the desert fauna and build his "Sonoran settlement" all over it, and it's now up to this desert duo to work together and prevent Sam, along with his minions Rocky and Mugsy, from moving forward with his city at the cost of their home.
== Tropes ==
* Abandoned Warehouse: After successfully capturing Wile E. and the Road Runner, Sam has them locked inside an Acme warehouse far away, hoping they can't escape to try and put a stop to his plan again. Luckily for our heroes, the warehouse is filled with several Acme products, with Wile E. using two, a rope cutter and a pogo stick, to remove his and the Road Runner's bindings and escape the warehouse, respectively.
* Accidental Public Confession: After he, Rocky and Mugsy are defeated by Wile E. near the end of the train chase, Sam shows up with them once more after the Coyote and the Road Runner hop off the locomotive, angrily ranting at them and spilling out every detail of his plan within the earshot of two Irish cops. As a result, Sam, Rocky and Mugsy are arrested after Wile E. shows the officers the photos he took of Sam's plan as proof, including a photo detailing Sam's intention to exterminate every living creature across the American Southwest in a blueprint.
* Acme Products: It wouldn't be a film centered around Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner without them.
** At the start of the film, Wile E. uses Acme Rocket Skates and Acme Bat Wings in order to catch the Road Runner. To no one's surprise, they fail, as the former causes him to be blown out of a cave after ending up in an explosive-filled area, where he slams into a billboard with Yosemite Sam's likeness on it as he's sent soaring through the air; the latter causes him to be mistaken for a buzzard by Sam, Rocky and Mugsy and shot at until a bullet punctures a hole through one of the wings, sending him crashing through the top of one of Sam's buildings.
** Later on in the film, Wile E. uses an Acme Dynamite Camera (i.e. a camera shaped like a stick of dynamite, not an explosive camera) to take pictures of Sam's plan while he and the Road Runner spy on him and his crew. He also uses an Acme Bottomless Bag to store Sam's stash of dynamite after sneaking into the storage area housing them.
** The Acme warehouse where Wile E. and the Road Runner are locked in is filled to the brim with them; the two use a rope cutter and a pogo stick to break free from their bindings and escape the warehouse, respectively.
** The Acme Bat Wings from earlier come in handy during the climax as Wile E. is falling into a canyon after being blown out of a boxcar filled with Acme products. He unboxes three packages containing, in order, another pair of rocket skates, a superhero outfit and a pair of skis, before opening a fourth package containing those wings, which he uses to fly back up the canyon and deliver the final blow to Sam, Rocky and Mugsy.
** The ending part of the film has Wile E. using an Acme Jetpack after his usual rivalry with the Road Runner resurfaces, which fails to work and even explodes when the Coyote hits it to try and get it to work.
* Adaptational Badass: Played with. Wile E. is still the butt of a few slapstick gags in the film, most prominently at the film's first several minutes and ending, but here he's surprisingly more competent and badass than he was in the original cartoons. He successfully avoids the anvil from the booby trap inside the construction site's storage area, actively fights back against Sam, Rocky and Mugsy by tossing sticks of their stolen dynamite at them during the car chase scene, and at the climax, he swiftly maneuvers his way through Rocky and Mugsy's bullets without being hit once, takes their guns away and knocks them and their boss off of the locomotive, sending them falling into the river at the bottom of the canyon.
* Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Not counting his temporary alliance with the Road Runner, Wile E.'s relationship with Bugs is drastically different in this film than in the shorts starring both of them. Whereas Wile E. views himself as an Insufferable Genius and attempts to capture and eat Bugs in the original cartoons, here he's much friendlier towards him and asks him to lead him and the Road Runner back to the desert where Sam's construction plan is taking place. Additionally, Wile E. speaks with a British accent in the original Bugs Bunny shorts, while in this film, he’s still mute and communicates with him by holding up signs instead.
* Added Alliterative Appeal: The title of the film, minus the "A Coyote and Road Runner Movie" tagline, is "Sonoran Saviors". Within the film itself, there's also Sam's Sonoran Settlement, the city Sam tries to construct.
* The Alleged Car: Bugs' golf cart has a few bumps and broken parts on it, not helped by his rather careless driving skills as he drives Wile E. back to the desert.
* Alternate Catchphrase Inflection: The Road Runner's "Beep-beep!", while usually uttered quickly and loudly, is said in a different tone during two moments where he is in genuine peril.
** When he and Wile E. are locked inside an Acme warehouse by Sam, Rocky and Mugsy, the Road Runner lets out a slow, somber "Beep... beep..." to signify how close he is to losing hope.
** After Mugsy catches him while he is exhausted from running so much, the Road Runner lets out a subdued, panicked-sounding "Beep-beep!" when Sam is about to shoot him.
* Anvil on Head: When Wile E. enters the storage area where Sam's stash of dynamite is kept, he accidentally triggers a booby trap that causes an anvil to fall towards him, which he narrowly dodges.
* Any Last Words?: Just before Wile E. saves the day at the last moment, Sam points his gun at the Road Runner and asks this question to him, with the bird's response being a meek, terrified "Beep, beep...".
* Ash Face: Wile E. is subjected to this thrice; first when he is blown up by land mines while chasing the Road Runner at the beginning, secondly when he is blown out of a cave by several explosives, and finally at the end of the film when his Acme Jetpack blows up. Oddly enough, he does not suffer this during the train chase sequence when a boxcar he fell through explodes, sending him and the Acme products inside falling off the locomotive and into the canyon.
* Bag of Holding: Wile E. uses an Acme-branded one to collect all of Sam's dynamite in the storage area where they are kept. Later, during the high-speed chase, the Coyote throws countless sticks of dynamite at Sam's car from it, and it is later stolen by Sam when he, Rocky and Mugsy land on Wile E. and the Road Runner after being launched back up the cliff by a branch.
* Behind a Stick: Wile E. does with with a saguaro cactus as he sneaks up on Sam to spy on him planning to construct a building.
* Big Bad: Yosemite Sam is the main antagonist of the film, as he plans to drive away all of the wildlife from the desert, including Wile E. and the Road Runner, so he can build his "Sonoran settlement" over it.
* Big Damn Heroes: With the help of Acme Bat Wings, Wile E. saves the Road Runner from being shot by Sam at the last moment by swooping past and taking his gun.
* Binomium ridiculus: True to classic Road Runner tradition, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are respectively labeled "Mangy-us screw-upius" and “Breakneckius birdius” at the beginning of the film.
* Booby Trap: The inside of the storage area containing Sam's explosives has one with an anvil dangling from the ceiling, which Wile E. just barely avoids as soon as he makes his entrance.
* Bound and Gagged: Sam has Wile E. and the Road Runner ties up to chairs and left in an Acme warehouse in an attempt to get them out of the way of his plan. However, Wile E. and the Road Runner are still able to move around while in their tied-up states, just with a little difficulty, as the former manages to obtain a box containing a rope cutter, which the Road Runner uses to sever the rope binding them.
* Bullet Dancing: Wile E. does this for a brief moment as Sam first shoots at him before running out of the building he crashed through.
* Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Rocky and Mugsy to Yosemite Sam, marking this the first time in Looney Tunes history where they are seen together. While Mugsy is as dim as usual, Rocky is smarter than him, though that isn't saying much as he's still no match for Wile E. and the Road Runner.
* By the Lights of Their Eyes: Wile E.'s eyes are briefly visible in the darkness when he is left stranded in the cave after his rocket skates run out of juice.
* Cactus Cushion: Cacti are some of the obstacles Wile E. collides with while chasing the Road Runner at the beginning of the movie, appropriately leaving him with spines stuck to his body.
* The Cameo: Bugs Bunny shows up near the end of the second act after Wile E. and the Road Runner escape the Acme warehouse, driving an unkempt golf cart and, to no one's surprise, trying to find his way to Albuquerque. Unlike most cameo appearances, he actually contributes to the plot by leading Wile E. and the Road Runner back to the construction site in his golf cart.
* Chase Scene: The two scenes with Wile E. chasing the Road Runner while donning rocket skates and bat wings, respectively. In a more action movie kind of sense, there's Sam and his minions chasing the duo throughout the desert in the former's car while the Coyote retaliates by tossing lit sticks of their stolen dynamite at them.
* Chekhov's Gun:
** After being blown out a cave by dynamite and TNT, Wile E. is sent flying through the air until he crashes into a billboard with a picture of Yosemite Sam on it, and later crashes through one of Sam's buildings after one of his Acme Bat Wings gets a hole blasted through it by Rocky. When Wile E. and the Road Runner meet Bugs after making it out of the Acme warehouse, he mentions seeing a billboard with “a short guy with a big, red mustache” and a few buildings on his way to Albuquerque, giving the coyote and roadrunner the pinpoint they need to get back to Sam's construction site.
** The Bat Wings used by Wile E. in his second failed attempt to catch the Road Runner from earlier ultimately prove to be useful near the end of the climax, as he uses another set of them to fly back up the canyon after being blown off of the locomotive and give the villains what for.
** The photos Wile E. takes of Sam's plan earlier in the film eventually become the final nail in the coffin for Sam, Rocky and Mugsy, as after the Coyote shows the two Irish policemen said photos, the three men are apprehended and driven off to prison.
* Co-Dragons: Yosemite Sam is accompanied by Rocky and Mugsy, who aid him in trying to build his city and dealing with Wile E. and the Road Runner.
* Community-Threatening Construction: More like Habitat-Threatening Construction, as the main conflict of the film comes from Sam planning to build a city across the entire American Southwestern desert and getting rid of all the animals living there, including Wile E. and the Road Runner.
* Disney Villain Death: Subverted not once, but twice for Yosemite Sam, Rocky and Mugsy.
** When they have the Coyote and the Road Runner cornered at a cliff while trying to dump their stolen dynamite, Sam, Rocky and Mugsy fail to shoot them due to their guns being out of bullets, so they charge and lunge towards them instead. However, both coyote and roadrunner duck quickly, leaving the three men to fall off the cliff. As they are falling, they land on a branch attached to the cliff and are sprung back up, where they land on Wile E. and the Road Runner as they are walking away, stunning them and causing the Coyote to drop his Acme Bottomless Bag.
** In the climax, when Wile E. manages to slip on another set of Acme Bat Wings to save himself from falling down a canyon, the Coyote swoops towards Sam, Rocky and Mugsy and bumps them off the locomotive, sending them plummeting into a river at the canyon floor. When Wile E. and the Road Runner disembark the train at another railroad crossing, the three men show up, soaking and wet but otherwise alive, as Sam rants at them, inadvertently ousting himself to a duo of Irish policemen.
* Dramatic Ammo Depletion: Sam, Rocky and Mugsy prepare to blast the Coyote and the Road Runner when they refuse to hand over their stolen dynamite while cornered at a precipice. When the three men pull the trigger on their guns, however, no bullets come out, at which point Mugsy discovers they're out of bullets.
* Drives Like Crazy: Downplayed for Bugs. While he successfully gets Wile E. and the Road Runner to their destination, and it isn't as destructive as most examples, he also has rather poor driving skills as his golf cart takes quite a beating by colliding with various obstacles in the way. In fact, Wile E. even has to occasionally grab the wheel from Bugs and swerve the cart away from cliffs.
* Enemy Mine: Due to sharing a mutual fear of their home being lost to Yosemite Sam's plan to build his "Sonoran settlement" over it, Wile E. and the Road Runner decide that the only way to prevent that from happening is to set their differences aside and work together. This eventually wears off at the end of the film after Sam and his minions are defeated.
* Enemy to All Living Things: Sam is equally and just as hostile to Wile E. and the Road Runner as he is to Bugs and even mentions getting rid of every single "mangy varmint" that gets in the way of his development plan. He even loudly declares how much he despises animals as he, Rocky and Mugsy are escorted to prison at the end of the film.
* Evil Laugh: Sam lets out such a laugh when he, Rocky and Mugsy confront Wile E. and the Road Runner on top of the locomotive at the film's climax.
* Evil Redhead: The red-mustachioed Yosemite Sam serves as the film's main villain, trying to build a big city over the desert at the cost of Wile E. and the Road Runner's home.
* Explosion Propulsion: The explosion in the cave sends Wile E. flying out of it, through the air and into a billboard with Yosemite Sam's image on it. Later, during the climax, Sam sets off an explosion inside a boxcar Wile E. fell through, which destroys the boxcar and sends its contents and Wile E. falling off the locomotive and into the canyon below.
* Fur Is Clothing: Wile E. keeps the photos he takes of Sam's plan in his chest like a pocket, and later brings them out near the end of the film to show them to the police.
* The Guards Must Be Crazy: The two construction workers guarding the storage area containing Sam's cache of dynamite easily fall victim to the Road Runner's tactic of exhausting them by running around constantly and avoiding being caught by them, and they are unable to see through the smoke kicked up by the bird, which allows Wile E. to sneak past and head inside the storage area. By the time Wile E. exits the storage area with all of Sam's dynamite in his Acme Bottomless Bag, he sees the guards lying flat on the ground, too exhausted to move a muscle.
* Halfway Plot Switch: The beginning of the film plays out like a standard Road Runner cartoon, complete with faux-Latin scientific names for the Coyote and the Road Runner. It briefly changes when Wile E. sees Sam planning to build a building on one spot, but he shrugs it off and goes back to chasing the Road Runner, leading to another scene that would feel right at home in the original shorts. It isn't until both Wile E. and the Road Runner eavesdrop on Sam explaining his entire plan that the rest of the plot turns into a buddy comedy where they have to stop Sam from potentially destroying their habitat in order to build his city over it.
* Handy Feet: While tied up in the Acme warehouse, Wile E. uses one of the claws on his foot to open a package containing a rope cutter, while the Road Runner picks up said rope cutter with his foot and uses it to sever the rope binding them.
* Heroic Mime: Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are the main protagonists of the film who stop Yosemite Sam from building a city over their desert home, and they're as every bit as non-verbal as they were in their original shorts.
* Heroic RRoD: After spending a huge chunk of the movie running fast, the Road Runner is eventually tired out during the traintop chase and is caught by Mugsy as a result.
* I Am Not Weasel: When Sam notices Wile E. flying around while donning Acme Bat Wings, he thinks he's dealing with a buzzard and tries to have him shot down. It isn't until Wile E. is eventually sent crashing through one of Sam's buildings with his bat wings now broken that Sam realizes he's a coyote and chases him out.
* Impact Silhouette:
** During the film's beginning, Wile E. crashes through a few rock formations while chasing the Road Runner on rocket skates, cutting holes in his likeness through them.
** Then, after one of his Acme Bat Wings gets a hole blasted through it by Rocky, Wile E. falls from the sky and crashes through the top of one of Sam's buildings, leaving Wile E.-shaped holes in the roof and the floors he has crashed through.
* Institutional Apparel: Sam, Rocky and Mugsy are seen wearing black and white-striped prison uniforms during the post-credits scene showing them behind bars. 
* Jet Pack: Wile E. attempts to use one at the end of the film to chase the Road Runner, which stalls and explodes on the Coyote when he bangs on it with his fist.
* Land Mine Goes "Click!": During the chase that begins the film, the Road Runner leads Wile E. through a mine field, resulting in the Coyote being repeatedly blown up by the land mines while the bird makes his way without stepping on a single mine.
* Logo Joke: The 2018 Warner Bros. Animation logo at the start of the film has Wile E. Coyote attempting to blow up the Road Runner with a stick of dynamite buried underneath bird seed, only for the detonator to blow up on him instead, with the explosion occurring behind the shield where he is hiding. After the Road Runner finishes the rest of the bird seed and runs off, Wile E. is then shown charred as he falls down and holds up an "Ouch..." sign.
* Made of Iron: While Wile E. is this as usual, Sam has his moments as well. He gets crushed by a couple of I-beams while chasing the Road Runner in a steamroller and knocked into the river at the canyon floor along with Rocky and Mugsy, and is still none the worse for wear.
* Matchlight Danger Revelation: At the beginning of the film, Wile E.'s rocket skates run out of power when he tries to follow the Road Runner into a cave, leaving him stranded in the darkness. The Coyote lights a match to illuminate the cave, revealing himself surrounded by explosives which blow up and send him flying out of the cave and through the air.
* Match in a Bomb Shack: Well, not so much a shack as it's more like a cave, but Wile E. finds himself surrounded by explosives when he lights a match in the cave he got lost in at the beginning. Cue an explosion that propels the Coyote through the air and into a billboard with Yosemite Sam on it.
* Mythology Gag:
** The Acme Bat Wings used by Wile E. in the film function exactly like the Bat-Man's Outfit from the 1956 short "Gee-Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z".
** During the climax, the superhero suit Wile E. unboxes while trying to find an Acme product to save himself from falling into a canyon is the same one used in the 1949 short "Fast and Furry-ous".
* The Napoleon: Sam is the shortest character in the film and he's as mean and irritable as ever.
* Not the Fall That Kills You…: Sam and his goons end up falling off the cliff they cornered Wile E. and the Road Runner at after a failed attempt to seize them physically, but are caught on the way down by a long branch and thrown back up the cliff, landing on the two and stunning them.
* Officer O'Hara: Two policemen with Irish accents appear near the end of the movie to arrest Sam, Rocky and Mugsy after Wile E. shows them photographed proof of the former's plan from earlier.
* Off-into-the-Distance Ending: How the film concludes, with Wile E. chasing the Road Runner into the horizon.
* Oh, Crap!:
** Wile E. when he finds himself in a dynamite-filled area of a cave.
** Sam, Rocky and Mugsy know they're screwed after Wile E., with the help of Acme Bat Wings, swipes their guns to prevent them from having the Road Runner shot and prepares to give them the final blow. They also look panicked when faced with a pair of Irish police officers after Sam inadvertently reveals his entire plan within their earshot during his rant.
* O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The usually smiley and optimistic Road Runner is just as worried and concerned over losing his home to a city planned by Yosemite Sam as Wile E. is, and actively joins forces with the Coyote to prevent that from coming to fruition. He also shows visible despair when he and the Coyote are locked inside an Acme warehouse by Sam and his henchmen, and is terrified for his life when he is caught by Mugsy and about to be shot by Sam during the climax.
* Percussive Maintenance: At the end of the film, Wile E. attempts this with his Acme-brand jetpack when it fails to launch him towards the Road Runner. It just explodes, leaving the Coyote covered in soot.
* Plummet Perspective: Seen when Wile E. is sent falling down the canyon with several Acme packages after the boxcar explosion, and later when Sam, Rocky and Mugsy are knocked off of the locomotive and fall into the river below.
* Plunger Detonator: Implied in the Logo Joke described above, and within the third act of the film, Sam has several of them at the construction site, which the Road Runner quickly disables before they can be used.
* Put on a Prison Bus: The fate of Sam, Rocky and Mugsy after Wile E. shows proof of Sam's plan to the Irish cops.
* Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Yosemite Sam, Rocky and Mugsy, who are usually antagonists to Bugs in his Friz Freleng-directed shorts, are cast in this film as threats to the desert home of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, who reluctantly side together to take them down.
* Shoe Phone: Wile E. uses a camera from Acme shaped like a stick of dynamite while spying on Sam with the Road Runner, with a pull of the "fuse" acting as the camera's picture-taking mechanism.
* Small Role, Big Impact: Bugs Bunny only has a couple minutes of screen time when he first appears near the end of the second act, but him driving Wile E. and the Road Runner back to the desert in his golf cart allows the two to prevent Sam's habitat-destroying plan from moving forward.
* Status Quo Is God: After Sam and his minions are taken away by the police for attempting habitat destruction and wildlife extermination to build a city over the desert, Wile E. and the Road Runner resume their usual chases.
* The Stinger: After the credits roll, Sam, Rocky and Mugsy are seen behind bars after the former's plan is foiled by Wile E. and the Road Runner, where Sam takes out his anger for a while before breaking down sobbing at the loss of his "Sonoran settlement". During this, Rocky and Mugsy attempt to keep their boss' temper under control and then console him when he changes from angry to sad.
* Stock Audio Clip: As usual, this film uses Paul Julian's recordings of the Road Runner beeping and popping his tongue.
* Super Speed: A trademark of the Road Runner, which comes in handy as he uses it to tire out two construction workers standing guard over Sam's dynamite, and later to disable every dynamite plunger at the construction site while evading Rocky and Mugsy.
* Talking with Signs: Wile E. holds up a "Hey! Over here!" sign to catch Bugs' attention and get him to stop his golf cart. Afterwards, he asks Bugs to drive him and the Road Runner back to the desert with a sign that reads "Listen, you gotta get us back to the desert, and fast!", and later when Bugs finally arrives at their destination, the Coyote holds up a "Thank you" sign to express his gratitude.
* Terrible Trio: Yosemite Sam and his henchmen Rocky and Mugsy.
* Those Two Guys: The two burly construction workers who guard Sam's stash of dynamite, and the Irish-accented cops who arrest the villains after Wile E. shows them evidence of Sam's plan.
* Those Wily Coyotes: Not counting the moments where he is subjected to slapstick, Wile E. is much more successful with his cunning than he is in the original Road Runner shorts, being able to hold his own against Sam and ultimately defeating him.
* Traintop Battle: The climax of the film sees Wile E. and the Road Runner facing off against Sam, Rocky and Mugsy atop a speeding locomotive, with highlights such as Wile E. falling into a boxcar filled with Acme products that gets blown up by Sam, Sam trying to shoot the Road Runner after Mugsy catches him, and the Coyote dispatching of the villains while donning Acme Bat Wings.
* Unconventional Vehicle Chase: A variation where the vehicle in question is another character, as Wile E. rides on the Road Runner while they are running from Sam, Rocky and Mugsy, who are trying to retrieve the dynamite the Coyote stole.
* Villainous Breakdown: Sam is even angrier than he is before when he returns after being defeated at the end of the train chase sequence, ranting at Wile E. and the Road Runner for ruining his plan. He inadvertently exposes his plans to a duo of Irish-accented policemen nearby, getting him and his henchmen arrested and sent to jail. He continues this breakdown behind bars before eventually degrading into a crying fit.
* Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: Bugs naturally complains to himself about why he keeps turning right at Albuquerque as Wile E. and the Road Runner spot him in the distance.
Category:Looney Tunes
Category:Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
Category:Tropes
Category:Aldrine25's Ideas