John Cena enjoyed seeing Wile E. Coyote in a whole new light in Coyote vs. Acme. For generations, Wile E. has had a pretty rough relationship with gravity. He plots, orders something ridiculous from Acme and sets the trap, only for that trap to immediately turn against him.
Then comes that familiar look of realization right before everything goes horribly wrong. Coyote vs. Acme gets to do something the classic Looney Tunes shorts never really needed to do. It gives Wile E. Coyote an actual emotional life.
And according to John Cena, that turns out to be one of the movie’s biggest surprises.
John Cena enjoyed seeing another side of Wile E. Coyote
In the old Road Runner cartoons, Wile E. did not exactly get long dramatic scenes. His emotions were usually pretty easy to read.
Confidence while planning another elaborate scheme. Shock when something started going wrong. Total panic when he realized the boulder, rocket or giant piece of Acme machinery was now heading directly toward him.
Then, somehow, he would survive and start all over again. That repetition was part of the joke.
But a feature-length movie needs more. Coyote vs. Acme takes that familiar character and gives audiences a chance to spend enough time with him to see there is more going on beneath all that fur and frustration.
John Cena was impressed by Wile E. Coyote’s emotional range
Cena spoke about how much personality and emotion the movie manages to pull out of a character audiences have known for decades. That may sound funny considering Wile E. Coyote has barely spoken through most of his screen history.
But that is also what makes it interesting. Without long speeches explaining everything he feels, the character has always depended on expressions, movement and timing. The raised eyebrow. The slow glance toward the camera. The moment when he realizes the laws of physics have once again decided to make him their personal victim.
The movie gets to take those familiar reactions and stretch them into something bigger. John Cena enjoyed getting to see that expanded emotional side of a character audiences thought they already knew.
Click on the video below to hear John Cena talk about the emotional range audiences get to see from Wile E. Coyote in Coyote vs. Acme and what impressed him about the character.
There was always more to Wile E. than chasing the Road Runner
It is easy to forget how much personality animators managed to give Wile E. Coyote without saying much at all. He is obsessive, wildly overconfident and strangely inventive. And no matter how many times a plan fails in spectacular fashion, the guy absolutely refuses to quit.
You almost have to admire him.
The Road Runner may have been the object of all those schemes, but Wile E. was usually the character doing the emotional heavy lifting. Every failure registered right there on his face.
Coyote vs. Acme simply gets more time to explore what that might mean when he is no longer limited to a few minutes of cartoon chaos.
The movie turns an old Looney Tunes joke into a bigger story
After all these years, maybe Wile E. Coyote finally deserves the chance to tell his side of the story. And John Cena enjoyed getting to see him finally have that chance.
Coyote vs. Acme is now playing in theaters.
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