To Beep or Not to Beep (1963)

To Beep or Not to Beep Review

To Beep or Not to Beep is a 1963 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a pretty good cartoon.

This is yet another uneven, but frequently quite great Road Runner short. The animation here is stellar as always and the sound is immaculately atmospheric. The movie itself has those sections that are overly familiar in their setups with the gags being similar to each other, but those that worked were terrific, especially the ones involving the boulder.

This just might be the most boulder-centric episode in this series’ run. The poor coyote falls down so many cliffs during the span of the short that I genuinely felt bad for him. The catapult gag was very well approached and quite funny, but the eventual conclusion should have been a bigger comedic punch given all that extensive build-up. The highlight in my opinion came in the second segment where the Road Runner leaves the coyote literally in dust. He is so fast that he takes the road itself with him in this crazy whirlwind.

To Beep or Not to Beep closed off the year of 1963 with style. Yes, it’s uneven, but this is another mostly stellar Road Runner short with a couple of terrific gags.

My Rating – 4