Critical Darlings

“Coyote Vs. Acme” And The Great Ketchup Rescue (With Connor Ratliff)

Critical Darlings

Show Notes

After an absurd and depressing attempt by David Zaslov to bury Coyote Vs. Acme, it’s finally in theaters. What’s more, it’s great, making WB’s attempts to shelve the movie for a tax write-off seem all the feckless.

Rescued by the odd-duck distributor Ketchup Entertainment, the movie is a corporate satire and legal thriller about culpability and justice in a world stacked against the little guy—represented by the character of Wiley Coyote, and Will Forte, as Coyote’s ambulance-chasing attorney.

Today we’re joined by Looney Tunes expert Connor Ratliff, of The George Lucas Talk Show, Connor Ratliff’s Presents The Acting Class,⁠ Dead Eyes, and more, to discuss the movie, its rocky history, and a great deal of Looney Tunes lore. We get into a history of Ketchup, the movie’s surprisingly heartfelt center, which Looney Tunes are MAGA, and get into a little behind-the-scenes discussion with the help from Connor, including some of the film’s notable absences, and Senator Elmer Fudd’s official political affiliation.

Next week, we’re going to Camp Miasma! See you then. 

Email us! [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More from Critical Darlings

Oct 22, 2026

Critical Darlings is going LIVE at The Savannah Film Festival!

Oct 15, 2026

Critical Darlings is going LIVE at The Savannah Film Festival!

Oct 8, 2026

🚨🚨🚨 Big News! 🚨🚨🚨

Oct 1, 2026

Heads up to listeners, this episode includes sensitive discussions of abuse due to the nature of the film.

Sep 26, 2026

In this bonus episode: After a month of festival hopping, we're back in the studio to discuss the fall festival season, its big premieres, and paint a very rough picture of how award season is shaping up. But first, we take a question from the mailbag to demystify the fall festival circuit and how these giant star-studded events actually work.

See all episodes →