I SO WISH I COULD RECALL the first time I experienced the non-stop barrage of cartoon shows on Saturday morning television. It is funny; I can see myself sitting at the table and chair that was sized to accommodate my three or four year old size and make me feel like a grownup, without needing a booster seat or old telephone book. The only time I sat there on a Saturday morning was to eat my breakfast; otherwise, I would have taken the pillows off of my bed and placed them on the floor so I could lie closer to the television set to watch my shows. Whoever came up with the idea to air cartoon shows on Saturday morning was a genius as far as I was concerned. One of my favorite things to do on Saturdays was to get up earlier than anyone else, quietly tiptoe into the living room, turn the TV on, and dial the volume down so as not to wake anyone, then sit very close to the set to not only hear everything, but to make the cartoon characters seem bigger than they actually were in my mind’s eye. And with getting up so early, I discovered before all the cartoon shows started, there were a couple of live action series that aired that I became obsessed with, causing me to actively try and get up early every week to see them.      THE TWO SHOWS WERE FLASH GORDON and Commander Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe. I fell in love with these two shows, not knowing they were reruns. It would not have mattered, because I watched the series over and over to the point I knew within the opening scenes what would happen in the episode. And to show you the nerd in me, in my teens I discovered some of the music played in Flash Gordon was composed by Franz Lizst. I bought a record album of his compositions that included this music and began playing it every day for months on end. With these two shows as my warmup, once the cartoons started I remained in place in front of the television for three to four hours; I only left to go to the bathroom during the commercial breaks. My favorite shows were The Jetsons, The Flinstones, Mighty Mouse Playhouse, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, and Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies. Not long after a new show was introduced that captured my attention, The Road Runner Show. Looking back, I do not know why I became so enthralled with it, but I have to tell you, seeing this adventure comedy brought back a flood of memories and warm feelings for me.      AFTER SPENDING YEARS BUYING DEVICES FROM the Acme Company that never worked in capturing the Road Runner, Wily E. Coyote decided to sue the company. All he needed was a good lawyer. With Will Forte (Nebraska, The Last Man on Earth-TV) as Kevin Avery, Lana Condor (Moonshot, Patriots Day) as Paige Avery, John Cena (Heads of State, Ricky Stanicky) as Buddy Crane, Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest, Trigger Warning) as Sal Maltese, and Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights, Keanu) as Judge Troppogrosso; this live action/part animated movie had a similar look to the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I enjoyed the visuals, the story line, and especially the cameo appearances. The script was original, simple and quite clever. I do not know if very young children would appreciate this picture; I felt the writers wrote the script for adults as well as their children. Interestingly, there were only adults in the viewing I attended. To sit back and be in the moment as the action was taking place, plus remembering those times I sat and watched the show as a little boy, I had a wonderful viewing experience and left the theater in such a happy mood; you might too. 

3 stars