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ART AND FILM | SANTA FE

Anvils and art

As ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ hits theaters, Chuck Jones Gallery showcases art by the character’s creator

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Chuck Jones Gallery

LOCATION: 126 W. Water St., Santa Fe, 

After nearly 80 years of failing to catch the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote is finally taking his corporate supplier to court. In the new live-action/animated comedy “Coyote vs. Acme,” starring Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena, the cunning canine sues the Acme Corporation for the faulty gadgets that fueled his decades of disaster.

The film faced its own real-world when Warner Bros. shelved it for a tax break in 2023. Distributor Ketchup Entertainment saved the project for $50 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and it finally arrives in theaters on Friday, Aug. 28.

Coinciding with the film’s release, Chuck Jones Gallery in Santa Fe is exhibiting original animation cels and prints of Wile E. Coyote by the character’s creator, Chuck Jones.

“People can go watch the film, then come here, and we’ll have Coyote and Road Runner artwork featured in the gallery,” Toshi Sanchez, the gallery’s director, said.

One of the highlights from their inventory is a limited edition giclée print based on a drawing of Wile E. Coyote that Jones made for his daughter, Linda, in 1952.

“It’s kind of my showstopper that I’ve got in the window — a piece called ‘For Linda at 15,’” Sanchez said.

Although Jones created Wile E. Coyote in 1948, he was still fine-tuning the character in 1952 before the release of the second Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, “Beep, Beep,” later that year.

“It’s a rough sketch, and I just love that you can see that he had the idea down, he had the pose down, and he really just expanded on it once he nailed the characters,” Sanchez said.

The original Coyote and Road Runner cartoons were set in the deserts of New Mexico, and “Coyote vs. Acme” was filmed in Albuquerque. Jones, a classically trained art student who graduated from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, was inspired by the example of Georgia O’Keeffe to visit New Mexico, and he returned to the state regularly beginning in the 1950s.

“Chuck Jones said he would come here and visit Santa Fe, and he was fascinated with O’Keeffe country and the kind of colors that were here,” Sanchez said. “So, when you look at the Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, they have huge influence from the Southwest, and those backgrounds were always a tribute to New Mexico.”

New Mexico inspired other Jones cartoons, from Marvin the Martian — a spoof on the 1947 Roswell UFO conspiracy story — to his running gag of having Bugs Bunny get lost in Albuquerque.

“Chuck was just a huge, huge fan of New Mexico,” Sanchez said. “And one of his first gallery shows he had was here in New Mexico. It wasn’t our company, but it was a small gallery that requested some animation pieces. Obviously, it went over extremely well, and the family felt like there was a need to have a gallery here. And we’ve been here 35 years.”

Jones’ family owns the gallery, which has a second location in San Diego. Jones’ grandson, Craig Kausen, is the CEO, and his daughter, Linda Jones Clough, remains involved, as well.

“Most of the (Coyote and Road Runner) pieces … will be things coming directly from the family archives,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the family watched an advance screening of “Coyote vs. Acme” and told him they were thrilled with it.

“They said it was in the vein that Chuck and all the animators wanted the characters to look like … and the gags to look like,” Sanchez said.

Kausen told , “The characters are woven into the story so easily and seamlessly to perfection.”

Jones Clough added that her father never believed Coyote and Road Runner could sustain the narrative demands of a feature-length film.

“I think this movie proves him wrong,” she said in an interview with the same publication.

For the Chuck Jones Gallery, 2026 is a momentous year. In addition to celebrating their 35th anniversary and the release of “Coyote vs. Acme,” the gallery is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66, which features in many of Jones’ cartoons, and the 60th anniversary of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Jones’ iconic collaboration with Dr. Seuss.

A few Wile E. Coyote pieces are currently on view at the gallery, and a more substantive exhibition is tentatively scheduled for late September. Visit for more information.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the ϼ. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .