Scenographic props · Looney Tunes · December 2012

The ACME catalogue.

Every piece from Warner's ACME catalogue — the rocket bomb, the dynamite, the anvil, the revolver, the boulder that drops on the Coyote's head. Sculpted one by one.

Story

One act

The seven archetypes
of the animated cartoon.

December 2012. We're commissioned to produce a set of oversize props inspired by the imaginary catalogue of ACME Corporation — the fictional factory that supplies the gadgets to Wile E. Coyote in Warner's shorts. Seven iconic pieces, each one recognisable at a glance by anyone who grew up in front of the Sunday-morning television.

First comes the rocket bomb — the Coyote's signature piece. Bright red cylinder, "ACME" lettering in block yellow across the belly, dark-red conical tip, blue stabiliser fins, little tripod legs. Sculpted in the round in fibreglass over a steel armature, with an acrylic finish saturated like a cartoon.

Then the dynamite: six red cylinders stacked in a bundle, tied at the centre by a band, with a small round black detonator with lever on top — the classic trigger of the Bugs Bunny gags. The cartoon revolver: satin steel grey, cylinder, rounded grip, profile deliberately "out of proportion" as in the animated drawing. A glossy black ACME anvil — the one that drops on the Coyote's head when the branch snaps. An irregular boulder in faux stone — the Coyote's other weapon against the Road Runner. A grey jukebox-box gun.

Constant technique: hand-carved expanded polystyrene for the large shapes (the bomb, the anvil, the boulder), layered fibreglass for stiffness, saturated acrylic spray finish — the red of a comic, the yellow of a flag, the steel grey.

The photos in our archive document two site days: 29 November 2012 when the boulder and the anvil are still in primer, and 10 December when the complete set poses for the final photos in the workshop, ready for delivery.

Trio of finished ACME props in the Creation Art workshop: on the left the red rocket bomb with yellow ACME lettering and blue fins, in the centre the grey cartoon revolver with cylinder and rounded grip, on the right the dynamite with six red cylinders and round black detonator on top; in the background drums and workshop materials — The full trio — bomb, revolver, dynamite

The ACME rocket bomb seen up close: bright red cylinder about a metre and a half long, 'ACME' lettering in block yellow on the belly, dark-red conical tip, blue stabiliser fins, tripod legs; in the background machinery and sacks from the workshop — The ACME bomb, close up

The anvil — the one that drops on the Coyote

The catalogue

Seven objects
of slapstick comedy.

Each one a precise quotation of a scene from the Looney Tunes. Seen together in the workshop yard, they look like an ACME merchandise catalogue ready for dispatch.

The ACME rocket bomb in the workshop during finishing: red cylinder still matte with freshly painted yellow ACME lettering, dark-red conical tip, blue fins, tripod legs; in the background the archive of sculptures in the Creation Art workshop — The bomb — final painting stage

The cartoon revolver, front view

A pair of pieces on the workshop bench: top left the red ACME rocket bomb with blue fins, foreground right the dynamite with six red cylinders stacked in a bundle and round black detonator on top, resting on a red foam base — Dynamite and bomb, side by side

The finished set of ACME props, overall view in the workshop yard: on the right the ACME rocket bomb, in the foreground the dynamite with six cylinders, in the background classical column reproductions in storage and workshop equipment — The complete set in the yard

The ACME boulder sculpted in faux stone: irregular flattened-egg shape, eroded stone-effect surface in brown-grey, about a metre across, resting on a white polystyrene base in the workshop, in the background reproductions of white classical statues — The boulder — the anti-Road Runner weapon

Behind the scenes

Translating the animated cartoon
into oversize matter.

The constraint of an ACME prop set is that every piece must be immediately recognisable: the visitor or the viewer needs to identify it in the split second the camera frames it, and smile at the quotation. Everything hinges on saturated colour and graphic profile.

The cartoon shape

The rocket bomb isn't a realistic bomb: it's Chuck Jones' bomb — exaggerated proportions, tripod legs, "ACME" lettering in block yellow on the belly. We sculpt while looking at the original frames of the Warner shorts: the profile has to be that one, not a generic bomb.

Comic-book saturated colours

The palette is the one of cartoon typography: bright red, flag yellow, steel grey, glossy anthracite. The surfaces are painted with automotive spray to get the uniform flatness of the comic — no modulations, no glazes, no realistic shading. It's a flat, brilliant colour like in 1950s animation.

Seven archetypes in two weeks

The seven pieces (bomb, dynamite, revolver, anvil, boulder, large boulder, extra object) are produced in batch in our workshops in two weeks of work: each one starts from polystyrene, stiffened in fibreglass, polished with spray. It's an exercise in delivery speed — because a brand-related commercial set lives in the window display during promotional seasons, with no pauses.

different ACME props, from Wile E. Coyote's catalogue

2 weeks

of build time, from late November to mid-December 2012

1950s

the reference decade — Chuck Jones' classic animation

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Set of oversize scenographic props · ACME brand from Looney Tunes
Reference: The Warner Bros Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies shorts · Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Build period: November — December 2012
The seven pieces: ACME rocket bomb — red with yellow lettering, blue stabiliser fins · dynamite with six stacked cylinders and detonator · steel-grey cartoon revolver · glossy black ACME anvil · boulder/rock in faux stone · alternative large boulder
Techniques: Hand-carved expanded polystyrene · layered fibreglass reinforcement · saturated cartoon acrylic spray finish (bright red, flag yellow, steel grey, anthracite)
Our role: Full build of the prop set — sculpting, reinforcement, polychrome finish
Second life: All seven ACME props kept in the rental catalogue for shoots, brand fairs, Warner-related commercial displays

Second life

The ACME bomb doesn't expire.

The seven ACME props from 2012 are still all here: the red rocket bomb, the dynamite, the cartoon revolver, the anvil, the boulders. They've entered our rental catalogue and come back into use every time a Warner brand or a Looney Tunes-related event calls us. Fibreglass doesn't expire — more than ten years have passed since the sculpting and every piece is still like day one.

The flat saturated colour techniques developed here have entered our repertoire for "comic-book comedy" scenography: we find them applied to the sets of Il Braccio e la Mente for Mediaset, to Topo Gigio Show on Italia 1, and to many other commissions where a three-dimensional comic-book aesthetic is needed.