The Looney Tunes shorts include some of the most iconic characters in animation history, if not the entire Warner Bros. library. Yet it’s impossible to ignore the studio’s abysmal treatment of the Looney Tunes brand in recent years, particularly during the David Zaslav era. Coyote vs. Acme is the ultimate example of this, and the saga of how it was completed, then shelved as a tax write-off, only to finally get a theatrical release after massive online backlash, could be a movie in of itself. That film wouldn’t feature nearly as many visual gags, but it might still be fascinating.

Thankfully, we now have Coyote vs. Acme, courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment stepping in to distribute the film after Warner Bros. finally sold the rights. So that’s one happy ending. The other is that, after the long wait, Coyote vs. Acme is a genuine delight: a hilarious slapstick comedy-turned-legal thriller—inspired by, of all things, a satirical New Yorker article—that features all the mayhem and hijinks you’d expect from these beloved characters. All of this is linked by an emotionally touching story of persevering against impossible odds, be it a massive conglomerate or a super-fast Road Runner.

The rivalry between Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner is one of Looney Tunes’ most enduring gags because of its simplicity and brilliant visual comedy. The coyote forever chases his prey across the desert, employing various tricks and hare-brained schemes only for them to inevitably backfire in comical (and painful) fashion. He never quits, but he never wins either. When we meet Wile E., he’s going through the motions of another scheme, utilizing magnet gloves and rocket skates to capture Road Runner that go about as well as expected. Beat up and fed up with being a failure, Wile E. realizes the problem lies with his forever-backfiring Acme tools and decides to take legal action against the company.

Inspired by an ad for the law firm Avery, Jones & Maltese (itself a nod to several animation legends), Wile E. visits Albuquerque, New Mexico, to plead his case. Unfortunately, his Harvard-educated lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) is more of a folder than a fighter. (Given the setting, imagine Saul Goodman if he were a sad sack rather than a sleazeball.) Despite representing injured cartoon characters, Kevin would rather settle for mere hundreds than meaningfully go after Acme in court. Even though Kevin’s niece Paige (Lana Condor) sees the good he could do with Wile E.’s case, he remains uninterested. That is, until Wile E. literally torches a settlement agreement and puts both of them in Acme’s crosshairs, prompting Kevin’s legal and former academic rival Buddy Crane (John Cena) to make an example of Wile E.’s tomfoolery.

What begins as a personal injury trial soon spirals into something darker as Kevin and Wile E. discover how far back Acme’s villainous enterprise goes, including the disappearance of cartoon scientist Dr. Lorre in the 1990s. This, of course, means political thriller-inspired cameos by the Looney Tunes gang, from Daffy Duck as a literal committed quack to Foghorn Leghorn as a depraved CEO and Bugs Bunny as a Deep Throat–style whistleblower. It’s absurdity played with deadly seriousness, and in between the evidence gathering and falling anvils is where Coyote vs. Acme serves up comedy gold.

While the film’s cel-shaded Looney Tunes models are a slight departure from past live-action/animated hybrids like Space Jam, they work due to a clever blend of animated and practical effects. It is not quite Who Framed Roger Rabbit seamless, but impressive work nonetheless. In one especially impressive chase scene, human characters utilize cartoon gizmos to pursue the coyote on a busy highway, demonstrating shrewd comedic staging from director Dave Green while evolving into a gag-filled riot.

What’s more remarkable is how the script by Samy Burch, with story credits by James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, doesn’t rely on gags alone. There is a genuinely touching buddy comedy act here between Wile E. and Kevin as two opposite faces of failure: one who refuses to quit, and one perpetually scared of trying. In taking Wile E.’s plight seriously, the film recognizes the humanity in this unlucky predator’s refusal to give up, and a single, unexpectedly moving remark during the climax highlights how that persistence is acknowledged from the other side at a Senate hearing.

Why the executives at Warner Bros. ever thought burying the movie was a sensible idea, we probably don’t want to know. But it is here, and alongside The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Coyote vs. Acme makes a very strong case for why this brand of comedy remains timeless, regardless of dimensions or corporate interference. You’ll be laughing in the theater faster than you can shout “Meep meep.”