Iowa’s Favorite Looney Tunes Character is Also in New ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Movie
To celebrate the release of Coyote vs. Acme, a website published a piece determining each state's favorite Looney Tunes character.
The website is Coventry Direct, and their team analyzed Google Trends search interest from the past 12 months in effort to determine the most popular Tune in every state. I found this study to be fun, for one, but I always wanted to seize this opportunity to tell you why you should see Coyote vs. Acme in theaters, either this weekend or in the near future.
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Coyote vs. Acme Almost Didn't See a Release:
In 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that they would be shelving the then-completed Coyote vs. Acme in favor of a tax write-off. A similar move was made to the Batgirl movie around that time, and that became one of the most expensive movies to be flat-out scrapped after it was finished.
The outcry was incredible. Fans were outraged that a promising live-action/animation hybrid featuring iconic Looney Tunes characters like Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner was to be scrapped. Actors, filmmakers, and crewmembers were disgusted at the prospect that a movie hundreds of thousands of people worked diligently to complete could be nixed in favor of corporate gain. The internet was in a meltdown.
Warner Bros. Discovery decided to put the film up for sale to prospective buyers. Suddenly, Goliath found their David: Ketchup Entertainment, a much smaller independent production/distribution company, who also acquired the 2024 Looney Tunes movie The Day the Earth Blew Up. In 2025, Ketchup paid $50 million to acquire the distribution rights to Coyote vs. Acme, a substantial amount for a studio of Ketchup's caliber to pay.
Now, the film is in theaters. Having caught an early screening of it, it is a must-see. Starring Will Forte and John Cena, it's a spirited evolution of the classic Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons, it's a blisteringly funny courtroom comedy, and its satirical bite is strong enough to be felt. Please consider making time for it in theaters and supporting a movie that we almost didn't get to see for no other reason than greed.
Iowa's Favorite Looney Tune:
Now that I got that out of my system, I'll let you know that Coventry Direct found that the Tasmanian Devil (aka "Taz") is the favorite Looney Tunes character for Iowans. That's a really curious choice. Personally, I found him to be amusing in bursts (no pun intended), but he's far from my personal favorite character. I do wonder if there's a correlation between tornadoes being prevalent in Iowa and Taz's alleged popularity in the Hawkeye State. Taz also plays a small-but-pivotal role in Coyote vs. Acme.
It should come as no surprise that Bugs Bunny was the most popular Tune (10 states), including Illinois. Meanwhile, Wisconsin is partial to Elmer Fudd (something to do with hunting up north?). Psychoanalyzing these choices might be the most fun outcome of the exercise.
With Coyote vs. Acme now in theaters, I had the privilege of chatting with Candi Milo, who voices three of the characters in the film. Milo's voice has been a staple in animated shows and movies for decades, and she's a spirited soul with great energy. You can take a listen to that interview below, and view Coventry Direct's full study on Looney Tunes characters on their website.