Not to be confused with A.C.M.E. An Italian railmodel manufacturer. Known for their high detailed models.
The name Acme comes from the Ancient Greekἀκμή (akmē) meaning 'summit', 'highest point', 'extremity', or 'peak'.[1] It has been falsely claimed to be an acronym, either for "A Company Making Everything", "American Companies Make Everything", or "American Company that Manufactures Everything".[2][3] During the 1920s, the word was commonly used in the names of businesses in order to be listed toward the beginning of alphabetized telephone directories like the Yellow Pages, and implied being the best. It is used in an ironic sense in cartoons, because the products are often failure-prone or explosive.[4]
Warner Brothers animator Chuck Jones described the reason 'Acme' was used in cartoons at the time:
Since we had to search out our own entertainment, we devised our own fairy stories. If you wanted a bow and arrow you got a stick. If you wanted to conduct an orchestra you got a stick. If you wanted a duel you used a stick. You couldn't go and buy one; that's where the terms Acme came from. Whenever we played a game where we had a grocery store or something we called it the ACME corporation. Why? Because in the yellow pages if you looked, say, under drugstores, you'd find the first one would be Acme Drugs. Why? Because "AC" was about as high as you could go; it means the best; the superlative.[6]
Whistles and traffic lights
A whistle named 'Acme City', made from mid-1870s onwards by J Hudson & Co, followed by the "Acme Thunderer", and "Acme siren" in 1895, were the early brand names bearing the names with the word 'Acme'. At the time the Acme Traffic Signal Company produced the traffic lights in Los Angeles, the city where Warner Bros. was making its cartoons. Instead of today's amber/yellow traffic light, bells rang as the small red and green lights with "Stop" and "Go" semaphore arms changed — a process that took five seconds.[7]
In film and TV
Examples which specifically reference the Wile E. Coyote cartoon character include:
Films, shows and cartoons based on Looney Tunes characters often deal with Acme Corporation.
The 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit attempted to explain Acme's inner workings in detail. The plot is centered on the murder of the corporation's owner, Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye). Many of the film's scenes involve Acme products and its final scenes are set in an Acme warehouse.
The Tiny Toon Adventures series expanded on Acme's influence, with the entire setting of the show taking place in a city called "Acme Acres". The show's young protagonists attended "Acme Looniversity". In one episode, the coyote sues Acme, accusing it of making products that are unsafe.[8]
In August 2018, Warner Bros. announced they were developing a Coyote vs. Acme animated movie, with Chris McKay producing and Jon and Josh Silberman writing the script.[9] By December 2019, the project was reportedly looking for a writer, though Jon and Josh Silberman remained as producers, while Dave Green signed on to direct.[10][11] A year later, James Gunn was announced as both producer and writer on the project with a release date of July 21, 2023.[12][13] In February 2022, it was announced that John Cena would star as Acme's lawyer.[14] The film was removed from the release schedule in April 2022, and officially cancelled in November 2023.[15][16] However, public backlash from fans, filmmakers and other creatives in the entertainment industry forced Warner Bros. to reverse that decision and allow the filmmakers to shop the film to other distributors.[17] In February 2024 it was announced that Warner would be going through with cancelling the film after all.[18] On March 10, 2024, Writer of the film, Samy Burch has said that conversations ongoing to release the film. [19]
The corporation is mentioned in Animaniacs, such as the Acme song from Cookies for Einstein, and Pinky and the Brain's home in Acme Labs. In Wakko's Wish, the Animaniacs feature film, characters live in the village of Acme Falls.
External World, a short film by David OReilly, features Acme Retirement Castle, a dystopian retirement facility for disabled cartoon characters.
In the 1998 Spanish film The Miracle of P. Tinto, Acme is referenced along a equally fictional competing spanish business, Mikasa, a pun on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. When a Mikasa product appears on screen, it is announced in the same tone acme products are in the spanish dubbing of Looney Tunes.
In the 1978 animated special Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper (written, directed, and co-produced by Chuck Jones), Acme is credited as making Gloopstick, touted as a clear indestructible compound to perfectly preserve toys. Gloopstick is brought to Santa Claus' workshop by "inefficiency expert" Alexander Graham Wolf, who strongly resembles Wile E. Coyote in appearance & voice.
Music
Bell X1's song "One Stringed Harp" includes the lyric "Like Wile E. Coyote/As if the fall wasn't enough/Those bastards from Acme/They got more nasty stuff".
Joey Green wrote "Cliff-hanger Justice", a fictional account of a product liability lawsuit by Wile E. Coyote against Acme, which appeared in three parts in the August, September, and October 1982 issues of National Lampoon magazine.[21]
Ian Frazier wrote a fictional legal complaint "Coyote v. Acme", which was published in The New Yorker in 1990[22] and later became the title piece of a short fiction collection.[23] The story would have been the inspiration for the film Coyote vs. Acme, but there have been problems that caused the delay and the presumed cancellation of the movie.[12][13][15][16]
Other
The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network provides an "Acme::" namespace which contains many humorous, useless and abstract modules for the Perl programming language. It was named "in homage to that greatest of all absurd system creators: Wile E. Coyote."[24]
ACME Communications was a former U.S. broadcasting company established by former Fox Broadcasting Company executive Jamie Kellner. The stations were affiliated with Warner Bros' broadcast television network The WB, for which he was also a founding executive, and the Acme name was a reference to the cartoon.[25][26]
Peggy Stern and John Canemaker (filmmakers) (March 24, 2009). Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood (Documentary). Turner Classic Movies and Warner Bros. Event occurs at 12 min. Retrieved April 29, 2009.