Of all the places in America where Wile E. Coyote could finally get his day in court, none may be more fitting than the American Museum of Tort Law in Winsted, Connecticut.
Last week, the Museum hosted a special screening of Coyote vs. Acme, the long-awaited live-action/animated courtroom comedy that asks a question generations of Looney Tunes fans may have wondered – after all those exploding gadgets, malfunctioning contraptions, and spectacular ACME product failures, does Wile E. Coyote have a case?
In the film, he decides to find out. Wile E. Coyote takes on the ACME Corporation in court, with the help of Kevin Avery, a personal injury lawyer played by Will Forte.
What follows is a story about defective products, corporate power, accountability, and an underdog turning to the civil justice system.
In other words, it may be the most American Museum of Tort Law movie ever made.
The story behind Coyote vs. Acme makes the Museum’s screening even more remarkable. The completed film was shelved by Warner Bros. in 2023, setting off an extraordinary backlash from filmmakers, movie fans, and supporters who wanted Coyote vs Acme released.
After years of uncertainty and a persistent public campaign to save it – in 2025, Ketchup Entertainment acquired worldwide rights to the film, giving it a path to be released to audiences everywhere.
It’s a movie about a little guy taking on a giant corporation and became a story about people refusing to let a giant corporation make something disappear.
That theme resonates with the mission of the American Museum of Tort Law: illuminating how the civil justice system can give injured people a voice, hold powerful institutions accountable, and encourage safer practices.
Founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, the Museum is the first and only institution of its kind devoted to educating the public about tort law, the law of wrongful injuries, and the civil justice system.
The Museum’s exhibits tell the stories behind landmark cases involving defective products, dangerous corporate practices, and ordinary people who challenged powerful defendants. Coyote vs. Acme takes many of those same ideas and gives them the full Looney Tunes treatment. Anvils included.
The Museum invited families, film lovers, Looney Tunes fans, lawyers, students, and anyone who has ever wondered why Wile E. Coyote kept ordering from ACME to the Museum’s theater – and the show was sold out.
Melissa Bird is the executive director of the Tort Museum.
What is the American Museum of Tort Law?
“It is a museum devoted to the law of wrongful injury and the civil justice system,” Bird told Corporate Crime Reporter in an interview last week. “It was founded by Ralph Nader. We are now growing to include civics education. Along with the Mark Twain House, the Fairfield Museum, the Connecticut State House – twelve altogether – we are sharing a large grant to provide civics education through museum trips. We are now housing programming that is an option for all students in the state of Connecticut.”
“We do also obviously have a lot of law students and lawyers who come through here. But we are definitely expanding it to all students in Connecticut who want to learn about corporate power and the civil justice system.”
What is in the museum?
“There are exhibits that explain major tort law cases – the McDonald’s hot coffee case, the Pinto, the Corvair – cases like that. There is a timeline that explains the evolution of tort law, how it came to the United States.”
“You walk into another gallery which has exhibits about precedent setting cases. We received a generous grant to upgrade our theater. We are now trying to show films and host many more in person events.”
“When you first come, you can watch a short film introducing tort law. It’s very much what you might have seen on an old fashioned field trip. It’s educational. When you walk out of the theater after watching this short 14 minute film, you have a very good idea of what tort law is.”
“The next room you enter contains these large interactive boards. They look almost like large IPads. You can press different buttons to learn about the evolution of tort law in the United States. We have a small room devoted to toys that harm children.”
“Then you walk into the main room which houses a red Corvair and large exhibits.”
“In addition to the Corvair case and the McDonald’s case, we have exhibits on tobacco litigation, asbestos, the flaming rat, the Ford Pinto.”
“Part of the reason the museum is so popular is that when you walk in, you don’t have to have a law background, you don’t have to understand anything about the law to leave having a really good idea of what tort law means. And people realize that this is a tool that should be protected.”
The founder is Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, who was born and raised in Winsted, Connecticut. And he decided to put the museum there. One issue that is raised often by visitors is – why not put it in a big city like Washington, D.C. where more people can discover it?
“When people raise the issue, I say – yes, it might have made it easier for more people to visit it if it were in a big city. Ralph found it important to take care of his own town, especially the young students, to educate them about the law and how it protects people.”
“We do find that people will travel to Winsted. We have visitors come here from everywhere. We’ve had law students drive from Texas just to visit the museum. Yale law students come every fall to visit. Ralph is very generous and will get on the phone and speak with them while they are touring. That’s kind of a treat. We also do virtual programming so that you can access the museum from anywhere in the world.”
“We try to accommodate everyone. I’m kind of a yes person. When someone has a good idea for the museum, we try to make that happen here. I don’t know that you can always do things like that in a big city.”
You had some publicity for the museum this past week. There was an article in the Hartford Courant. You hosted a movie – Coyote v. Acme. And it sold out. How did that come about?
“Coyote vs. Acme began as an article in the New Yorker. It was about the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote. Coyote hires an attorney to sue Acme, which Coyote believes had been selling him faulty products. It was later released as a book of essays. Then Warner Bros. made a film in 2019. But Warner Bros. decided to shelve it for tax purposes. Ultimately, Ketchup Entertainment bought the rights to the film for $50 million and it was released this week.”
“The Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote was always trying to catch the Road Runner. Coyote would purchase all kinds of contraptions from Acme Corporation. He would buy roller skates and exploding gadgets to be able to catch the Road Runner.”
“In the Looney Tunes cartoons, he would ultimately be injured by these products. Either the roller skates wouldn’t work properly, or if he were flying something, it would crash, or the malfunctioning gadgets would explode. So he decides he’s going to take the Acme Corporation to court.”
“He goes out and finds a personal injury lawyer. And the film is about Wile Coyote taking on the big corporation. It’s about civil accountability – exactly what the Tort Museum was created to teach.”
“It was a bit challenging to set this up. But we eventually got to speak with Bryce Campbell of Falling Forward Films. He was terrific to work with. He allowed us to screen the film this past weekend at the Tort Museum. We sold out our theater.”
“We hope to do more films in the future. And everyone had a wonderful time. People left laughing. Many of the people hadn’t been to the museum previously, so they took this moment to tour the museum, talk to staff here and learn about it. They were buying our merchandise, including the flaming Pinto t-shirt.”
What’s the capacity of the theater?
“We can seat anywhere from 85 to 100 people.”
A few years ago, we put out a list of the top 100 corporate crime movies. What about the idea of showing regular corporate crime movies at the museum?
“I love that idea. Another idea is a film festival. And we will definitely have an audience locally.”
Did you serve popcorn?
“Yes. And we served what we called a Coyote Compensation Box that contained a water bottle, popcorn and a chocolate. We had other items. We had a roaring concession stand.”
What about a torte bar, where you serve high end pastries?
“I love that. Also, there is a brewery in town – Little Red Barn Brewers. They created a beer and called it Unsafe at Any Sip. All of the proceeds from the sale of that beer went to benefit the museum.”
The screening of Coyote v. Acme must have been one of the greatest hits of the museum in recent years.
“Yes. It was playful. It was popular culture. That really helped. We do a lot of community programming. We have become quite popular. We had a Frederick Douglass narrator who came this summer. He was terrific.”
You also do serious tort related community events. You had a series of discussions about artificial stone silicosis.
That was one of the best events at the Tort Museum. It had to do with artificial stone, which is used for kitchen countertops. And the problem is that when the workers cut the artificial stone, the dust they breathe in causes silicosis of the lungs. And it’s debilitating and killing these mostly immigrant workers at a very young age.
“Yes. It was an all day symposium here at the Museum. It was in April of this year. We had speakers from all over the United States and from Australia. People flew in from around the country. Yale Professors came to attend the event.”
“The lawyers who bring these cases brought with them two of the victims in person and one by Zoom. It was incredibly painful to watch. One of the men who has a stone cutting business in Kentucky. He was in his 40s. And he is dying from silicosis.”
“He brought his son into the business. His son is in his early 20s. And his son is now dying from this. And generally people do not know about this.”
What percentage of people who come to the museum just are driving by and happen across it and stop in?
“We are now open six days a week. So yes, we do get people who just drive by and stop in. Or we are also getting people who have driven by it for years and decide – Oh my gosh, maybe today is the day. But the majority of people who come here come here intentionally. A good percentage of people are law students or work in the field. We have made many relations with the Connecticut schools and colleges and they give extra credit to their students for coming to the museum.”
“We do have a following now. We have many young people now coming through the doors. But we also do tours for senior centers and assisted living facilities. And they love it because they have heard about the cases.”
“Every year we do Tort Law Education Day at the end of October.”
Other than the artificial stone seminar, what were some others that were popular?
“The food safety seminars do well. We did one with Bill Marler. We did one on Loser Pays. The one we are working on right now is going to be on the litigation against the social media companies like Meta. We are working on fabricating a new exhibit on the case against Remington – the Sandy Hook case.”
[For the complete q/a transcript Interview with Melissa Bird, 40 Corporate Crime Reporter 36(12), September 21, 2026, print edition only.]