Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of
cartoon characters
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in ...
from the ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '' and ''
Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...
'' series of
animated cartoons
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short ''
Fast and Furry-ous
''Fast and Furry-ous'' is a 1949 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on September 17, 1949, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, in their debut.
This wa ...
''. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the
Road Runner, but is successful in catching the Road Runner (but not eating it) on only extremely rare occasions. Instead of his animal instincts, the coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions (generally
in the manner of Rube Goldberg) to try to catch his prey, which comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are
mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the
Acme Corporation
The ACME Corporation is a name for the fictional corporation appearing in various Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, where it was used as a running gag due to their wide array of products that are dangerous, unreliable or preposterous.
Origin
The n ...
.
One
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
involves the coyote trying, in vain, to shield himself with a little parasol against a great falling boulder that is about to crush him. Another involves him falling from high cliffs, after momentarily being suspended in midair—as if the fall is delayed until he realizes that there is nothing below him. The rest of the scene, shot from a
bird's-eye view
A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a draw ...
, shows him falling into a canyon so deep that his figure is eventually lost to sight, with only a small puff of dust indicating his impact. The coyote is notably a brilliant artist, capable of quickly painting incredibly lifelike renderings of such things as tunnels and roadside scenes, in further (and equally futile) attempts to deceive the bird.
The characters were created for
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
in 1948 by
animation director
An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
and writer
Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American story man for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director Chuck Jones, notably "Wha ...
, with Maltese also setting the template for their adventures. The characters star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts (the first 16 of which were written by Maltese) and occasional made-for-television cartoons. Originally meant to parody chase-cartoon characters like ''
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
'', they became popular in their own right.
The coyote appears separately as an occasional
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist.
Etymology
The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...
of
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
in five shorts from 1952 to 1963: ''
Operation: Rabbit'', ''
To Hare Is Human'', ''
Rabbit's Feat
''Rabbit's Feat'' is an animated 1960 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on June 4, 1960, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote
Wile E. Coyote and the Ro ...
'', ''
Compressed Hare
''Compressed Hare'' is a 1961 '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on July 29, 1961, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. This is the final first-run Golden Age short in which Wile E. Coyote speaks, a ...
'', and ''
Hare-Breadth Hurry
''Hare-Breadth Hurry'' is a 1963 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble. The short was released on June 8, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. This is the fifth and final pairing of Bugs and the ...
''. While he is generally silent in the Wile E. Coyote – Road Runner shorts, he speaks with a
refined accent in these solo outings (except for ''
Hare-Breadth Hurry
''Hare-Breadth Hurry'' is a 1963 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble. The short was released on June 8, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. This is the fifth and final pairing of Bugs and the ...
''), beginning with 1952's ''
Operation: Rabbit'', introducing himself as "Wile E. Coyote, Genius", voiced by
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
. Wile E. Coyote additionally speaks in the 1965 short ''
Zip Zip Hooray!
Zip, Zips or ZIP may refer to:
Common uses
* ZIP Code, USPS postal code
* Zipper or zip, clothing fastener
Science and technology Computing
* ZIP (file format), a compressed archive file format
** zip, a command-line program from Info-ZIP
* Z ...
'', where he explains his desire to eat the Road Runner. The Road Runner vocalizes only with his signature "
beep, beep" sound, recorded by
Paul Julian and an accompanying "popping-cork" tongue sound.
[The interviews included in the ]DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
commentary were recorded by animation historian Michael Barrier
Michael J. Barrier (born June 15, 1940) is an American animation historian.
Work
Barrier was the founder and editor of ''Funnyworld'', the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha a ...
for his book ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age''.
By 2020, 50 cartoons had been made featuring the characters (including the four
CGI shorts), the majority by creator
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
.
''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' included Wile E. Coyote in its 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".
Creation
Jones based the coyote on
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's book ''
Roughing It
''Roughing It'' is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature by Mark Twain. It was written in 1870–71 and published in 1872, as a prequel to his first travel book ''The Innocents Abroad'' (1869). ''Roughing It'' is dedicated to Twa ...
'',
in which Twain described the coyote as "a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton" that is "a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is ''always'' hungry." Jones said he created the Wile E. Coyote-Road Runner cartoons as a
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
of traditional "
cat and mouse
Cat and mouse, often expressed as cat-and-mouse game, is an English-language idiom that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes." The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mouse ...
" cartoons such as
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
's ''
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
''.
Jones modelled the coyote's appearance on fellow animator
Ken Harris
Karyl Ross "Ken" Harris (July 31, 1898 – March 24, 1982) was an American animator best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of director Chuck Jones.
Life and career
Ken Harris was born in Tulare County, Calif ...
.
The coyote's name of Wile E. is a pun of the word "wily." The "E" stands for "Ethelbert" in one issue of a Looney Tunes comic book.
The coyote's surname is routinely pronounced with a long "e" ( ), but in one cartoon short, ''
To Hare Is Human'', Wile E. is heard pronouncing it with a
diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
( ). Early model sheets for the character prior to his initial appearance (in ''
Fast and Furry-ous
''Fast and Furry-ous'' is a 1949 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on September 17, 1949, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, in their debut.
This wa ...
'') identified him as "Don Coyote", a pun on
Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...
.
The Road Runner's "
beep, beep sound" was inspired by background artist
Paul Julian's imitation of a
car horn
A horn is a sound-making device that can be equipped to motor vehicles, buses, bicycles, trains, trams (otherwise known as streetcars in North America), and other types of vehicles. The sound made usually resembles a "honk" (older vehicles) or a ...
. Julian voiced the various recordings of the phrase used throughout the Road Runner cartoons, although on-screen he was uncredited for his work. According to animation historian
Michael Barrier
Michael J. Barrier (born June 15, 1940) is an American animation historian.
Work
Barrier was the founder and editor of ''Funnyworld'', the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha a ...
, Julian's preferred spelling of the sound effect was either "hmeep hmeep" or "mweep, mweep".
List of cartoons
:
The series consists of:
* 50 shorts, mostly about 6 to 7 minutes long, but including four web cartoons which are "three-minute, three-dimensional cartoons in widescreen (scope)".
* One half-hour special released theatrically (26 minutes).
* One feature-length film that combines
live action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
and animation
1 Re-edited from ''Adventures of the Road Runner'' by Chuck Jones and with new music direction from Bill Lava
2 Re-edited from ''Adventures of the Road Runner'' by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises
3 These cartoons were each shown with a feature-length film. ''
Chariots of Fur
''Chariots of Fur'' is a seven-minute '' Looney Tunes'' short released in 1994 by Warner Bros. It features Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who introduced the pair in 1949. As in other shorts of the Road Runner ...
'' was shown with ''
Richie Rich'', ''
Coyote Falls
''Coyote Falls'' is a 2010 3D computer-animated ''Looney Tunes'' short film featuring the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and written by Tom Sheppard, it is the first Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner ...
'' was shown with ''
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore'',
''
Fur of Flying
''Fur of Flying'' is a 2010 3D computer-animated '' Looney Tunes'' short film featuring the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and written by Tom Sheppard, the film was first shown in theaters before W ...
'' was shown with ''
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'',
and ''
Rabid Rider'' was shown with ''
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''.
Yogi Bear was the first ...
''.
''
Flash in the Pain
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid F ...
'' was shown at the
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...
on June 10, 2014.
Scenery
The desert scenery in the first three Road Runner cartoons, ''
Fast and Furry-ous
''Fast and Furry-ous'' is a 1949 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on September 17, 1949, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, in their debut.
This wa ...
'' (1949), ''
Beep, Beep'' (1952), and ''
Going! Going! Gosh!'' (also 1952), was designed by
Robert Gribbroek
Robert Gribbroek (March 16, 1906 – October 13, 1971) was a layout artist and background painter at the Warner Bros. Cartoons from 1945 until 1964. He was first credited in Chuck Jones' ''Lost and Foundling'' (1944), and he worked mainly for Jones ...
and was quite realistic. In most later cartoons, the scenery was designed by
Maurice Noble
Maurice James Noble (May 1, 1911 – May 18, 2001) was an American animation production designer, background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate and right-hand man ...
and was far more
abstract.
Acme Corporation
Wile E. Coyote often obtains various complex and ludicrous devices from a mail-order company, the fictitious
Acme Corporation
The ACME Corporation is a name for the fictional corporation appearing in various Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, where it was used as a running gag due to their wide array of products that are dangerous, unreliable or preposterous.
Origin
The n ...
, which he hopes will help him catch the Road Runner. The devices invariably fail in improbable and spectacular fashion.
In August, September and October 1982, the ''
National Lampoon'' published a three-part series chronicling the lawsuit Wile E. filed against the Acme Corporation over the faulty items they sold him in his pursuit of the Road Runner. Even though the Road Runner appeared as a witness for the plaintiff, the coyote still lost the suit.
Laws and rules
In his book ''Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist'', Chuck Jones claimed that he and the artists behind the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons adhered to some simple but strict rules:
# "The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going ‘Beep-Beep!’" This only applies to direct harm; however, the Road Runner is able to indirectly harm Wile E. One of the most common instances of indirect harm was done with a startling "Beep-Beep" that ends up either sending Wile E. off a cliff or up in the air and through a rock above him. Rule 1 was broken twice, once in ''
Clippety Clobbered
''Clippety Clobbered'' is a 1966 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' theatrical animated short directed by Rudy Larriva. The short was released on March 12, 1966, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Plot
Wile E. Coyote waits at his mailbox. ...
'' when the Road Runner drops a boulder on the coyote after painting it with "invisible paint", and again in the episode 'Out and Out Rout' when the Road Runner runs over the Coyote with a steam roller. This rule has also been broken in several CGI shorts from ''
The Looney Tunes Show
''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features cha ...
''.
# "No outside force can harm the Coyote — only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products." Trains and trucks were the exceptions from time to time, as well as the desert environment (boulders, cacti, etc.)
# "The Coyote could stop anytime — ''if'' he were not a fanatic. (Repeat: ‘A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.’ —
George Santayana
Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...
)."
# "No dialogue ever, except 'Beep-Beep!'" Various onomatopoeic exclamations (such as yelping in pain) are seemingly not considered dialogue. This rule was violated in some cartoons, such as in ''
Zoom at the Top'' where the Coyote says the word "Ouch." after he gets hurt in a bear trap, as well as in shorts such as ''Adventures of the Road Runner'', which do not follow the standard formula. Typically, Wile E. Coyote communicates by holding up one or more signs that read such phrases as "
In Heaven's name… what am I ''doing?", "
How about ending this cartoon before I hit?" and "
Okay, wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him / Now what do I do?", among others. The Road Runner sometimes does this too, having used signs with such phrases as "Road Runners can't read", "Road Runners can't read and don't drink", "I've already got a date", "Road Runners already have feathers", and "
I just don't have the heart"/"Bye!", among others.
# "The Road Runner must stay on the road — otherwise, logically, he would not be called a Road Runner." This rule was broken in several shorts, including cactus patches, mines, cliff edges, mountain tops and railways.
# "All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters — the southwest American desert." This rule was broken in ''
Freeze Frame'', when Wile E. discovers that Road Runners hate snow and ice and chases the Road Runner onto a snowy summit. In another episode
War and Pieces the Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner by riding a rocket; instead he ends up going through the ground and ends up in China.
# "All materials tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation." However, there have been instances in which Wile E. utilizes products not obtained from Acme. Amongst other examples, in ''
Rushing Roulette'', the Coyote uses AJAX Stix-All glue. In ''
Zip 'N Snort
''Zip 'n' Snort'' is a 1961 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on January 21, 1961, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Plot
''Introduction'': Wile E. Coyote (everreadii eatibus) poi ...
'', aside from the Acme Iron Pellets, Wile E. also had a box of AJAX Bird Seed.
# "Whenever possible, make
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
the Coyote's greatest enemy." For example, falling off a cliff.
# "The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures."
These rules were not always followed, and in an interview
years after the series was made, principal writer of the original 16 episodes Michael Maltese stated he had never heard of these or any "rules" and dismissed them as "post production observation".
As in other cartoons, the Road Runner and the coyote follow certain laws of
cartoon physics
Cartoon physics or animation physics are terms for a jocular system of laws of physics (and biology) that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect.
Many of the most famous American animated films, particularly those from ...
, peculiar to an animation universe. Some examples:
* Animation vs. Reality Mixing: the Road Runner has the ability to enter the
painted image of a cave, while the coyote cannot (unless there is an opening through which he can fall). Sometimes, however, this is reversed, and the Road Runner can burst through a painting of a broken bridge and continue on his way, while the coyote will instead enter the painting and fall down the precipice of the cliff where the bridge is out.
* Gravity: sometimes the coyote is allowed to hang in mid-air until he realizes that he is about to plummet into a chasm (a process occasionally referred to elsewhere as ''Road-Runnering'' or a ''Wile E. Coyote moment''). The coyote can overtake rocks (or cannons) which fall earlier than he does, and end up being squashed by them. If a chase sequence runs over the edge of a cliff, the Road Runner is not affected by gravity, whereas the coyote will be subject to normal Earth gravity and eventually fall to the ground below. The Road Runner can also stand upon a platform suspended in midair (such as a hole cut out from a bridge by the coyote) where gravity instead causes everything ''but'' that one cut-out area to plummet to the ground.
* The Road Runner is able to run fast enough to go through time.
* If the coyote uses an explosive (commonly dynamite) that is triggered by a mechanism that is supposed to force the explosive in a forward motion toward its target, the actual mechanism ''itself'' will shoot forward, leaving the explosive behind to detonate in the coyote's face. On occasion, the explosive sometimes explodes either too early or too late with the Coyote being caught in the explosion (this gag also appeared in other Looney Tunes series).
* Delayed Reaction: (a) a complex apparatus that is supposed to propel an object like a boulder or steel ball forward, or trigger a trap, will not work on the Road Runner, but always does so perfectly on the coyote - when he inspects it after its failure to ensnare the Road Runner. (b) the Road Runner can jump up and down on the trigger of a large animal trap and eat the intended trap trigger bird seed off it and leave unharmed without setting off the trap; but when the coyote places the tiniest droplet of oil on the trigger, the trap snaps shut on him without fail.
* On other occasions, the coyote dons an exquisite Acme costume or propulsion device that briefly allows him to catch up to the Road Runner, but ultimately always results in him losing track of his proximity to large cliffs or walls, and while the Road Runner darts around an extremely sharp turn near a cliff, defying physics, the coyote succumbs to physics and will rocket right over the edge and plummet spectacularly to the ground.
* In what might be called cartoon biology, the Road Runner always runs faster than the coyote, whilst in reality, a coyote can outrun a greater roadrunner.
Both animals were typically introduced in a similar fashion; the action would slow to a halt, and a caption would appear with both their common name and a mock genus/species name in
pseudo-Latin
Dog Latin or cod Latin is a phrase or jargon that imitates Latin, often by "translating" English words (or those of other languages) into Latin by conjugating or declining them as if they were Latin words. Dog Latin is usually a humorous devi ...
(for example, in ''Zoom at the Top'', the Road Runner was classified as "Disappearialis Quickius", while the coyote was identified as "Overconfidentii Vulgaris").
Later cartoons
The original
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
productions ended in 1963 after
Jack L. Warner
Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...
closed the
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
animation studio. ''
War and Pieces'', the last Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner short directed by Jones, was released on June 6, 1964. By that time,
David H. DePatie
David Hudson DePatie (December 24, 1929 – September 23, 2021) was an American film and television producer who was the last executive in charge of the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio and the longest-living until his death. He also formed ...
and director
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
had formed
DePatie–Freleng Enterprises
DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (also known as Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng Productions when involved with the Mirisch brothers and Geoffrey Productions; and DFE Films) was an American animation production company that was active from 1963 to 1 ...
, moved into the facility just emptied by Warner, and signed a license with Warner Bros. to produce cartoons for the big studio to distribute.
Their first cartoon to feature the Road Runner was ''
The Wild Chase
''The Wild Chase'' is a Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' short directed by Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt. The short was released on February 27, 1965, and stars Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester, with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner along for the ...
'', directed by Freleng in 1965. The premise was a race between the bird and "the fastest mouse in all Mexico,"
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...
, with the coyote and
Sylvester the Cat
Sylvester Pussycat, Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appea ...
each trying to make a meal out of their respective usual targets. Much of the material was animation
rotoscoped
Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...
from earlier Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales shorts, with the other characters added in.
In total, DePatie-Freleng produced 14 ''Road Runner'' cartoons, two of which were directed by
Robert McKimson
Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...
(''
Rushing Roulette'' (1965) and ''
Sugar and Spies'' (1966)). Eleven of these shorts, directed by
Rudy Larriva
Rudolph Larriva (February 12, 1916 – February 19, 2010) was an American animator and director from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Early life
Born in El Paso, Texas, which his parents moved out at the age of two, he attended several grammar schoo ...
(often referred to as the "Larriva Eleven"), were subcontracted to
Format Films
Format Films was a television animation studio which was founded by Herbert Klynn in 1959 with Jules Engel as vice president, Bob McIntosh and Joseph Mugnaini, all of whom were animators. It was most active during the 1960s, producing episodes o ...
and suffered from severe budget cuts; due to a significant drop in the number of frames used per second in animation, the "Larriva Eleven" were somewhat cheap-looking and jerky. The music was also of poorer quality than the older features; this was a by-product of music director
Bill Lava (who had replaced the recently deceased
Milt Franklyn
Milton J. Franklyn (born Milton Julius Frumkin; September 16, 1897 – April 24, 1962) was an American musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoons.
Career
Franklyn was born in New York City Sept ...
three years prior) being relegated to the use of pre-composed music cues - due to the previously mentioned budget cuts - rather than a proper score, as heard with ''The Wild Chase'', ''Rushing Roulette'', and ''Run Run, Sweet Road Runner'' (the third being the only one of the "Larriva Eleven" to have a proper score). These 11 shorts have been considered inferior to the other Golden Age shorts, garnering mixed to poor reviews from critics. In ''Of Mice and Magic'',
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
calls the series "witless in every sense of the word." In addition, except for the planet Earth scene at the tail end of "Highway Runnery", there was only one clip of the coyote's fall to the ground, used over and over again. Jones' previously described "laws" for the characters were not followed with any significant fidelity, nor were Latin phrases used when introducing the characters.
Spin-offs
In another series of Warner Bros. ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '' cartoons,
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
used the character design (model sheets and personality) of Wile E. Coyote as "
Ralph Wolf". In this series, Ralph continually attempts to steal
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
from a flock being guarded by the eternally vigilant Sam Sheepdog. As with the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote series, Ralph Wolf uses all sorts of wild inventions and schemes to steal the sheep, but he is continually foiled by the
sheepdog
A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and co ...
. In a move seen by many as a self-referential gag, Ralph Wolf continually tries to steal the sheep not because he is a fanatic (as Wile E. Coyote was), but because it is his job. In every cartoon, he and Sam Sheepdog punch a timeclock and exchange pleasantries, go to work, stop what they are doing to take a lunch break, go back to work and pick up right where they left off, and clock out to go home for the day and exchange pleasantries again, all according to a factory-like blowing whistle. The most obvious difference between the coyote and the
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
, aside from their locales, is that Wile E. has a black nose and Ralph has a red nose.
Comic books
Wile E. Coyote was called Kelsey Coyote in his comic book debut, a
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is an American cartoon character who appears in twelve comedy film shorts produced in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series. His first appearance is in the 1942 theatrical release ''The Squawkin' Hawk'', which was directe ...
story in ''Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies'' #91 (May 1949). He only made a couple of other appearances at this time and did not have his official name yet, as it was not used until 1952 (in ''
Operation: Rabbit'', his second appearance).
The first appearance of the Road Runner in a comic book was in ''Bugs Bunny Vacation Funnies'' #8 (August 1958) published by
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
. The feature is titled "Beep Beep the Road Runner" and the story "Desert Dessert". It presents itself as the first meeting between Beep Beep and Wile E. (whose mailbox reads "Wile E. Coyote, Inventor and Genius"), and introduces the Road Runner's wife, Matilda, and their three newly hatched sons (though Matilda soon disappeared from the comics). This story established the convention that the Road Runner family talked in rhyme, a convention that also appeared in early children's book adaptations of the cartoons.
Dell initially published a dedicated "Beep Beep the Road Runner" comic as part of ''
Four Color Comics
''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...
'' #918, 1008, and 1046 before launching a separate series for the character numbered #4–14 (1960–1962), with the three try-out issues counted as the first three numbers. After a hiatus,
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
took over the character with issues #1–88 (1966–1984). During the 1960s, the artwork was done by
Pete Alvarado
Peter J. Alvarado Jr. (February 22, 1920 – December 27, 2003) was an American animation and comic book artist. Alvarado's animation career spanned almost 60 years. He was also a prolific contributor to Western Publishing's line of comic books.
B ...
and
Phil DeLara
Philip DeLara (1914–1973) was a Warner Bros. Cartoons animator and Disney comics, MGM and Hanna-Barbera artist.
As an animator, he worked on Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck and later on Speedy Gonzales, and The Tasmanian Devil, among other ...
; from 1966 to 1969, the Gold Key issues consisted of Dell reprints. Afterward, new stories began to appear, initially drawn by Alvarado and De Lara before Jack Manning became the main artist for the title. New and reprinted Beep Beep stories also appeared in ''
Golden Comics Digest
''Golden Comics Digest'' was one of three digest size comics published by Gold Key Comics in the early 1970s. The other two were ''Mystery Comics Digest'' and ''Walt Disney Comics Digest''.
Published from 1969 to 1976, all 48 issues were reprints, ...
'' and Gold Key's revival of ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '' in the 1970s. During this period, Wile E.'s middle name was revealed to be "Ethelbert"
in the story "The Greatest of E's" in issue #53 (cover-dated September 1975) of
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
' licensed comic book ''Beep Beep the Road Runner''.
The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote also make appearances in the
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
''Looney Tunes'' title. Wile E. was able to speak in some of his appearances in the DC comics.
In 2017, DC Comics featured a ''Looney Tunes'' and DC Comics crossovers that reimagined the characters in a darker style. The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote had a crossover with the intergalactic bounty hunter
Lobo in ''Lobo/Road Runner Special'' #1. In this version, the Road Runner, Wile E., and other Looney Tunes characters are reimagined as standard animals who were experimented upon with alien DNA at Acme to transform them into their cartoon forms. In the back-up story, done in more traditional cartoon style, Lobo tries to hunt down the Road Runner, but is limited by Bugs to be more kid-friendly in his language and approach.
Television
The Road Runner and the coyote appeared on Saturday mornings as the stars of their own TV series, ''
The Road Runner Show
''The Road Runner Show'' is an American Saturday morning animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'', which were produced by Warner Bros. Carto ...
'', from September 1966 to September 1968, on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
. At this time it was merged with ''
The Bugs Bunny Show
''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated anthology television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 196 ...
'' to become ''The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show'', running from 1968 to 1985. The show was later seen on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
until 2000, and on
Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
until 2001.
In the 1970s,
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
directed some Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner short films for the educational children's TV series ''
The Electric Company
''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...
.'' These short cartoons used the coyote and the Road Runner to display words for children to read.
In 1979, ''
Freeze Frame'', in which Jones moved the chase from the desert to snow-covered mountains, was seen as part of ''
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
''Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales'' is a 1979 animated Christmas television special featuring Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters in three newly created cartoon shorts with seasonal themes. It premiered on CBS on November 27, 1979.
...
''.
At the end of Bugs Bunny's ''
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny
''Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny'' is a Warner Bros. cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, with cameo appearances by Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The cartoon was part of the television special ''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All ...
'' (the initial sequence of
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
' TV special ''
Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over
''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over'' is a springtime-themed ''Looney Tunes'' television special which aired on CBS on May 21, 1980.
The special includes three new cartoons directed by Chuck Jones and Phil Monroe.
Featured cartoons
The cartoon ...
''), Bugs mentions to the audience that he and Elmer may have been the first pair of characters to have chase scenes in these cartoons, but then a pint-sized baby Wile E. Coyote (wearing a diaper and holding a small knife and fork) runs right in front of Bugs, chasing a gold-colored, mostly unhatched (except for the tail, which is sticking out) Road Runner egg, which is running rapidly while some high-pitched "Beep, beep" noises can be heard. This was followed by the full-fledged Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote short ''
Soup or Sonic
''Soup or Sonic'' is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It was first aired on May 21, 1980 as a part of the television special ''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over'' and was one of three ...
''. Earlier in that story, while kid Elmer was falling from a cliff, Wile E. Coyote's adult self tells him to move over and leave falling to people who know how to do it and then he falls, followed by Elmer.
In the 1980s, ABC began showing many
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
shorts, but in highly edited form. Many scenes integral to the stories were taken out, including scenes in which Wile E. Coyote landed at the bottom of the canyon after having fallen from a cliff, or had a boulder or anvil actually make contact with him. In almost all WB animated features, scenes where a character's face was burnt and black, some thought resembling
blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
, were removed, as were animated characters smoking
cigarette
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...
s. Some cigar smoking scenes were left in. The unedited versions of these shorts (with the exception of ones with blackface) were not seen again until
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
, and later
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
, began showing them again in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the release of the WB library of cartoons on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
, the cartoons gradually disappeared from television, presumably to increase sales of the DVDs. However, Cartoon Network began to air them again in 2011, coinciding with the premiere of ''The Looney Tunes Show'' (2011), and the shorts were afterwards moved to Boomerang, where they have remained to this day.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appeared in several episodes of ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
''. In this series, Wile E. (voiced in the
Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon is an American animator, storyboard artist, television writer, television director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was cr ...
episode "Piece of Mind" by
Joe Alaskey
Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor, voice actor, broadcaster, impressionist and stand-up comedian.
Alaskey was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his deat ...
) was the
dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
of Acme Looniversity and the mentor of
Calamity Coyote
The ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' animated television series features an extensive cast of characters. The show's central characters are mostly various forms of anthropomorphic animals, based on Looney Tunes characters from earlier films and show ...
. The Road Runner's protégé in this series was
Little Beeper. In the episode "Piece of Mind", Wile E. narrates the life story of Calamity while Calamity is falling from the top of a tall
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
. In the direct-to-video film ''
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation'', the Road Runner finally gets a taste of humiliation by getting run over by a mail truck that "brakes for coyotes."
The two were also seen in cameos in ''
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...
''. They were together in two ''
Slappy Squirrel
This is a list of characters in the 1993 animated series, ''Animaniacs'', and its 2020 revival.
The Warner Siblings (Animaniacs)
The Warner Siblings (also known as "the Animaniacs" by fans and the media) are small, silly, mischievous, anthrop ...
'' cartoons: "Bumbie's Mom" and "Little Old Slappy from
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
". In the latter, the Road Runner gets another taste of humiliation when he is out-run by Slappy's car, and holds up a sign saying "I quit" — immediately afterward,
Buttons
A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole.
In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, ...
, who was launched into the air during a previous gag, lands squarely on top of him. Wile E. appears without the bird in a ''
The Wizard of Oz''
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
, dressed in his
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
suit from one short, in a
twister
Twister may refer to:
Weather
* Tornado
Aviation
* Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike
* Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design
* Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design
Entertainment
* ''Twister'' (198 ...
(tornado) funnel in "Buttons in Ows". Also, in the beginning of one episode, an artist is seen drawing the Road Runner.
In a
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
TV ad about ''The
Acme Hour
This is a list of television programs currently or formerly broadcast by Cartoon Network in the United States. The network was launched on October 1, 1992, and airs mainly animated programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. In its ...
'', Wile E. Coyote utilized a pair of jet roller skates to catch the Road Runner and (quite surprisingly) ''did not'' fail. While he was cooking his prey, it was revealed that the roller skates came from a generic brand. The ad said that other brand is not the same thing.
The Road Runner appears in an episode of the 1991 series ''
Taz-Mania
''Taz-Mania'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation from 1991 to 1995, broadcast in the United States on Fox Kids. The show follows the adventures of the ''Looney Tunes'' character Taz ( the Tasmanian Devil) in the f ...
'', in which Taz grabs him by the leg and gets ready to eat him, until the two gators are ready to capture Taz, so he lets the Road Runner go. In another episode of ''Taz-Mania'', the Road Runner cartoons are parodied, with Taz dressed as the Road Runner and the character Willy Wombat dressed as Wile E. Coyote. Willy tries to catch Taz with Acme Roller Skates but fails, and Taz even says "Beep, beep".
Wile E. and the Road Runner appeared in their toddler versions in ''
Baby Looney Tunes
''Baby Looney Tunes'' is an American animated television series depicting toddler versions of ''Looney Tunes'' characters. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The series focused on real world problems and morals that children may relate t ...
'', but only in songs. However, they both had made a cameo in the episode "Are We There Yet?", where the Road Runner was seen out the window of Floyd's car with Wile E. chasing him.
Wile E. Coyote had a cameo as the true identity of an alien hunter (a parody of ''
Predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
'') in the ''
Duck Dodgers
Duck Dodgers is the metafictional star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero.
He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short ''Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'', directed b ...
'' episode "K-9 Quarry," voiced by
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
. In that episode, he was hunting Martian Commander X-2 and K-9. He is also temporary as a member of Agent Roboto's Legion of Duck Doom from the previous season in another episode.
In ''
Loonatics Unleashed
''Loonatics Unleashed'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran on Kids' WB for two seasons from 2005 to 2007 in the United States.
The series was based/inspired on the ' ...
'', Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner's 28th century descendants are Tech E. Coyote (voiced by
Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...
) and Rev Runner (voiced by
Rob Paulsen
Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...
). Tech E. Coyote was the tech expert of the Loonatics (influenced by the past cartoons with many of the machines ordered by Wile E. from
Acme
Acme is Ancient Greek (ακμή; English transliteration: ''akmē'') for "the peak", "zenith" or "prime". It may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Acme'' (album), an album by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
* Acme and Septimius, a fictional ...
), and has magnetic hands and the ability to molecularly regenerate himself (influenced by the many times in which Wile E. painfully failed to capture the Road Runner and then was shown to have miraculously recovered). Tech E. Coyote speaks, but does not have a British accent as Wile E. Coyote did. Rev Runner is also able to talk, though extremely rapidly, and can fly without the use of
jet pack
A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...
s, which are used by other members of the Loonatics. He also has sonic speed, also a take-off of the Road Runner. The pair get on rather well, despite the number of gadgets Tech designs in order to stop Rev from talking; also they have their moments where they do not get along. When friendship is shown it is often only from Rev to Tech, not the other way around; this could, however, be attributed to the fact that Tech has only the barest minimum of social skills. They are both portrayed as smart, but Tech is the better inventor and at times Rev is shown doing stupid things. References to their ancestors' past are seen in the episode "Family Business" where the other Road Runners are wary of Tech and Tech relives the famous falling gags done in the Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner shorts.
The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote feature in 3D computer animated cartoons or cartoon animation in the
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
TV series ''
The Looney Tunes Show
''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features cha ...
''. The CGI shorts were only included in Season 1, but Wile E. and the Road Runner still appeared throughout the series in 2D animation.
Wile E. Coyote also appears in the TV series ''
Wabbit'', voiced by JP Karliak, in a similar vein to his previous pairings with Bugs Bunny. He appears as Bugs' annoying know-it-all neighbor who always uses his inventions to compete with Bugs. The Road Runner began making appearances when the series was renamed ''New Looney Tunes'' in 2017.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner both appear in their own cartoon shorts in the
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
streaming series ''
Looney Tunes Cartoons
''Looney Tunes Cartoons'' is an American animated television series developed by Peter Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series made its worldwide debut ...
''.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner make occasional appearances in the preschool educational series ''
Bugs Bunny Builders
''Bugs Bunny Builders'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series aired on July 25, 2022 on Cartoon Network on their Cartoonit ...
''. Wile E. (voiced by
Keith Ferguson) often helps the Looney Builders out with their plans, often using some of his inventions. In the episode "Looney Science", Wile E. has the Looney Builders build him a science museum to show off his inventions, but the Road Runner keeps constantly distracting him.
Wile E. Coyote was also in an episode of ''
Night Court
''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portray ...
'' (Season 7, Episode 22: ''Sill Another Day in the Life'') in which Judge Harold T. Stone (
Harry Anderson
Harry Laverne Anderson (October 14, 1952 – April 16, 2018) was an American actor, comedian and magician. He is best known for his role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984–1992 television series '' Night Court''. He later starred in the ...
) found him guilty of harassment and told him to leave the poor bird alone.
3-D shorts
The characters appeared in seven 3-D shorts attached to Warner Bros. features. Three have been screened with features, while the rest serve as segments in
season 1 Season One may refer to:
Albums
* ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004
* ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012
* ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012
See also
*
*
* Season 2 (disambiguation)
* Season 4 (disambiguat ...
of ''
The Looney Tunes Show
''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features cha ...
''. A short called ''Flash in the Pain'' was shown on the web in 2014, but was not shown in theaters until 2016, when the movie
Storks
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ...
premiered.
Film
Warner Bros. is developing a live-action/animation hybrid film centered on Wile E. Coyote titled ''
Coyote vs. Acme
''Coyote vs. Acme'' is an upcoming American legal drama comedy film directed by Dave Green, from a screenplay written by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Jon Silberman, Josh Silberman, and Samy Burch. Combining live-action and animation, the film ...
'', produced by
Warner Animation Group
The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio serving as the computer-animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, th ...
, with ''
The Lego Batman Movie
''The Lego Batman Movie'' is a 2017 computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, DC Entertainment, RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Dan Lin's Lin Pictures, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Lord Miller Pro ...
'' director
Chris McKay
Christopher McKay, also known as Chris Taylor (born November 11, 1973), is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing and editing three seasons of ''Robot Chicken'' and two seasons of ''Moral Orel''. He made his feature directorial ...
on board to produce.
The film is said to be based on ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' short story "Coyote v. Acme" by author
Ian Frazier
Ian Frazier (born 1951 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American writer and humorist. He wrote the 1989 non-fiction history ''Great Plains'', 2010's non-fiction travelogue ''Travels in Siberia'', and works as a writer and humorist for ''The New Yorker ...
. Published in 1990, the piece imagined a lawsuit brought about by Wile E. Coyote against the Acme Company who provided him with various devices and tools to aid in his pursuit of the Road Runner. The devices frequently malfunctioned, leading to the humorous failures, injuries, and sight gags the Road Runner cartoons are known for. Jon and Josh Silberman were originally set to write the screenplay.
[ On December 18, 2019, it was reported that Dave Green will direct the project.] It was also reported that the project is looking for a new writer, with Jon and Josh Silberman instead co-producing the film alongside McKay; however, by December 2020, McKay departed the project while Jon and Josh Silberman left their roles as producers and resumed their screenwriting roles, with Samy Burch, Jeremy Slater
Jeremy Slater is an American writer and producer of film and television, known for his work on films such as ''Fantastic Four'' and ''Death Note'', and on television series such as ''The Umbrella Academy'' and ''The Exorcist'', which Slater crea ...
, and James Gunn
James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a director ...
also writing the film. Gunn will also co-produce the project alongside Chris DeFaria. It was also announced that the film is scheduled to be released on July 21, 2023. In February 2022, it was announced that John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied w ...
would star in the film. In March 2022, Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
and Lana Condor
Lana Therese Condor (born Trần Đồng Lan; May 11, 1997) is an American actress, producer, and singer. She made her acting debut starring as Jubilee in the superhero film '' X-Men: Apocalypse'' (2016), and gained international recognition for ...
were added to the cast.
Voice actors
Wile E. Coyote
* Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
(1952–1989)
* Paul Julian (imitating the Road Runner in '' Zipping Along'', ''Ready, Set, Zoom!
''Ready, Set, Zoom!'' is a 1955 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on April 30, 1955, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
The title of the cartoon is a play on "Ready, set, go!".
Plo ...
'', ''The Road Runner Show
''The Road Runner Show'' is an American Saturday morning animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'', which were produced by Warner Bros. Carto ...
'' bumper and '' Road Runner's Death Valley Rally'')
* Joe Alaskey
Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor, voice actor, broadcaster, impressionist and stand-up comedian.
Alaskey was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his deat ...
(''Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'', ''Judge Granny'')
* Keith Scott ('' Spectacular Light and Show Illuminanza'', ''The Looney Tunes Radio Show'')["Keith Scott-"The One-Man Crowd""](_blank)
Retrieved July 2, 2020.
* Bob Bergen
Robert Bergen (born March 8, 1964) is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show '' Jep!'', ...
(''Bugs Bunny's Learning Adventures'')
* Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...
(''Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'', ''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy'' is an adult animated web series created by Seth MacFarlane.
Background
This series is a compilation of animated sketches released on YouTube. The series, which aired several episodes a month, was ...
'')
* Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
(''Duck Dodgers
Duck Dodgers is the metafictional star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero.
He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short ''Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'', directed b ...
'')
* Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...
('' Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor'')
* Jess Harnell
Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor and singer. His notable roles include Captain Hero in the animated TV series ''Drawn Together'', Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Ironhide in the first three ''Transformers'' films ...
('' The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!'')
* James Arnold Taylor
James Arnold Taylor (born July 22, 1969), also known by his initials JAT, is an American voice actor, writer, producer and podcaster. He is known for portraying Ratchet in the ''Ratchet & Clank'' franchise, the main character Tidus in '' Final Fa ...
(''Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes: Cartoon Universe'')
* JP Karliak
John Paul "JP" Karliak is an American actor and comedian.
He is known for voicing characters, such as Linus in '' The Stinky & Dirty Show'' and Wile E. Coyote in '' Wabbit/New Looney Tunes'', Naysaya in the Disney XD animated series ''Star vs. th ...
(''New Looney Tunes
''New Looney Tunes'', originally titled ''Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production'' in the US and ''Bugs!'' in some markets for its first season, is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation based on the characters from ''Loon ...
'')
* Martin Starr
Martin James Pflieger Schienle (born July 30, 1982), professionally known as Martin Starr, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for the television roles of Bill Haverchuck on the short-lived comedy drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–20 ...
(''Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'')
* Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on ''The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot ''Fairly Odder'', Thunderbolt Ro ...
(''Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem'', ''Coyote vs. Acme
''Coyote vs. Acme'' is an upcoming American legal drama comedy film directed by Dave Green, from a screenplay written by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Jon Silberman, Josh Silberman, and Samy Burch. Combining live-action and animation, the film ...
'')
* Keith Ferguson (''Bugs Bunny Builders
''Bugs Bunny Builders'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series aired on July 25, 2022 on Cartoon Network on their Cartoonit ...
'')
The Road Runner
The voice artist Paul Julian originated the character's voice. Before and after his death, his voice was appearing in various media, for example, in TV series, shorts and video games, such as 2014's ''Looney Tunes Dash
''Looney Tunes Dash'' was an Platform game#Endless running games, endless running video game developed and published by Zynga and Eat Sleep Play, under the oversight of John vanSuchtelen. The game was released on December 17, 2014.
Gameplay
The ...
''. In addition, other voice actors have replaced him. These voice actors are:
* Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
(1964 Greeting Card Record, ''The New Adventures of Bugs Bunny'' (1973), ''Four More Adventures of Bugs Bunny'' (1974), ''Looney Tunes'' Talking Character Wall Clock)
* Keith Scott (''Road Runner Roller Coaster
The Road Runner Roller Coaster is a Vekoma Junior Coaster which opened on 26 December 2000 at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Australia. The ride features an incline of and reaches a top speed of . The ride ...
'' commercial, ''The Looney Tunes Radio Show'')
* Joe Alaskey
Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor, voice actor, broadcaster, impressionist and stand-up comedian.
Alaskey was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his deat ...
('' Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor'')
* Kevin Shinick
Kevin Thomas Shinick ( ; born March 19, 1969) is an American writer, producer, director and actor, as well as a comic book creator. Shinick received an Emmy award for his work on the stop motion animated series '' Robot Chicken'', and an Emmy nom ...
('' Mad'')
* Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...
(''Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'')
* Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on ''The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot ''Fairly Odder'', Thunderbolt Ro ...
(''Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem'')
Video games
Several Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner-themed video games have been produced:
* '' Road Runner'' (arcade game by Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
, later ported to the Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
, NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
, Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
, and several PC platforms)
* ''Electronic Road Runner'' (self-contained LCD game from Tiger Electronics released in 1990)
* ''Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '' (Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
game by Sunsoft
, stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher.
Sunsoft is the video games division of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sun Corporation. Its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sun Corporation of America, though, a ...
).
* ''The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
''The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle'', known in Japan as for the Family Computer Disk System, is a 1989 puzzle video game developed by Kemco for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was also released for the Game Boy in Japan as and in North America ...
'' (NES/Game Boy game by Kemco
Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima.
One of its best known franchises is the ...
)
* ''The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2
''The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2'', known in Japan as ミッキーマウスII (''Mickey Mouse II'') and in Europe as ''Mickey Mouse'' or ''Hugo'', is a video game originally developed by Kemco for the Game Boy in 1991. It is the sequel to the 1989 ...
'' (Game Boy game by Kemco
Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima.
One of its best known franchises is the ...
)
* ''The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
''The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout'', known in Japan and on the title screen as and in Europe as ''The Bugs Bunny Blowout'', is a platform video game developed and published by Kemco for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990.
Plot
It is Bu ...
'' (NES game by Kemco
Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima.
One of its best known franchises is the ...
)
* '' Road Runner's Death Valley Rally'' (Super NES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...
game by Sunsoft
, stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher.
Sunsoft is the video games division of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sun Corporation. Its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sun Corporation of America, though, a ...
)
* ''Wile E. Coyote's Revenge'' (Super NES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...
game by Sunsoft
, stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher.
Sunsoft is the video games division of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sun Corporation. Its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sun Corporation of America, though, a ...
)
* '' Desert Speedtrap'' (Sega Game Gear
The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...
and Sega Master System
The is an 8-bit
third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...
game by Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
/Probe Software
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game publisher from Long Island, active from 1987 until filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 1, 2004. Through a series of acquisitions between 1990 and 2002, Acclaim built itself a large portfol ...
)
* '' Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle 3'' (Game Boy game by Kemco)
* '' Desert Demolition'' (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
game by Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
/BlueSky Software
BlueSky Software was an American video game developer based in California. Formed in 1988, BlueSky closed in March 2001, when parent company Titus Interactive was in financial trouble. The BlueSky trademark continued to be owned by Titus Interac ...
)
* ''Sheep, Dog, 'n' Wolf
''Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf'' (released as ''Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider'' in North America) is a puzzle-platformer stealth video game developed by Infogrames Lyon House and published by Infogrames for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation.
The game is ...
'' (for the original PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
and published by Infogrames, actually based on the Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog cartoons, but the Road Runner does make two cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
s)
* ''Looney Tunes B-Ball
''Looney Tunes B-Ball'' (also known as ''Looney Tunes Basketball'' in some regions) is a basketball video game. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995 and developed by Sculptured Software.
Gameplay
''Looney Tunes B ...
'' (Wile E. is a playable character)
* ''Space Jam
''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel We ...
''
* ''Looney Tunes Racing
''Looney Tunes Racing'' is a kart racing video game released for the PlayStation and Game Boy Color and published by Infogrames. It was released in 2000 in North America and in 2001 in Europe.
Gameplay
''Looney Tunes Racing'' features different ...
'' (Wile E. is a playable character. The Road Runner is also seen in the game as a non-playable character.)
* '' Taz Express'' (Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
) game published by Infogrames
Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Bec ...
(Wile E is an antagonist)
* '' Taz: Wanted'' (Wile E. appears)
* '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
)
* ''Looney Tunes Double Pack'' (published by Majesco Entertainment
Majesco Entertainment Company (formerly Majesco Sales Inc.) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company ...
, developed by WayForward Technologies
WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games ...
, where "Acme Antics" is the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner half of the double pack)
* '' Looney Tunes: Space Race'' (Wile E. is a playable character)
* '' Looney Tunes Acme Arsenal'' (Wile E. has his own level in the PS2 version)
* '' Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor''
* ''Looney Tunes Dash
''Looney Tunes Dash'' was an Platform game#Endless running games, endless running video game developed and published by Zynga and Eat Sleep Play, under the oversight of John vanSuchtelen. The game was released on December 17, 2014.
Gameplay
The ...
'' (iOS and Android game)
* ''Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem'' (iOS and Android game)
In popular culture
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner have been frequently referenced in popular culture. Some explamples:
In the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' episode "Lights! Camera! Cobra!", Shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
kicks away a coyote before going "Beep Beep".
There are two scenes in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
's 1980 adaptation of '' The Shining'' where Danny Torrance
Daniel Anthony Torrance, also known as Doc, Danny, Dan, and later Doctor Sleep, is a fictional character who first appears in the 1977 novel '' The Shining'' by Stephen King as a child with psychic powers called "the shining". His parents are fathe ...
and his mother, Wendy Torrance
Winnifred "Wendy" Torrance is a fictional character and protagonist of the 1977 horror literature, horror novel ''The Shining (novel), The Shining'' by the American writer Stephen King. She also appears in the prologue of ''Doctor Sleep (novel), D ...
, are watching the cartoons.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appeared in the 1988 Touchstone/Amblin film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...
.'' They are first seen silhouetted by the elevator doors in Toontown, and then in full in the ACME Factory during the final scene with other characters.
Wile E. Coyote has appeared twice in ''Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'': his first episode, "I Never Met the Dead Man
"I Never Met the Dead Man" is the second episode of the first season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 11, 1999, stating in a promo that it is the official series premiere of th ...
", depicts him riding in a car with Peter Griffin
Peter Löwenbräu Griffin, born Justin Peter Griffin, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, alon ...
; when Peter runs over the Road Runner and asks if he hit "that ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...
", Wile E. tells him to keep going. His second appearance was in " PTV", in which Wile E. attempts to get a refund for a giant-sized slingshot at an ACME retailer where Peter works. The DVD-exclusive episode "Partial Terms of Endearment
"Partial Terms of Endearment" is the 21st and final episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy''. Directed by Joseph Lee and written by Danny Smith, the episode originally aired on BBC Three in the United Kingdom on ...
" features a gag that parodies the Wile E./Road Runner cartoons where Peter lures Lois with free ''Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...
'' DVDs (in the vein of Wile E. luring the Road Runner with free bird seed) and attempts to terminate her pregnancy by firing a boxing glove at her from a crossbow atop a cliff; this fails, and Peter ends up falling off the cliff in Wile E.-fashion.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appeared in ''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy'' is an adult animated web series created by Seth MacFarlane.
Background
This series is a compilation of animated sketches released on YouTube. The series, which aired several episodes a month, was ...
'' in the short "Die, Sweet Roadrunner, Die". In this short, Wile E. crushes the Road Runner with a large boulder and eats him, but then struggles to find purpose in life, having not trained for anything else other than chasing the Road Runner. Ultimately, after a short-lived job as a waiter in a local diner, and a suicide attempt (by way of catapulting himself into a mountain at close range), Wile E. finally realizes what he is to do with his life, and reveals he is now an advocate for Christianity.
Both Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner have appeared in ''Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' on multiple occasions. One sketch sees Wile E. faking his own suicide and then torching the Road Runner with a flamethrower when he shows up at Wile E.'s "funeral". Another sketch shows Wile E. teaching a college course on how to get away with murder
''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios. Th ...
, using the Road Runner's murder as an example; the students trace the mail orders for the ACME products used to commit the murder to Wile E., who is executed by electric chair for the crime. Another sketch sees Wile E. presenting his iconic "fake tunnel" at an art auction, and another reveals why Wile E.'s ACME products always fail - the ACME Corporation is run by multiple Road Runners.
Guitarist Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
created a song called "Coyote" in homage to the cartoon shows of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner on the 2002 album ''The Ragpicker's Dream
''The Ragpicker's Dream'' is the third solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 30 September 2002 by Mercury Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album receiv ...
''. The Tom Smith song "Operation: Desert Storm", which won a Pegasus award
The Pegasus Award is the premier award for filk music
and is annually hosted at the Ohio Valley Filk Fest (OVFF).
Awards
The Pegasus Awards were founded to recognize and honor excellence in filking. As science fiction (sci-fi) became better kn ...
for Best Fool Song in 1999, is about the different crazy ways the coyote's plans fail.
Dee Snider
Daniel "Dee" Snider (born March 15, 1955)Tayler, LettaTwisted Sister's Dee Snider remembers his challenging Long Island upbringing "Newsday", March 15, 2016Archived here/ref> is an American singer, songwriter, radio personality, and actor. He w ...
, lead singer of the glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...
band Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with m ...
stated in his Congressional testimony before the PRMC hearings on adding Parental Advisory labels in music and music videos, that the music video for the band's signature song " We're Not Gonna Take It" was based heavily on the cartoon.
Humorist Ian Frazier
Ian Frazier (born 1951 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American writer and humorist. He wrote the 1989 non-fiction history ''Great Plains'', 2010's non-fiction travelogue ''Travels in Siberia'', and works as a writer and humorist for ''The New Yorker ...
created the mock-legal prose piece "Coyote v. Acme", which is included in a book of the same name.
During a scene in '' The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!'', the ''Drawn Together
''Drawn Together'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein and premiered on Comedy Central on October 27, 2004. The series is a parody of ''The Surreal Life'' and follows the misadventures ...
'' cast accidentally run over and kill the Road Runner with Foxxy Love
This is a list of characters appearing in the animated television series ''Drawn Together''.
Main characters
Princess Clara
;Voiced by Tara Strong
Princess Clara is a parody of Disney princesses (mostly Ariel from ''The Little Mermaid'', ...
's van. Upon noticing this, Wile E. Coyote runs up to the Road Runner's corpse and declares "Without you, my life really has no meaning", before shooting himself with a "Bang!" flag gun.
See also
* Coyotes in popular culture
Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote (''Canis latrans'') animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some coyo ...
* Coyote (mythology)
Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote (''Canis latrans'') animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some c ...
* Road Runner High Speed Online
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
* Calamity Coyote
The ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' animated television series features an extensive cast of characters. The show's central characters are mostly various forms of anthropomorphic animals, based on Looney Tunes characters from earlier films and show ...
* Little Beeper
* Plymouth Road Runner
The Plymouth Road Runner is a mid-size car with a focus on performance built by Plymouth (automobile), Plymouth in the United States between 1968 and 1980. By 1968, some of the original muscle cars were moving away from their roots as relativel ...
* Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...
, an NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
team whose AHL affiliate is the Tucson Roadrunners
The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...
References
External links
Wile E. Coyote
on IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Road Runner
on IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Wile E. Coyote
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archived
from the original on January 19, 2017.
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
from the original on January 19, 2017.
(official studio site)
* ttps://chuckjones.com/characters/wile-e-coyote/ All about Wile E. Coyoteon Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
Official Website.
All about Road Runner
on Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
Official Website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wile E. Coyote And Road Runner
Animated duos
Dell Comics titles
Film characters introduced in 1949
Fictional characters who break the fourth wall
Fictional rivalries
Gold Key Comics titles
Looney Tunes characters
Fictional mute characters