''The Road Runner Show'' is an American Saturday morning animated
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
which compiled theatrical
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, ...
cartoons 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 ...
'', which were produced by
Warner Bros. Cartoons between 1949 and 1964. Several of the shorts, especially the ones produced from 1965 onward, were produced by
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 ...
after Warner Bros. closed their animation studio. DePatie–Freleng Enterprises provided the animation for the show's intro and closing credits.
Background
From 1966 to 1968, ''The Road Runner Show'' initially ran for two seasons 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 Entertainm ...
. From 1968 to 1969, CBS combined ''The Road Runner Show'' 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 produce ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour''. The Road Runner and the Coyote more often shared at least an hour with
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 '' ...
on CBS. In 1971,
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 ...
picked up ''The Road Runner Show'' and ran for two seasons until 1973, when the network dropped the show due to its excessively aggressive scenes. Later on, CBS re-acquired the show and aired them as reruns under ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' until the mid-80s.
Each show would feature one Road Runner/Coyote cartoon, with a
Tweety
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...
and
Sylvester cartoon in the middle segment, and other WB animated character(s) in the third segment (usually
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...
,
Foghorn Leghorn
Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...
,
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 ...
,
Pepé Le Pew
Pepé Le Pew is an animated character from the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons, introduced in 1945. Depicted as a French striped skunk, Pepé is constantly on the quest for love. However, his offensive ...
and
Hippety Hopper
Hippety Hopper is a young kangaroo character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' series of cartoons. Robert McKimson introduced Hippety Hopper in ''Hop, Look and Listen'' (1948), which established the pattern for future Hippety Hopper cartoons. ...
). The intro of every cartoon was replaced with a simple title card, along with the shortened version of William Lava's arrangement of ''
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
"The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" is a song written in 1937 by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin and published by Harms Inc., New York. It is best known as the theme tune for the ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon series and ''Merrie Melodies'' reissued cartoon ...
''.
Theme song
The theme song was written and performed by Barbara Cameron. In 1999, it was covered by the Mexican band
Chicos de Barrio
Chicos de Barrio is a Mexican musical group formed in 1995 in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico. The group has 11 members, of which the percussion, harmony and swing are predominant. The group's music combines urban, hip hop, salsa, vallenato, reggae a ...
and was later parodied in ''
Histeria!
''Histeria!'' is an American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, ''Histeria!'' was an explicitly educational program created to me ...
'' featuring
Father Time
Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device.
As an image, "Father ...
and
Big Fat Baby. It has also been covered by
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...
, and Barbara Cameron re-recorded the theme with her son, Jazz violinist Doug Cameron (with Paul Julian's iconic ''Beep-Beep'' and other sound effects from the shorts used on the recording) for his ''Different Hats'' album in 2008. An instrumental version was used as the theme song for the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote segments 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 ...
''.
Cast
*
Paul Julian as
The Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short ''Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode ...
*
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 ...
as
Sylvester,
Tweety
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...
*
June Foray
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...
as
Granny (in "The Jet Cage" segment)
*Additional voices provided by
Bea Benaderet
Beatrice Benaderet ( ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that ...
and
Hal Smith
See also
*''
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 ...
''
*''
Adventures of the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episod ...
''
References
External links
The Road Runner Show Page by Kevin McCorry; retrieved 25 November 2018
1960s American animated television series
1970s American animated television series
1966 American television series debuts
1968 American television series endings
1971 American television series debuts
1973 American television series endings
1960s American anthology television series
1970s American anthology television series
American Broadcasting Company original programming
American children's animated anthology television series
Animated television series about birds
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Looney Tunes television series
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner
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