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Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
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Wile E. Coyote (also known simply as "The Coyote") and the Road Runner are cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Brothers. The characters went on to star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts and occasional made-for-television cartoon. The E never refers to a name within the context of the cartoon, but a 1975 comic has it standing for 'Ethelbert'. Although his last name is routinely pronounced with a long "e" as in the real-life animal (e.g. "ky-O'-tee"), in at least one case, he has been heard pronouncing it with a long "a" (e.g. "ky-O'-tay", To Hare is Human) in an attempt to sound refined or intelligent.
The Coyote has separately appeared as an occasional antagonist in Bugs Bunny shorts. While he is generally silent in the Coyote-Road Runner shorts, he speaks with a refined accent in these solo outings. The Road Runner vocalizes only with a signature sound, "beep beep", and an occasional tongue noise. Wile E. was initially voiced by Mel Blanc and the Road Runner by Paul Julian.
CreationJones based the Coyote on Mark Twain's Roughing It, in which Twain describes 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 Coyote-Road Runner cartoons as a parody of traditional "cat and mouse" cartoons (such as Tom and Jerry).
Signature "Beep"
The source of the Road Runner's "Beep-Beep" was background painter Paul Julian, who worked for Friz Freleng's unit. His identity was a mystery for many years, but was confirmed by Jones' primary gag writer Michael Maltese and Julian himself in the DVD commentary for the short "Fast and Furry-ous" on Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1.
Julian first made the noise around the Warner Bros. lot (imitating a car horn) as a lighthearted means of getting people out of his way when he was in a hurry. At the producers' request, Julian performed several variations of the sound at a single recording session. Editor Treg Brown then sped up and looped some of them to make even more versions.
The use of a staff member to perform a voice caused a rift with the performers' union. Chuck Jones was forced to agree that, for all future recording sessions, an accredited actor would be used. He got around this by simply reusing Julian's initial recording (and Brown's variants) in all future Road Runner cartoons.
Because of the union problems, the studio refused to acknowledge the real voice of the Road Runner for decades. Many sources erroneously claimed that Mel Blanc performed the character. Blanc, in his autobiography That's Not All Folks!, claimed that a klaxon horn was used in the first short, but that he personally took over the role when that prop later came up missing.
Blanc's account had long been questioned by animation buffs since the Road Runner noise never sounded like an ordinary klaxon and there was no reason the original soundtrack couldn't have been reused or a replacement horn found.
A non-vocal effect was used to make the noise produced when the Road Runner flicks his tongue at the Coyote. In an interview in the above-referenced DVD commentary, Treg Brown revealed one of his assistants created the hollow sound by sticking his thumb into an empty glass bottle and pulling it out rapidly.
List of episodesThe series consists in 45 shorts (6-7 min.), 1 short film (26 min.), and 3 Webtoons (2-3 min.).
# |
Release date |
Title |
Duration |
Road Runner
(Geococcyx californianus) |
Wile E. Coyote
(Canis latrans) |
01 |
September 16, 1949 |
Fast and Furry-ous |
6:55 |
Accelleratii Incredibus |
Carnivorous Vulgaris |
02 |
May 24, 1952 |
Beep, Beep |
6:45 |
Accelerati Incredibilus |
Carnivorous Vulgaris |
03 |
August 23, 1952 |
Going! Going! Gosh! |
6:25 |
Acceleratti Incredibilus |
Carnivorous Vulgaris |
04 |
September 14, 1953 |
Zipping Along |
6:55 |
Velocitus Tremenjus |
Road-Runnerus Digestus |
05 |
August 14, 1954 |
Stop! Look! And Hasten!! |
7:00 |
Hot-Roddicus Supersonicus |
Eatibus Anythingus |
06 |
April 30, 1955 |
Ready, Set, Zoom! |
6:55 |
Speedipus Rex |
Famishus-Famishus |
07 |
December 10, 1955 |
Guided Muscle |
6:40 |
Velocitus Delectiblus |
Eatibus Almost Anythingus |
08 |
May 05, 1956 |
Gee Whiz-z-z-z |
6:35 |
Delicius-Delicius |
Eatius Birdius |
09 |
November 10, 1956 |
There They Go-Go-Go! |
6:35 |
Dig-Outius Tid-Bittius |
Famishius Fantasticus |
10 |
January 26, 1957 |
Scrambled Aches |
6:50 |
Tastyus Supersonicus |
Eternalii Famishiis |
11 |
September 04, 1957 |
Zoom and Bored |
6:15 |
Birdibus Zippibus |
Famishus Vulgarus |
12 |
April 12, 1958 |
Whoa, Be Gone! |
6:10 |
Birdius High-Ballius |
Famishius Vulgaris Ingeniusi |
13 |
October 11, 1958 |
Hook, Line and Stinker |
5:55 |
Burnius-Roadibus |
Famishius-Famishius |
14 |
December 06, 1958 |
Hip Hip-Hurry! |
6:00 |
Digoutius-Unbelieveus |
Eatius-Slobbius |
15 |
May 09, 1959 |
Hot-Rod and Reel! |
6:25 |
Super-Sonicus-Tonicus |
Famishius-Famishius |
16 |
October 10, 1959 |
Wild About Hurry |
6:45 |
Batoutahelius |
Hardheadipus Oedipus |
17 |
January 19, 1960 |
Fastest with the Mostest |
7:20 |
Velocitus Incalculus |
Carnivorous Slobbius |
18 |
October 08, 1960 |
Hopalong Casualty |
6:05 |
Speedipus-Rex |
Hard-Headipus Ravenus |
19 |
January 21, 1961 |
Zip 'N Snort |
5:50 |
Digoutius-Hot-Rodis |
Evereadii Eatibus |
20 |
June 03, 1961 |
Lickety-Splat |
6:20 |
Fastius Tasty-us |
Apetitius Giganticus |
21 |
November 11, 1961 |
Beep Prepared |
6:00 |
Tid-Bittius Velocitus |
Hungrii Flea-Bagius |
22 |
June 30, 1962 |
Zoom at the Top |
6:30 |
Disappearialis Quickius |
Overconfidentii Vulgaris |
Film |
June 2, 1962 |
Adventures of the Road-Runner |
26:00 |
Super-Sonnicus Idioticus |
Desertous-operativus Idioticus |
23 |
December 31, 1963 |
To Beep or Not to Beep* |
6:35 |
None |
None |
24 |
June 06, 1964 |
War and Pieces |
6:40 |
Burn-em Upus Asphaltus |
Caninus Nervous Rex |
25 |
January 1, 1965 |
Zip Zip Hooray!* |
6:15 |
None |
None |
26 |
February 1, 1965 |
Roadrunner a Go-Go* |
6:05 |
None |
None |
27 |
February 27, 1965 |
The Wild Chase |
6:30 |
None |
None |
28 |
July 31 1965 |
Rushing Roulette |
6:20 |
None |
None |
29 |
August 21 1965 |
Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner |
6:00 |
None |
None |
30 |
September 18, 1965 |
Tired and Feathered |
6:20 |
None |
None |
31 |
October 09, 1965 |
Boulder Wham! |
6:30 |
None |
None |
32 |
October 30, 1965 |
Just Plane Beep |
6:45 |
None |
None |
33 |
November 13, 1965 |
Hairied and Hurried |
6:45 |
None |
None |
34 |
December 11, 1965 |
Highway Runnery |
6:45 |
None |
None |
35 |
December 25, 1965 |
Chaser on the Rocks |
6:45 |
None |
None |
36 |
January 08, 1966 |
Shot and Bothered |
6:30 |
None |
None |
37 |
January 29, 1966 |
Out and Out Rout |
6:00 |
None |
None |
38 |
February 19, 1966 |
The Solid Tin Coyote |
6:15 |
None |
None |
39 |
March 12, 1966 |
Clippety Clobbered |
6:15 |
None |
None |
40 |
November 05, 1966 |
Sugar and Spies |
6:20 |
None |
None |
41 |
November 27, 1979 |
Freeze Frame |
6:05 |
Semper Food-Ellus |
Grotesques Appetitus |
42 |
May 21, 1980 |
Soup or Sonic |
9:10 |
Ultra-Sonicus Ad Infinitum |
Nemesis Riduclii |
43 |
December 21, 1994 |
Chariots of Fur |
7:00 |
Boulevardius Burnupius |
Dogius Ignoramius |
44 |
December 30, 2000 |
Little Go Beep |
7:55 |
Morselus Babyfatious Tastius |
Poor Schinookius |
45 |
November 1, 2003 |
The Whizzard of Ow |
7:00 |
Geococcyx Californianus*** |
Canis Latrans**** |
Web |
Unknown |
Judge Granny Case 2** |
TBD |
Birdius Tastius |
Poultrius Devourius |
Web |
Unknown |
Wild KingDumb** |
TBD |
Birdus Tastius |
Poultrius Devourius |
Web |
Unknown |
Wile E. Coyote Ugly** |
TBD |
None |
None |
* Part of the animated film Adventures of the Road-Runner
** Webtoon (looneytunes.warnerbros.com)
*** Actual Latin name of the Greater Roadrunner
**** Actual Latin name of the Coyote
It is also noted that in Soup or Sonic, the "Beep-beep" of the Road Runner is referred to as beepus-beepus.
In Stop! Look! and Hasten!, Wile E. follows the instructions in a manual titled How to Build a Burmese Tiger Trap. Hearing the trap activated, he leaps in and immediately withdraws, panicked, because instead of the Road Runner he has caught an actual Burmese tiger, who is identified as such and given the pseudo-Latin name Surprisibus! surprisibus!.
Scenery The desert scenery in the first two Road Runner cartoons, Fast and Furry-ous (1949) and Beep Beep (mid 1952), was designed by Robert Gribbroek and was quite realistic. In most later cartoons the scenery was designed by Maurice Noble and was far more abstract. Several different styles were used. In The Wild Chase (1965), featuring a race between the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales, it is stated that the Road Runner is from Texas, insofar as the race announcer calls him the "Texas Road Burner." This suggests that most of the Wile E. and Road Runner cartoons could take place in Texas. However, in episode 24, "War and Pieces", the catapult is constructed by Roadrunner industries, which says it has locations in Taos, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, suggesting that it takes place in Arizona and New Mexico.
In Going! Going! Gosh! (late 1952) through Guided Muscle (late 1955) the scenery was 'semi-realistic' with an offwhite sky (possibly suggesting overcast/cloudy weather condition). Gravity-defying rock formations appeared in Ready, Set, Zoom! (early 1955). A bright yellow sky made its debut in Gee Whiz-z-z-z! (early 1956) but was not used consistently until There They Go-Go-Go!, later in the same year.
Zoom and Bored (late 1957) introduced a major change in background style. Sharp, top-heavy rock formations became more prominent, and warm colours (yellow, orange and red) were favoured. Bushes were crescent-shaped. Except for Whoa Be-Gone (early 1958), whose scenery design harked back to Guided Muscle in certain aspects (such as off-white sky), this style of scenery was retained as far as Fastest with the Mostest (early 1960). Hopalong Casualty (mid 1960) changed the colour scheme, with the sky reverting to blue, and some rocks becoming off-white, while the bright yellow desert sand colour is retained, along with the 'sharp' style of rock formations pioneered by Zoom and Bored. The crescent shapes used for bushes starting with Zoom and Bored were retained, and also applied to clouds. In the last scene of War and Pieces (1964), Wile E. Coyote's rocket blasts him through the center of the Earth to China, which is portrayed with abstract Oriental backgrounds. This scene features a Chinese Road Runner.
The Format Films cartoons used a style of scenery similar to Hopalong Casualty and its successors, albeit less detailed and with small puffy clouds rather than crescent-shaped ones.
Freeze Frame, a made-for-television short originally shown as part of the 1979 CBS special Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales, depicts the Road Runner taking a turn that leads the chase into mountains and across a wintry landscape of ice and snow.
The Acme CorporationWile E. Coyote often obtains complex and ludicrous devices from a mail-order company, the fictitious Acme Corporation, which he hopes will help him catch the Road Runner. The devices invariably fail in improbable and spectacular ways. Whether this is result of operator error or faulty merchandise is debatable. The coyote usually ends up burnt to a crisp, squashed flat, or at the bottom of a canyon (some cartoons show him suffering a combination of these fates). Occasionally Acme products do work quite well (e.g. the Dehydrated Boulders, Bat-Man Outfit, Rocket Sled, Jet Powered Roller Skates or Earthquake Pills). In this case their success often works against the coyote - for example, the Dehydrated Boulder, upon hydration, becomes so large that it crushes him, or the Earthquake Pills bottle label fine-print states that the pills aren’t effective on Road-Runners.
How the coyote acquires these Acme products without any money is not explained until the 2003 movie , in which he is shown to be an employee of Acme. In a Tiny Toon Adventures episode, Wile E. makes mention of his protege Calamity Coyote possessing an unlimited Acme credit card account, which might serve as another possible explanation. Wile E. being a "beta tester" for Acme has been another suggested explanation. Wile E. also uses war equipment such as cannon, rocket launchers, grenades, and bayonets which are "generic", not Acme products. In a Cartoon Network commercial promoting Looney Tunes, they ask the Coyote why does he insist on purchasing products from the Acme Corporation when all previous contraptions have backfired on him, to which the Coyote responds with a wooden sign (right after another item blows up in his face): "Good line of Credit".
The company name was likely chosen for its irony (acme means the highest point, as of achievement or development). The common expansion A (or American) Company that Makes (or Making) Everything is a backronym. The origin of the name might also be related to the Acme company that built a fine line of animation stands and optical printers; however, the most likely explanation is the Sears house brand called Acme that appeared in their ubiquitous early 1900s mail-order catalogues.
Laws and rulesAs in other cartoons, the Road Runner and the coyote follow the laws of cartoon physics. For example, 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 the coyote is allowed to hang in midair until he realizes that he is about to plummet into a chasm (a process occasionally referred to elsewhere as Road-Runnering). The coyote can overtake rocks (or cannons) which fall before he does, and end up being squashed by them.
In "Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times Of An Animated Cartoonist", Chuck Jones and the artists behind the Road Runner and Wile E. cartoons adhered to some simple but strict rules:
- Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "Beep! Beep!"
- No outside force can harm the Coyote -- only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products.
- The Coyote could stop anytime -- IF he was not a fanatic. (Repeat: "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim." —George Santayana)
- No dialogue ever, except "Beep! Beep!"
- Road Runner must stay on the road - for no other reason than that he's a roadrunner.
- All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters -- the southwest American desert.
- All tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
- Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy.
- The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.
- The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote.
These rules were not always followed, and in an interview years after the series was made, writer Michael Maltese said he had never heard of the "Rules".
Later cartoonsThe original Chuck Jones productions ended in 1963 after Jack Warner closed the Warner Bros. animation studio. War and Pieces, the last Road Runner short directed by Jones, was released in mid-1964. By that time, David DePatie and veteran director Friz Freleng had formed DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, moved into the facility just emptied by Warner, and signed a license with Warners to produce cartoons for the big studio to distribute.
Their first to feature the Road Runner was The Wild Chase. This was directed by Friz Freleng himself in 1965.
Much of the material was animation lifted from earlier Runner and Gonzales shorts, with the other's characters added in.
The cartoon also stars the fastest mouse in Mexico Speedy Gonzales who was the big star at the time.
In total, DePatie-Freleng produced 14 Road Runner cartoons, two of which were directed by Robert McKimson (Rushing Roulette, 1965, and Sugar and Spies, 1966).
The remaining 11 were subcontracted to Format Films and directed under ex-Warner Bros. animator Rudy Larriva. The "Larriva Eleven", as the series was later called, lacked the fast-paced action of the Chuck Jones originals and was poorly received by critics. In Of Mice and Magic, Leonard Maltin 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. These cartoons can easily be distinguished from Chuck Jones's cartoons because they feature the modern "Abstract WB" Looney Tunes opening and closing sequences, and they use the same music cues over and over again in the cartoons, composed by William Lava. Only one of those 11 cartoons - "Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner" - had music that was actually scored instead of the same music cues. Another clear clue is that Jones' previously described "Laws" for the characters were not followed with any significant fidelity.
Wile E. Coyote has also unsuccessfully attempted to catch and eat Bugs Bunny in another series of cartoons. In these cartoons, the coyote takes on the guise of a self-described "super genius" and speaks with a smooth, generic upper-class accent provided by Mel Blanc.
In one short (Hare-Breadth Hurry, 1963), Bugs Bunny—with the help of "speed pills"—even sits in for Road Runner, who has "sprained a giblet", and carries out the duties of outsmarting the hungry scavenger. This is the only Bugs Bunny/Wile E. Coyote short in which the coyote does not speak. As usual Wile E. Coyote ends up falling down a canyon. (In a later, made-for-TV short, which had a young Elmer Fudd chasing a young Bugs Bunny, Elmer also falls down a canyon. On the way down he is overtaken by Wile E. Coyote who shows a sign telling Elmer to get out of the way for someone who is more experienced in falling.)
In the 1962 pilot for a potential television anthology series (but later released as a theatrical short entitled The Adventures of the Road-Runner—later edited and split into three short subjects called To Beep or Not to Beep, Zip Zip Hooray! and Road Runner A-Go-Go), Wile E. lectures two young TV-watching children about the edible parts of a Road Runner, attempting to explain his somewhat irrational obsession with catching it.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner had cameo roles in Who Framed Roger Rabbit during the final scene in Marvin Acme's factory.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appear as members of the TuneSquad team in Space Jam. There, Wile E. rigs one of the basketball hoops with dynamite to prevent one of the Monstars from scoring a slam dunk.
Wile E. Coyote appears as an employee of the Acme Corporation in . There, his role is similar to that of Mustafa from the Austin Powers movies.
Spin-offsIn another series of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons, Chuck Jones used the character design (model sheets and personality) of Wile E. Coyote as "Ralph Wolf". In this series, Ralph continually attempts to steal sheep from a flock being guarded by the eternally vigilant Sam Sheepdog. As with the Road Runner series, Ralph Wolf uses all sorts of wild inventions and schemes to steal the sheep, but he is continually foiled by the sheepdog. 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 the sheepdog punch a timeclock, exchange pleasantries, go to work, take lunch break, and clock out to go home for the day, all according to a factory-like blowing whistle. The most prominent difference between the coyote and the wolf, aside from their locales, is that Wile E. has a black nose and Ralph has a red nose.
A spin off was forecast by the writers at Warner Bros. dubbed "C Bear and the Chickens." C Bear, a charismatic cartoon bear, also used zany methods and ACME supplies to capture chickens. However this project was later dismissed after C Bear's madness and cheeky smile were declared unfit for children.
Comic booksThe first appearance of the Road Runner in a comic book was in Bugs Bunny Vacation Funnies #8 (August 1958) published by Dell Comics. 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. This story established the convention that the Road Runner family talked in rhyme in the comics.
Wile E. was called Kelsey Coyote in his comic book debut, a Henery Hawk story in Looney Tunes and Merrie Meolodies #91 (May 1949).
Dell initially published "Beep Beep the Road Runner" as part of Four Color Comics #918, 1008, and 1046 before launching a separate title for the character numbered #4–14 (1960–62), with the three try-out issues counted as the first three issues. After a hiatus, Gold Key Comics took over the character with issues #1–88 (1966–84). During the 1960s, the artwork was done by Pete Alvarado and Phil De Lara; from 1966-1969, the Gold Key issues consisted of Dell reprints. Afterward, new stories began to appear, initially drawn by Alavardo 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 and Gold Key's revival of Looney Tunes in the 1970s. During this period, one comic story revealed his middle name to be "Ethelbert" in the story "The Greatest of E's" in issue #53 (cover-date September 1975) of Gold Key Comics' licensed comic book, Beep Beep the Road Runner.
The Road Runner and Wile E. also make appearances in the DC Comics Looney Tunes title.
Television
The Road Runner and the Coyote appeared on Saturday mornings as the stars of their own TV series, The Road Runner Show, from September 1966 to September 1968, on CBS. At this time it was merged with The Bugs Bunny Show to become the The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show, running from 1968 to 1985. By 1980, the shorts were heavily censored. The show was later seen on ABC until 2000, and on Global until 1998.
In the 1970s, Chuck Jones directed three Road Runner short films for the educational children's TV series The Electric Company. These short cartoons used the Coyote and the Road Runner to display words for children to read, but the cartoons themselves were a refreshing return to Jones' glory days.
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.
At the end of Bugs Bunny's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny (the initial sequence of Chuck Jones' TV special, Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over), 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 suddenly, a pint-sized, baby Wile E. Coyote (wearing a diaper and holding a small knife and fork) appears right in front of Bugs, chasing a gold-colored, unhatched (mostly, except for the tail which is sticking out) Road Runner egg, which is running rapidly while some high-pitched "meep-meeps" can be heard. This was followed by the fully-fledged Runner/Coyote short, Soup or Sonic.
Wile E. and the Road Runner later appeared in several episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures. In this series, Wile E. (voiced in the Jim Reardon episode "Piece of Mind" by Joe Alaskey) was the dean of Acme Looniversity and the mentor of Calamity Coyote. The Road Runner's protege 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. In the direct-to-video movie , 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. They were together in two Slappy Squirrel cartoons: "Bumbie's Mom" and "Little Old Slappy from Pasadena". In the latter the Road Runner is outrun by Slappy's car and holds up a sign saying "I quit"—immediately afterwards, Buttons, 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, dressed in his batsuit from one short, in a twister (tornado) funnel in "Buttons in Ows".
In a Cartoon Network TV ad about The Acme Hour, Wile E. Coyote utilized a pair of jet roller skates to catch the Road Runner and (quite surprisingly) didn't 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 isn't the same thing.
In the 2000s, toddler versions of Wile E. and the Road Runner have been featured in episodes of the series Baby Looney Tunes.
Wile E. Coyote had a cameo as the true identity of an alien hunter (a parody of Predator) in the Duck Dodgers episode "K-9 Quarry," voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. In that episode, he was hunting Martian Commander X-2 and K-9.
In Loonatics Unleashed, Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner's 28th century descendants are Tech E. Coyote and Rev Runner. 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), and has magnetic hands and the ability to molecularly regenerate himself (influenced by the many times in which Wile E. painfully failed to capture Roadrunner). 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 packs, which are used by other members of the Loonatics. He also has super speed, also a take off of Roadrunner. Ironically, the pair get on rather well, despite the number of gadgets Tech designs in order to stop Rev talking. Also they have their moments where they don't get along. When friendship is shown it is often only from Rev to Tech, not the other way around. They are both portrayed as smart, but Tech is the better inventor.
In the Cartoon Network TV series Class of 3000, Wile E. Coyote is seen constantly in one episode, using rocket shoes and howling like a real life coyote. His Latin name is "Jokis Callbackus".
Commercial appearances- The Plymouth Road Runner was a muscle car produced by the Plymouth division of Chrysler between 1968 and 1980. An official licensee of Warner Bros. (paying $50,000 for the privilege), Plymouth used the image of the cartoon bird on the sides and the car had a special horn (with "Voice of Road Runner" labels) that sounds like the bird's signature 'beep-beep'. Some engine options (notably the 426 Hemi) included Road Runner "Coyote Duster" graphics on the air cleaner. The rear spoiler and one of the headlight covers of the 1970 Plymouth Superbird version of the Road Runner included a graphic of the Road Runner holding a crash helmet.
- General Motors used the Road Runner on its marketing campaign in 1985 for its Holden Barina in Australia.
- In 1991, Shell Oil New Zealand ran a series of advertisements called "Change for Good" promoting a switch to Unleaded 91 Octane fuel. One of these advertisements had Wile E. Coyote driving into a Shell Service Station and the attendant suggests a "Change for Good." After filling up Wile E Coyote's vehicle is now transformed and he is able to drive off to catch Road Runner.
- In 1996, Road Runner became the mascot for Time Warner's cable internet service, also named Road Runner. One commercial involved Wile E. as the "mascot" of DSL. Road Runner is also the mascot of Time Warner's car sales website, , and appears in commercials on Time Warner cable systems in several television markets.
- In 1996, Wile E. Coyote appeared alongside football star Deion Sanders in a Pepsi commercial.
- From 1997 to 1998, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote appeared in a Pontiac Grand Prix car commercial. Wile E. chases the Road Runner while driving the car. Pontiac used a tagline "Wider is Better".
- In 2004, Wile E. appeared (along with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck) in an Aflac commercial, in which he is shown as being a prime candidate for the company's services. Before he plummets, taking an animated version of the Aflac duck with him, he holds up a sign with the company's tagline, "Ask About It at Work".
- In the 1990s, Wile E. appeared in Energizer commercials trying to capture the Energizer Bunny.
- In the 1980s, both Wile E. and Road Runner appeared in a Honey Nut Cheerios commercial.Before Wile E. was about to fall off a cliff, the Honey Nut Cheerios bee saved him by convincing him to take and eat a bowl of the cereal.
- A McDonald's TV commercial in the 1980s showed the Road Runner running in and ordering using his "beep-beep"s while the order taker translated everything he said. Then he picked up the bag and ran over the Coyote on his way out the door.
- Delivery company Purolator Courier used the Road Runner's "beep-beep"s in a TV commercial and actually had the phone number 1-800-BEEP-BEEP.
- In New Mexico, where the state bird is the Greater Roadrunner, a commuter train called the Rail Runner uses the Road Runner's signature "beep-beep" as a signal that the train doors are about to close.
- In 2006, Road Runner appeared in a Florida TV commercial for Bright House Networks.
- Oceanic Cable company in Hawaii (a regional branding of Time Warner Cable) uses the Roadrunner as mascot for its high-speed cable modem service. They have also used other Looney Tunes characters, most notably Yosemite Sam, as pitchmen.
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