Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner

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Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner

Wile E. Coyote (also known simply as "The Coyote") and the Road Runner are cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series....
and Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animation distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969. The sister series to Warner's Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies were originally one-shot musical film cartoon shorts before gradually featuring recurring characters....
cartoons. The characters were created by animation director

Animation director

An animation director is the Film director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film....
Chuck Jones

Chuck Jones

Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, film producer, and film director of animation films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros....
in 1948 for Warner Brothers, while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese

Michael Maltese

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Encyclopedia

Animation director

An animation director is the Film director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film....
Chuck Jones

Chuck Jones

Michael Maltese

Michael Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon short subject.In 1941, Maltese was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which three years later became Warner Bros....
. The characters went on to star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts (the first 16 of which were written by Maltese) and the occasional made-for-television cartoon.

What the E stands for is never indicated in the cartoons, but a 1975 comic book story has it standing for 'Ethelbert'. (The 'E' may also be a play on phonics for the phrase "Wiley Coyote".) Although the coyote's 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 (To Hare is Human
To Hare Is Human

"To Hare is Human" is a 1956 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. It stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. The title is a play on the expression, "To err is human; to forgive, divine."...
), the character himself is heard pronouncing it with a long "a" (e.g. "ky-O'-tay") in an attempt to sound refined or intellectual.

The Coyote has separately appeared as an occasional antagonist

Antagonist

An antagonist is a character or group of characters, or, always an institution of a happening who represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend....
in Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a fictional rabbit who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animation films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros....
shorts. While he is generally silent in the Coyote-Road Runner shorts, he speaks with a refined accent in these solo outings (he introduces himself as "Wile E. Coyote - super genius"), initially voiced by Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc

Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an United States voice acting and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio and television commercials, Blanc is best known for his work with Warner Bros....
. The Road Runner vocalizes only with a signature sound, "beep, beep", and an occasional tongue noise. The "beep, beep" was recorded by Paul Julian

Paul Julian

Paul Julian was an United States of America artist and designer most noted for his work as a background artist for Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes cartoon short subject....
.

Creation

Jones based the Coyote on Mark Twain's Roughing It
Roughing It

Roughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature written by United States humorist Mark Twain. It was written during 1870–71 and published in 1872 as a prequel to his first book Innocents Abroad....
, 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

Parody

A parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation....
of traditional "cat and mouse" cartoons (such as Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry

'Tom and Jerry' is a series of theatrical animated cartoons featuring a cat and a mouse.'Tom and Jerry' may also refer to:* ...
).

List of episodes

The series consists of 45 shorts (mostly about 6-7 min.), 1 short film (26 min.), and 3 Webtoons (2-3 min.).

#	Release date	Title	Duration	Credits		Pseudo-Latin names given
#	Release date	Title	Duration	Story/writing	Direction	for the Road Runner	for the Coyote
01	September 16, 1949	Fast and Furry-ous Fast and Furry-ous *Fast and Furry-ous* is a 1948 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, released on September 16, 1949, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese....	6:55	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Acceleratii incredibus	Carnivorous vulgaris
02	May 24, 1952	Beep, Beep	6:45	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Accelerati incredibilus	Carnivorous vulgaris
03	August 23, 1952	Going! Going! Gosh! Going! Going! Gosh! Going! Going! Gosh! is a Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. It was produced in 1951 and released on August 23rd 1952....	6:25	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Acceleratti incredibilis	Carnivorous vulgaris
04	September 14, 1953	Zipping Along Zipping Along *Zipping Along* is a 1953 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:55	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Velocitus tremenjus	Road-Runnerus digestus
05	August 14, 1954	Stop! Look! And Hasten! Stop! Look! And Hasten! Stop! Look! And Hasten! is a 1953 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, released in 1954.... !	7:00	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Hot-roddicus supersonicus	Eatibus anythingus
06	April 30, 1955	Ready, Set, Zoom! Ready, Set, Zoom! *Ready, Set, Zoom!* is a 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:55	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Speedipus rex	Famishus-famishus
07	December 10, 1955	Guided Muscle Guided Muscle Guided Muscle is a 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:40	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Velocitus delectiblus	Eatibus almost anythingus
08	May 05, 1956	Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z is a 1956 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:35	Michael Maltese	Charles M. Jones	Delicius-delicius	Eatius birdius
09	November 10, 1956	There They Go-Go-Go! There They Go-Go-Go! There They Go-Go-Go! is a 1956 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:35	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Dig-outius tid-bittius	Famishius fantasticus
10	January 26, 1957	Scrambled Aches Scrambled Aches Scrambled Aches is a 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:50	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Tastyus supersonicus	Eternalii famishiis
11	September 04, 1957	Zoom and Bored Zoom and Bored Zoom and Bored is a 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:15	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Birdibus zippibus	Famishus vulgarus
12	April 12, 1958	Whoa, Be-Gone! Whoa, Be-Gone! *Whoa, Be-Gone!* is a 1958 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:10	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Birdius high-ballius	Famishius vulgaris ingeniusi
13	October 11, 1958	Hook, Line and Stinker Hook, Line and Stinker *Hook, Line and Stinker* is a 1958 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. In it, Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner in more hilarious ways, including swinging from the air and using a harpoon, trying to drop a grand piano on the Road Runner, and most notably, building a Rube Goldberg...	5:55	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Burnius-roadibus	Famishius-famishius
14	December 06, 1958	Hip Hip-Hurry! Hip Hip-Hurry! *Hip Hip-Hurry!* is a 1958 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.This was one of a few Road Runner cartoons that was produced in 1958 during a strike by the studio musicians union, necessitating the use of stock music....	6:00	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Digoutius-unbelieveablii	Eatius-slobbius
15	May 09, 1959	Hot-Rod and Reel!	6:25	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Super-sonicus-tastius	Famishius-famishius
16	October 10, 1959	Wild About Hurry Wild About Hurry *Wild About Hurry* is a 1959 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	6:45	Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Batoutahelius	Hardheadipus oedipus
17	January 19, 1960	Fastest with the Mostest Fastest with the Mostest *Fastest with the Mostest* is a 1960 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	7:20	None	Chuck Jones	Velocitus incalculii	Carnivorous slobbius
18	October 08, 1960	Hopalong Casualty Hopalong Casualty *Hopalong Casualty* is a 1960 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical animated short, featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. It was directed by Chuck Jones....	6:05	Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones	Speedipus-rex	Hard-headipus ravenus
19	January 21, 1961	Zip 'N Snort Zip 'N Snort Zip N' Snort is a 1961 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....	5:50	Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones	Digoutius-hot-rodis	Evereadii eatibus
20	June 03, 1961	Lickety-Splat Lickety-Splat Lickety-Splat is a 1961 Warner Bros.Looney Tunes theatrical animated short. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was made under the supervision of Chuck Jones....	6:20	Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones Abe Levitow	Fastius tasty-us	Apetitius giganticus
21	November 11, 1961	Beep Prepared Beep Prepared *Beep Prepared* is a Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short released in 1961. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Chuck Jones directed from a story by John W....	6:00	John Dunn Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones Maurice Noble	Tid-bittius velocitus	Hungrii flea-bagius
22	June 30, 1962	Zoom at the Top Zoom at the Top *Zoom at the Top* is a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon....	6:30	Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones Maurice Noble	Disappearialis quickius	Overconfidentii vulgaris
Film	June 2, 1962	Adventures of the Road-Runner Adventures of the Road-Runner Adventures of the Road-Runner is an animated film, directed by Chuck Jones and co-directed by Maurice Noble and Tom Ray . It was the intended pilot for a TV series starring Wile E....	26:00	John Dunn Chuck Jones Michael Maltese	Chuck Jones	Super-Sonnicus Idioticus	Desertous-operativus Idioticus
23	December 31, 1963	To Beep or Not to Beep To Beep or Not to Beep *To Beep or Not to Beep* is a Merrie Melodies animated short starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Released December 28, 1963, the cartoon was written by Chuck Jones and John W.... *	6:35	John Dunn Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones Maurice Noble	None	None
24	June 06, 1964	War and Pieces War and Pieces *War and Pieces* is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short which was made in 1963 and released in 1964. It was directed by Chuck Jones, and features Wile E....	6:40	John Dunn	Chuck Jones Maurice Noble	Burn-em upus asphaltus	Caninus nervous rex
25	January 1, 1965	Zip Zip Hooray!*	6:15	John Dunn	None	Super-sonnicus idioticus	None
26	February 1, 1965	Roadrunner a Go-Go*	6:05	John Dunn	None	None	None
27	February 27, 1965	The Wild Chase The Wild Chase *The Wild Chase* is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises featuring Sylvester, Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales....	6:30	None	Friz Freleng Hawley Pratt	None	None
28	July 31 1965	Rushing Roulette	6:20	David Detiege	Robert McKimson	None	None
29	August 21 1965	Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner *Run, Run Sweet Roadrunner* is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series released by Warner Bros.. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was directed and written by Rudy Larriva for release in 1965 in film....	6:00	Rudy Larriva	Rudy Larriva	None	None
30	September 18, 1965	Tired and Feathered	6:20	Rudy Larriva	Rudy Larriva	None	None
31	October 09, 1965	Boulder Wham!	6:30	Len Janson Len Janson Len Janson is an American animator, writer and director whose career in animated cartoons and live-action motion pictures spanned several decades beginning in the 1960s....	Rudy Larriva	None	None
32	October 30, 1965	Just Plane Beep	6:45	Don Jurwich	Rudy Larriva	None	None
33	November 13, 1965	Hairied and Hurried	6:45	Nick Bennion	Rudy Larriva	None	None
34	December 11, 1965	Highway Runnery	6:45	Al Bertino	Rudy Larriva	None	None
35	December 25, 1965	Chaser on the Rocks	6:45	Tom Dagenais	Rudy Larriva	None	None
36	January 08, 1966	Shot and Bothered	6:30	Nick Bennion	Rudy Larriva	None	None
37	January 29, 1966	Out and Out Rout	6:00	Dale Hale	Rudy Larriva	None	None
38	February 19, 1966	The Solid Tin Coyote The Solid Tin Coyote *The Solid Tin Coyote* is an animated cartoon in the Looney Tunes series released by Warner Bros.. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was directed by Rudy Larriva for release in 1966....	6:15	Don Jurwich	Rudy Larriva	None	None
39	March 12, 1966	Clippety Clobbered	6:15	Tom Dagenais	Rudy Larriva	None	None
40	November 05, 1966	Sugar and Spies	6:20	Tom Dagenais	Robert McKimson	None	None
41	November 27, 1979	Freeze Frame Freeze Frame (cartoon) *Freeze Frame* is a 1979 animated cartoon which features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. It was directed by Chuck Jones, who used a Freeze frame shot to introduce the two visible characters along with their bogus Latin names ....	6:05	Chuck Jones (no on-screen credits)	Chuck Jones (no on-screen credits)	Semper food-ellus	Grotesques appetitus
42	May 21, 1980	Soup or Sonic Soup or Sonic *Soup or Sonic* is a Warner Bros. cartoon, starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. The cartoon was part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, which aired May 21, 1980....	9:10	Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones Phil Monroe	Ultra-sonicus ad infinitum	Nemesis ridiculii
43	December 21, 1994	Chariots of Fur Chariots of Fur *Chariots of Fur* is a seven-minute Looney Tunes short released in 1994. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who created the pair in 1948....	7:00	Chuck Jones	Chuck Jones	Boulevardius-burnupius	Dogius ignoramii
44	December 30, 2000	Little Go Beep	7:55	Kathleen Helppie-Shipley Earl Kress	Spike Brandt	Morselus babyfatius tastius	Poor schnookius
45	November 1, 2003	The Whizzard Of Ow	7:00	Chris Kelly	Bret Haaland	Geococcyx californianus***	Canis latrans****
Web	Unknown	Judge Granny Case 2**	TBD			Birdius tastius	Poultrius devourius
Web	Unknown	Wild King Dumb**	TBD			Birdius tastius	Poultrius devourius
Web	Unknown	Wile E. Coyote Ugly**	TBD			None	None

* Part of the animated film Adventures of the Road-Runner

Adventures of the Road-Runner

Adventures of the Road-Runner is an animated film, directed by Chuck Jones and co-directed by Maurice Noble and Tom Ray . It was the intended pilot for a TV series starring Wile E....

** Webtoon (looneytunes.warnerbros.com) - US Only

*** Actual Latin name of the Greater Roadrunner

Greater Roadrunner

The Greater Roadrunner is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. It is one of the two Geococcyx species in the genus Geococcyx, the other Lesser Roadrunner....

**** Actual Latin name of the Coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the prairie wolf, is a species of canid found throughout North America and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States, and Canada....

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
Tiger

The tiger is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an Carnivore#Obligate carnivores....
, who is identified as such and given the pseudo-Latin name surprisibus! surprisibus!.

In Soup or Sonic, the "beep, beep" of the Road Runner is also given the pseudo-Latin name beepus-beepus.

Scenery

The desert scenery in the first two Road Runner cartoons, Fast and Furry-ous

Fast and Furry-ous

Fast and Furry-ous is a 1948 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, released on September 16, 1949, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese....
(1949) and Beep, Beep (mid 1952), was designed by Robert Gribbroek
Robert Gribbroek

Robert Gribbroek was a layout artist and background painter at the Warner Brothers Termite Terrace from 1945 until 1964. His name was dropped in Chuck Jones' Lost and Foundling , and he worked mainly for Jones until 1952 when he joined Robert McKimson's unit ....
and was quite realistic. In most later cartoons the scenery was designed by Maurice Noble
Maurice Noble

Maurice Noble was an American animation background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate of animation director Chuck Jones, most notably at Warner Bros....
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
Speedy Gonzales

Speedy Gonz?les, "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico", is an animation mouse from the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons....
, it is stated that the Road Runner is from Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, 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 23, "To Beep or Not to Beep", the catapult is constructed by the Road-Runner Manufacturing Company, which 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

War and Pieces

War and Pieces is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short which was made in 1963 and released in 1964. It was directed by Chuck Jones, and features Wile E....
(1964), Wile E. Coyote's rocket blasts him through the center of the Earth to China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, which is portrayed with abstract Oriental
Oriental

Oriental means generally "eastern". It is a traditional designation for anything belonging to the Eastern world or "East" , and especially of its Eastern culture to include the peoples....
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 Corporation

Wile E. Coyote often obtains complex and ludicrous devices from a mail-order company, the fictitious Acme Corporation
Acme Corporation

The Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that exists in several cartoons, films and TV series, most significantly in the Looney Tunes universe, where it appeared most prominently in the Wile E....
, 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
Canyon

A canyon, or gorge, is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level....
(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. Other times he uses devices that are implausible as he once bought a super outfit thinking he could fly with it (obviously he doesn't).

How the coyote acquires these Acme products without any money is not explained until the 2003 movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Looney Tunes: Back in Action is a 2003 in film live-action/animated film that tells the story of a hapless stuntman, DJ Drake , who stumbles his way into a plot to possess a mysterious blue diamond in the course of rescuing his famous actor father ....
, 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
Credit card

A credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holders promise to pay for these goods and services....
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
Cartoon Network (United States)

Cartoon Network is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting System which primarily shows Animation programming. The original American channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program....
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
Irony

Irony is a Literary technique or rhetorical device, in which there is an wiktionary:incongruous or wiktionary:discordance between what one says or does and what one means or what is generally understood....
(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
Backronym

A backronym is a reverse Acronym and initialism, a phrase constructed after the fact to make an existing word or words into an acronym.Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
. 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 rules
As in other cartoons, the Road Runner and the coyote follow the laws of cartoon physics
Cartoon physics

Cartoon physics is a joking reference to the fact that animation allows regular physical law to be ignored in humour ways for dramatic effects. For example, when a cartoon character runs off a cliff, gravitation has no effect until the character notices and reacts....
. For example, the Road Runner has the ability to enter the painted image of a cave
Trompe l'oeil

Trompe-l'?il, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three-dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting....
, while the coyote cannot (unless there is an opening through which he can fall). Sometimes, however, this is reversed, and the Road Runner can bust through a painting while the coyote goes through it. 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", it is claimed that Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones

Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, film producer, and film director of animation films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros....
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
George Santayana

George Santayana , was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist.A lifelong Spain citizen, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States, wrote in English language and is generally considered an American Intellectual#Modes of .27intellectual class.27 in nineteenth-century Europe, although, of his nearly 89 years, he spent only 39...
).
No dialogue ever, except "beep, beep" and yowling in pain.
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 cartoons
The original Chuck Jones productions ended in 1963 after Jack Warner
Jack Warner

Jack Leonard "J.L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, Canada, was the president and driving force behind the successful development of Warner Bros....
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
David DePatie

David Hudson DePatie was the last executive in charge of the original, classic Warner Brothers cartoon studio and was charged with closing it in 1963....
and veteran director Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng

Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, Film director, and Film producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
had formed DePatie-Freleng Enterprises
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises was a Hollywood-based American animated production company, active from 1963 to 1981. They produced theatrical cartoons, animated series, commercials, title sequences and television specials ....
, 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

The Wild Chase

The Wild Chase is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises featuring Sylvester, Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales....
. This was directed by Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng

Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, Film director, and Film producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
himself in 1965. Much of the material was animation lifted from earlier Runner and Gonzales shorts, with the other characters added in. The cartoon also stars the fastest mouse in Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales

Speedy Gonz?les, "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico", is an animation mouse from the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons....
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
Robert McKimson

Robert "Bob" McKimson, Sr. was an USA animator, illustrator, and film director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
(Rushing Roulette, 1965, and Sugar and Spies, 1966).

The remaining 11 were subcontracted to Format Films
Format Films

Format Films was a television animation studio which was founded by Herbert Klynn. It was most active during the 1960s, producing episodes of The Alvin Show, Popeye, and The Lone Ranger....
and directed under ex-Warner Bros. animator Rudy Larriva
Rudy Larriva

Rudolph "Rudy" Larriva was an United States animator and film director from the 1940s to the 1980s. Larriva worked at a number of animation studios, including Format Films, Filmation, Walt Disney Productions, but is best known for his work at Warner Bros....
. 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
Leonard Maltin

Leonard Maltin is an United States film critic and film historian. He has authored numerous mainstream books on the cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives....
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
William Lava

William Lava was a musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes cartoons from 1962 onwards, replacing the deceased Milt Franklyn....
. 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
Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a fictional rabbit who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animation films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros....
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
Mel Blanc

Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an United States voice acting and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio and television commercials, Blanc is best known for his work with Warner Bros....
. While he is incredibly intelligent, he is limited to technology and is often easily outsmarted, a somewhat physical symbolism of "street smarts" besting "book smarts."

In one short (Hare-Breadth Hurry, 1963), Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a fictional rabbit who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animation films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros....
—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
Elmer Fudd

Elmer J. Fudd is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Brothers cartoon pantheon ....
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.

Chuck Jones's 1979
1979 in film

The year 1979 in film involved some significant events....
movie The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie

The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie

The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie is a 1979 in film Looney Tunes film with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animation bridging sequences, hosted by Bugs Bunny....
features Jones's characters, including Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. However, whereas most of the featured cartoons are single cartoons or sometimes isolated clips, the footage of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner is taken from several different cartoons and compiled to run as one extended sequence.

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner have cameo roles in Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis

Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning American film director, Film producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future trilogy films as well as the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , though in t...
's Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 fantasy film comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?....
during the final scene in Marvin Acme's factory. This is one of several anachronisms in the movie, which is set two years before Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner debuted.

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appear as members of the TuneSquad team in Space Jam

Space Jam

Space Jam is a 1996 in film United States live-action/animated film starring Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes characters....
. 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 Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

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 the Mystery Comics Digest and Walt Disney Comics Digest....
and Gold Key's revival of Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series....
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
Gold Key Comics

Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands....
' licensed comic book, Beep Beep the Road Runner.

The Road Runner and Wile E. also make appearances in the DC Comics
DC Comics

DC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. A subsidiary of Warner Bros....
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

The Road Runner Show

The Road Runner Show was an animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, which were produced by Warner Bros....
, from September 1966 to September 1968, on CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
. At this time it was merged with The Bugs Bunny Show

The Bugs Bunny Show

The Bugs Bunny Show is a long-running United States television anthology series hosted by Bugs Bunny, that was mainly composed of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons produced for Warner Bros....
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
Global Television Network

Global Television Network is a Canadian English language privately owned television network. It is owned by Canwest Media Inc., a division of Canwest which is headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba....
until 1998.

In the 1970s, Chuck Jones directed three Road Runner short films for the educational children's TV series The Electric Company

The Electric Company

*For other uses, see Electric company.*For the 2009 revival see The Electric Company .'The Electric Company' was an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States....
. 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

Freeze Frame

Freeze Frame is the twelfth album by United States rock music band The J. Geils Band, released in 1981 ....
, 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

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales is an animated Christmas television special featuring Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters, in three newly-created cartoon shorts with seasonal themes....
.

At the end of Bugs Bunny's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny

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. The cartoon was part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, which aired May 21, 1980....
(the initial sequence of Chuck Jones' TV special, Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over

Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over

Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over is a Looney Tunes television special which aired on May 21, 1980. It features three new cartoons at the time, which featured Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters....
), 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 "beep, beep" noises can be heard. This was followed by the fully-fledged Runner/Coyote short, Soup or Sonic

Soup or Sonic

Soup or Sonic is a Warner Bros. cartoon, starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. The cartoon was part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, which aired May 21, 1980....
.

Wile E. and the Road Runner later appeared in several episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures

Tiny Toon Adventures

Tiny Toon Adventures is an American animated television series created and produced as a collaborative effort between Steven Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros....
. In this series, Wile E. (voiced in the Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon

Jim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15....
episode "Piece of Mind" by Joe Alaskey
Joe Alaskey

Joe Alaskey is an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, credited as one of the successors of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other characters from Warner Bros....
) was the dean
Dean (education)

In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific Academia unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both....
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
Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building. There is no official definition nor height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper....
. In the direct-to-video movie Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation

Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation is a direct-to-video animated movie made in 1991, and released in 1992 from Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment....
, 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

Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as Animaniacs, is an American list of animated television series, distributed by Warner Bros....
. They were together in two Slappy Squirrel cartoons: "Bumbie's Mom" and "Little Old Slappy from Pasadena
Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, California, United States. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl Game American football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ,...
". In the latter the Road Runner is outrun by Slappy's car and holds up a sign saying "I quit"—immediately afterwards, Buttons
Buttons and Mindy

Buttons and Mindy are characters that were regularly featured on the animated children's television show Animaniacs. Their segments centered on three characters: Buttons , a heroic German shepherd-type dog; Mindy Sadlier , an accident-prone female toddler; and Mindy's mother , who was often referred to as "Lady" by Mindy, exce...
, 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

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 in film Cinema of the United States musical film-fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 Children's literature novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L....
parody
Parody

A parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation....
, dressed in his bat
Bat

Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of all bats are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of sustained flight ....
suit from one short, in a twister
Tornado

A tornado is a violent, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud....
(tornado) funnel in "Buttons in Ows".

In a Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)

Cartoon Network is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting System which primarily shows Animation programming. The original American channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program....
TV ad about The Acme Hour

Acme Hour

Acme Hour was an hour-long program that aired on Cartoon Network. It was an hour-long compilation of various Warner Bros., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Jay Ward, Walter Lantz, Popeye, and public domain Betty Boop cartoon shorts....
, 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
Toddler

Toddler is a common term for a young child who is learning to walk. The toddling stage is generally considered to be the stage of development between infant and childhood....
versions of Wile E. and the Road Runner have been featured in episodes of the series Baby Looney Tunes

Baby Looney Tunes

Baby Looney Tunes is an American animated television series that shows Looney Tunes characters as toddlers.The show premiered on WB stations usually before or after Kids' WB! on September 14, 2002....
.

Wile E. Coyote had a cameo as the true identity of an alien hunter (a parody of Predator) in the Duck Dodgers

Duck Dodgers (TV series)

Duck Dodgers is an United States animated television series, based on the classic cartoon short Duck Dodgers in the 24?th Century, produced by Warner Bros....
episode "K-9 Quarry," voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker

Dee Bradley Baker is an United States voice actor for multiple animated television series, as well as video games....
. In that episode, he was hunting Martian Commander X-2 and K-9.

In Loonatics Unleashed

Loonatics Unleashed

Loonatics Unleashed is an United States animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran on September 17, 2005 to May 5, 2007 on The WB, and currently airs on The CW in the United States, Teletoon in Canada, Kids Central in Singapore, Cartoon Network's Boomerang in Australia, Cartoon Network in the UK, Southeast Asi...
, 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
Acme Corporation

The Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that exists in several cartoons, films and TV series, most significantly in the Looney Tunes universe, where it appeared most prominently in the Wile E....
), 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 and was shown at times shows Rev doing stupid things.

In the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)

Cartoon Network is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting System which primarily shows Animation programming. The original American channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program....
TV series Class of 3000

Class of 3000

Class of 3000 was an American Emmy Award-winning comedy animated television series on Cartoon Network that was created, executive produced by and stars Andr? 3000 of the Hip hop music group OutKast as superstar and music teacher Sunny Bridges, set at Atlanta, Georgia's Westley School of Performing Arts....
, 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
Plymouth Road Runner

The Plymouth Road Runner was the no-frills muscle car version of intermediate Plymouth Belvedere and Plymouth Satellite built by the Plymouth automobile division of the Chrysler Corporation in the United States between 1968 and 1980....
was a muscle car
Muscle car

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high performance automobiles. At its most widely accepted the term refers to American 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s equipped with large, powerful V8 engines and sold at an affordable price for street use and automobile racing, formally and informal...
produced by the Plymouth
Plymouth (automobile)

Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, marketed by the Chrysler Corporation and DaimlerChrysler....
division of Chrysler between 1968 and 1980. An official licensee of Warner Bros. (paying $50,000 for the privilege), Plymouth
Plymouth (automobile)

Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, marketed by the Chrysler Corporation and DaimlerChrysler....
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
Spoiler (automotive)

A spoiler is an Automotive aerodynamics device whose intended design function is to 'spoil' unfavorable air movement across a body of a vehicle in motion....
and one of the headlight covers of the 1970 Plymouth Superbird
Plymouth Superbird

The short-lived Plymouth Road Runner Superbird, a sister design to the Dodge Charger Daytona, was designed to beat the Ford Torino Talladega at NASCAR stock car racing and to lure Richard Petty back to Plymouth....
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
Holden Barina

The Holden Barina is an Subcompact car automobile sold since 1985 by Holden, the Australian arm of General Motors . Each of the five generations have been badge-engineered versions of GM vehicles: Suzuki Cultus, Opel Corsa, and Daewoo Kalos....
in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
.
In 1991, Shell Oil
Shell Oil

Shell Oil can refer to one of the following:*Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world's leading energy companies, based in the Netherlands and the UK...
New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
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
Mascot

The term mascot ? defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck ? colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or Brand....
for Time Warner
Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable is an American national cable television company that operates in 27 states and has 31 operating divisions. Its corporate headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut, and has other corporate offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado....
's cable internet
Cable modem

File:Sb5120.jpgA cable modem is a type of modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a cable television infrastructure....
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
Deion Sanders

Deion Luwynn Sanders is a former National Football League cornerback, Major League Baseball outfielder, and is currently an NFL Network Sportscaster....
in a Pepsi
Pepsi

Pepsi is a Carbonation that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. It is sold in retail stores, restaurants, cinemas and from vending machines....
commercial.
From 1997 to 1998, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote appeared in a Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac Grand Prix

The Pontiac Grand Prix was an automobile produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. First introduced as part of Pontiac's full-size model offering for the 1962 model year, the Grand Prix name was also applied to cars in the personal luxury car market segment and the mid-size offering, slotting below the large Pontiac Bonneville in th...
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
Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a fictional rabbit who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animation films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros....
and Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck

Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Daffy was the first of the new breed of "screwball comedy film" characters that emerged in the late 1930s to supplant traditional everyman characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye, who were more popular ear...
) in an Aflac
Aflac

Aflac Incorporated sells supplemental health and life insurance in the United States and Japan. The company was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia, Georgia ....
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
Energizer Bunny

The Energizer Bunny is the marketing icon and mascot of Energizer batteries. It is a pink rabbit wearing sunglasses and blue sandals that beats a Marching Percussion....
.
In the 1980s, both Wile E. and Road Runner appeared in a Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios

Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1978 by General Mills. As the first variation from Cheerios, it is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor....
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
McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 58 million customers daily. McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts....
TV commercial in the 1980s showed the Road Runner running in and ordering using his "beep, beep" 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
Purolator Courier

Purolator Courier Ltd. is a Canadian courier that is 94% owned by Canada Post.The company was originally organized as Trans Canada Couriers, Ltd....
used the Road Runner's "beep, beep" in a TV commercial and actually had the phone number 1-800-BEEP-BEEP.
In New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
, where the state bird
List of U.S. state birds

This is a list of U.S. state birds as designated by each state's legislature. The selection of state birds began in 1927, when the legislatures for Alabama, Florida, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Wyoming selected their state birds....
is the Greater Roadrunner
Greater Roadrunner

The Greater Roadrunner is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. It is one of the two Geococcyx species in the genus Geococcyx, the other Lesser 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
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
TV commercial for Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks

Bright House Networks is a cable television company and the sixth largest multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance Publications, headquartered in Syracuse, New York....
.
Oceanic Cable company in Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
(a regional branding of Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable is an American national cable television company that operates in 27 states and has 31 operating divisions. Its corporate headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut, and has other corporate offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado....
) uses the Roadrunner as mascot for its high-speed cable modem service. They have also used other Looney Tunes characters, most notably Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam is an animation fictional character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation....
, as pitchmen.
In the Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, the Partas
Partas

Partas Transportation Co., Inc. is a bus transportation company in the Philippines. It operates a 24/7 service for passengers and freight between Metro Manila and northwest Luzon , with services also running to Baguio City....
bus company features Road Runner in its buses' livery, even on the employees' uniforms.
In the Philippines, both Wile E. and Road Runner were featured in a Boysen Paints commercial, featuring the "tunnel" gag. In this case, Wile E. uses Boysen paint to draw a tunnel, as Road Runner paints a wall on the other side of the tunnel.

Video games
Several Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner-themed video games have been produced:
Road Runner
Road Runner (game)

Road Runner is a variant of the platform game genre, based on the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. It was developed and released by Atari Games in 1985....
(arcade game by Atari
Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Infogrames ....
, later ported to the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
, Atari 2600
Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridge containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated console hardware with all games built in....
, and several PC
Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator....
platforms).
Electronic Road Runner, from Tiger Electronics. Self-contained LCD game released in 1990.
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series....
(Game Boy
Game Boy

The is an 8-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in August , and in Europe in ....
game by Sunsoft
Sunsoft (company)

is a Japanese video game development company founded on April 16, 1971 as a division of Sun Corporation, itself a division of Sun Electronics, or Sun Denshi in Japan ....
).
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally

Road Runner's Death Valley Rally is a video game released for the Super NES. It is based on the Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner....
(Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a History of video game consoles video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993....
game by Sunsoft
Sunsoft (company)

is a Japanese video game development company founded on April 16, 1971 as a division of Sun Corporation, itself a division of Sun Electronics, or Sun Denshi in Japan ....
).
Desert Speedtrap (Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear

The Sega Game Gear is a handheld game console which was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
and Sega Master System
Sega Master System

The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986 in video gaming....
game by Sega
Sega

is a Multinational corporation video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ota, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan....
/Probe Software).
Desert Demolition
Desert Demolition

Desert Demolition Starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote is video game for the Sega Sega Mega Drive. Wile E Coyote and Road Runner are having a competition to see who will win the Acme Corporation prize for best customers of the year....
(Sega Genesis game by Sega
Sega

is a Multinational corporation video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ota, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan....
/BlueSky Software
BlueSky Software

Blue Sky Software or BlueSky Software or BlueSky Software Corporation was an United States software company situated in California formed in 1988 and had a successful run for 12 years before closing down in March of 2001, when parent company Interplay Entertainment was in financial trouble....
).
Sheep, Dog, 'n' Wolf
Sheep, Dog, 'n' Wolf

Sheep, Dog, 'n' Wolf is a platform game/stealth game for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows, developed by Infogrames in France. Unlike a standard platformer, the game incorporates stealth and strategy....
for the original PlayStation and published by Infogrames, is actually based on the Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf
Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf

Wolf and Sheepdog is a series of animation in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies line of cartoons. They were created by Chuck Jones....
cartoons, but Road Runner does make a cameo appearance.
Looney Tunes Double Pack, published by Majesco Entertainment
Majesco Entertainment

Majesco Entertainment is a Japan/United States video game publisher founded in 1986. It first made a name as a reissuer of old titles that had been abandoned by their original publisher....
and developed by WayForward Technologies
WayForward Technologies

WayForward Technologies is a game development company based in Valencia, California. Founded in 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis, as well as TV games and PC educational software....
. "Acme Antics" is the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner half of the Dual Pack.

The arcade game was originally to have been a laserdisc
Laserdisc

The Laserdisc is an obsolete home video disc format, and was the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially marketed as Discovision in 1978, the technology was licensed and sold as Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Videodisc, 'Laservision, 'Disco-Vision, 'DiscoVision, and MCA DiscoVision...
-based title incorporating footage from the actual Road Runner cartoons. Atari eventually decided that the format was too unreliable (laserdisc-based games required a great deal of maintenance) and switched it to more conventional raster
Raster graphics

In computer graphics, a raster graphics image or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally Rectangle grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a Computer display, paper, or other display medium....
-based hardware.

References in other games

In Gex: Enter The Gecko in the level Out of Toon there is a coyote-shaped hole on the side of a cliff.

See also

The Bugs Bunny Show
The Bugs Bunny Show

The Bugs Bunny Show is a long-running United States television anthology series hosted by Bugs Bunny, that was mainly composed of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons produced for Warner Bros....
Ralph Wolf and Sam the Sheepdog
Coyotes in popular culture
Coyotes in popular culture

The coyote is a popular figure in folklore and popular culture. References may invoke either the animal coyote , or the mythological figure Coyote , common to many myths of the indigenous peoples of the Americas....
coyote (mythology)
Coyote (mythology)

Coyote is a mythological character common to many Native Americans in the United States cultures, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, tail and claws....
Road Runner High Speed Online

Footnotes

Sources

(official studio site)

External links

at the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to film, actors, Television program, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media....
at the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to film, actors, Television program, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media....
(fan site)
(includes list of characters' faux-scientific names)

Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner

Creation

List of episodes

Scenery

The Acme Corporation

Laws and rules

Later cartoons

Spin-offs

Comic books

Television

Commercial appearances

Video games

See also

Footnotes

Sources

External links