Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner
| Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies series | |
| Directed by | Rudy Larriva |
| Produced by |
David H. DePatie Friz Freleng Herbert Klynn |
| Story by | Rudy Larriva |
| Music by | Bill Lava |
| Animation by |
Hank Smith Tom McDonald |
| Layouts by | Erni Nordli |
| Backgrounds by | Tony Rizzo |
| Studio |
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (Marvel Animation) Format Productions |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | August 21, 1965 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 6' |
| Language | English |
Run, Run Sweet Roadrunner is an animated cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series released by Warner Bros.. It features Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner and was directed and written by Rudy Larriva for release in 1965.
It was the first of the Road Runner cartoons subcontracted to Format Productions, and the only one which composer William Lava was able to properly score. (The subsequent cartoons had to use a set of stock musical cues, due to extremely low budgets).
Plot
Introduction: The short starts off with Wile E. waiting behind a rock for the Road Runner to zoom by. Wile E.looks at the camera and flutters his eyebrows as Road Runner races by. The coyote starts to chase him to the edge of a cliff. Road Runner produces a sign that says HOLD IT. There are hopscotch marks right at the end of the cliff, which is covered by a cloud. After Roadrunner hopscotches, The coyote takes his turn. But the cloud drifts away and the edge of the cliff breaks. Wile E. plummets to the canyon bottom. The battered coyote looks up at the rim, which is seen from his point of view. Roadrunner is heard going "beep beep" and then zooming off.
1. We then see a shot of Wile E. sharpening the spikes on a metal grate. He covers it up with a sheet and raises it up using a pulley. He then climbs down from the top of a rock, and it cuts to Wile E.hammering signs into the ground. One says FREE FOOD—200 YARDS, another says BIRD SEED LIKE MOTHER USED TO SERVE—100 YARDS and a third says EAT IN THE SHADE, 20 DEGREES COOLER--followed by Wile E. pouring bird-seed into a little bowl with a sign that says FREE BIRD SEED that is under the large sharp spiked grate and disguises it as a shade canopy. He watches from the top of his rock with a pair of binoculars as Roadrunner runs to the bowl of bird seed, gobbles it up in two seconds, and runs off. Wile E. gets a stunned look on his face and climbs down to fill the bowl with more bird seed. Unfortunately, the hot sun creates a glare on the lenses of the binoculars he left on top of the rock and it burns the rope holding up the shade canopy. As the coyote pours more seed into the bowl, he hears creaking, stands up to listen, and slowly looks up in distress just as the canopy falls right on top of him. The sheet from the spiked metal grate makes him look like a banana, in which he starts to "peel." He then gets an idea to create a female road runner.
2. The next scene, we see an ACME LIGHTNING ROD box. Wile E. sticks the rod in the ground and puts the female road runner's "body" on the middle of the stick. He then sticks on blue hair and a beak and paints eyes on it. Wile E. sticks the female "road runner" on the road and uses a Roadrunner "call," hides behind a rock and holds an axe while he waits for Roadrunner to run by to chop him with the axe. He hears the call and runs right by the female "Roadrunner" as he plants a kiss on it. Wile E. misses and chops the ground, and this results in the head from the female roadrunner flying off and hitting Wile E. on the head.
3. Wile E. later walks behind a cliff and emerges wearing Indian tribal clothes. He looks up at the sky and starts doing a rain dance. It soon starts to rain and Wile E. looks up with delight. He does another dance and this time, a bolt of lightning zaps the female road runner, just as Wile E. runs out of the way. He then uses the Roadrunner call and the real Roadrunner is seen running towards Wile E.'s spot. Wile E. hides behind the cliff and then the Roadrunner stops when he sees the female Roadrunner. He tiptoes towards her and leans in close to her. Wile E. then frenetically beats his drum, then unfurls an umbrella, and there's another lightning bolt, but unfortunately it misses the Road runner and his "girlfriend" and hits the coyote's umbrella. Burnt to a crisp, he stands there, still holding his (burnt out) umbrella.
Notes
The title is a parody of Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, which was released in late 1964.