Beep, Beep (film)
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''Beep, Beep'' is a 1952 Warner Bros. ''
Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...
'' series directed by
Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...
. The short was released on May 24, 1952, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The cartoon is named after the sound the Road Runner makes, which is often misheard as "Meep, meep".


Plot

The cartoon opens with Road Runner (with the mock genus/species name in faux-Latin ''Accelerati Incredibilus'') being chased by the Coyote (''Carnivorous Vulgaris''), the action pauses while these
taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
captions are displayed. Wile E., carrying a knife and fork, chases Road Runner; he strikes with the cutlery but, as Road Runner accelerates away, they stick in the road. The Coyote slumps on the ground and soon comes up with the next in a series of plans. # He attaches a spring-activated boxing glove to a large rock and hides behind it, hoping to clobber Road Runner as the bird races by. However, the tension in the spring causes the rock and Wile E. to be launched backwards instead of the glove forwards. The glove then retracts backwards and punches the stunned Coyote in the face. # Wile E.'s next plan is to traverse a tightwire and drop an anvil on Road Runner. The anvil proves too heavy for the tightwire to handle, and Wile E. is stretched all the way to the ground and can be seen by Road Runner, who taunts him before dashing off. Wile E. drops the anvil and is slung up into the air. Wile E. points expectantly at his backpack and pulls out a cord, hoping for a parachute; however, upon opening the pack, there is no parachute, simply common items like a hatchet and kitchen utensils. His expression darkens, and he produces a cartridge of ACME-branded
aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...
, taking a few to alleviate the inevitable pain. He weakly waves at the camera as he takes the plunge. # His next idea is to set out a water glass with two signs by it reading "Last Water for 300 MILES" and "Free Drink of Water". The glass is attached by string that has a match set onto a TNT device. Wile E. hides as he hears the approaching Road Runner, who stops at the water stand, but simply ignores the trap and speeds behind the hiding Coyote bearing a sign that reads "ROAD RUNNERS CAN'T READ AND DON'T DRINK". Furious at this revelation, the Coyote chases Road Runner into a mine, but soon realizes he has no helmet or flashlight. He returns to the cap rack and dons a cap, and Road Runner pulls up to him and provokes a chase through the mine. During this chase, the audience's viewpoint cuts alternately between a view inside the mine and a Pac-Man style map of the mine, the lights on the characters' caps color-coding their wearers in the latter period (green for Road Runner and red for Wile E.). They eventually enter a zig-zagging tunnel and Road Runner travels upwards when there is a junction while the Coyote continues straight in the same pattern. After breaking his headlamp, Wile E. lights a match for light, but happens to be in a tunnel laden with explosives, which detonate, the explosion warping some cacti above ground into the word "YIPE!" # Back on the surface, Wile E. has loaded himself on a springboard in order to sling himself towards the passing Road Runner. When he cuts the rope holding him back, he is planted directly on the ground and the spring unfurls like a Slinky. # The Coyote is now waiting for Road Runner to make a turn so that he can chase him with an abstrusely designed rocket. He lights the fuse with perfect timing, but unfortunately the rocket fires directly ''up'' into the sky and explodes into a firework that produces an " EAT AT JOE'S" sign. # Wile E. attempts to use ACME's rocket-powered
roller skates Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad s ...
to chase Road Runner. Road Runner gets away but Wile E. has a smirk on his face, and turns them on, however he is caught off guard by the superfast launch, tries to stop with his nails on the tarmac, but then manages to pull himself up straight and regain confidence. It appears he's quicker than Road Runner and gains enormously on him, when the road takes a turn, however, the Coyote is propelled off the end, and finds himself briefly stranded on top of a high plateau and suddenly riding up against a steep hill, before being thrown up into the sky. The rollerskates then fade out. As he falls, Coyote begins to pray and pulls out an "R.I.P." wreath before crashing into the ground. An exhausted Wile E. climbs out of the hole and spots the "Free Drink of Water" stand from before. Anxious to quench his thirst but completely forgetting that this was the trap set earlier in the cartoon, he lifts the glass and the TNT explodes. # The fully recovered Coyote places a small railroad track, two bushes, himself, and an "R.R. STOP" sign in the middle of the road. This fails to stop Road Runner, who mows down the Coyote and leaves him spread-eagled on the track to be flattened again by a train. Road Runner relaxes on the balcony of the caboose, with a sign written as "THE END" attached to the caboose.


In Other Media

* This short is briefly featured in the 1996 film, '' Space Jam'', during a scene where Wile E. is doing the tightwire segment,
Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many criti ...
shows up and interrupts the cartoon to get the Tunes to an emergency meeting concerning the Tunes being taken to Moron Mountain. The new footage of the short was produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation.


See also

* Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950–1959) *
Beep, beep (sound) "Beep, beep" is onomatopoeia representing a noise, generally of a pair of identical tones ( beeps) following one after the other, often generated by a machine or device such as a car horn. It is commonly associated with the Road Runner (meep, m ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beep, Beep (Film) Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films 1952 animated films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner films American comedy short films 1952 short films American animated short films Animated films about birds 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Animated films without speech Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Films scored by Carl Stalling Films about Canis Animated films about mammals Films produced by Edward Selzer