To Beep or Not to Beep (1963)

Directed by

Chuck Jones

Genre

animation, comedy

Country

United States

Runtime

7 min

Rated

NR

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 31 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner using elaborate traps that backfire on him. The chase takes place in a desert landscape.

playfulfast-pacedslapstickwhimsicallightheartedcartoonishnostalgicsimple

What happens

To Beep or Not to Beep is a Merrie Melodies animated short starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Released on December 28, 1963, the cartoon was written by Chuck Jones, John Dunn, Michael Maltese (albeit uncredited), and directed by Jones, Maurice Noble and Tom Ray were the co-directors (albeit the latter is left uncredited). This is the penultimate Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote short that Chuck Jones directed at Warner Bros. during the original "classic" era. This is also the final Warner Bros. cartoon released in 1963. The title is a play on the famous line in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. This installment of the Coyote-Road Runner series marked the first time that no Latin-esque terms are used to indicate who each character is. Almost all of the footage was originally made as part of a 1962 television pilot named Adventures of the Road Runner. The pilot was rejected by ABC, and several gags from the short were rearranged into this cartoon in a cost-cutting measure (a similar practice was used in the Three Stooges two-reelers of the mid-to-late 1950s). A whole new soundtrack was crafted by musician Bill Lava and editor Treg Brown. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• The Whizzard of Ow (2003)
• Sugar and Spies (1966)
• Going! Going! Gosh! (1952)
• Beep Prepared (1961)
• Road Runner a Go-Go (1965)
• Rushing Roulette (1965)
• Highway Runnery (1965)
• Zoom at the Top (1962)