The coyote and the bird-- Scientific results!

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I’m referring, of course, to the recent column Did Wile E. Coyote ever catch the Road Runner?. Purely coincidentally, the last homework assignment in the relativity class here at Montana State (assigned before Cecil’s column was posted) dealt with the Coyote and 'Runner. The last part of the assignment, for no credit (no information was given on the Roadrunner in the problem) was “Does Wiley (sic) ever catch the roadrunner?”. I just finished grading them, and the scientific results are as follows:
One student stated that there was not enough information to answer the question.
One student said that the Coyote would eventually catch the Roadrunner.
One student cited the episode mentioned in Cecil’s column, where he catches, but does not eat, the bird.
The remainder of the class, thirteen students, stated that Wile E. Coyote would never catch the roadrunner, based on various degrees of evidence.

Make of this what you will.

2

In Chuck Jones’ autobiography “Chuck Amuck,” he says that the Road Runner was originally supposed to be a one-off parody of chases in cartoons. After they realized that the character had staying power, two of the rules they established were that the Road Runner never leaves the road, and that the Coyote never wins.

3

Did any of y’all see the one where the Roadrunner races Speedy Gonzales? And Wile E. and Sylvester team up to catch them?

That was soooooo cool.

4

Here’s my take on things. Does the audience identify with the Coyote or with the Roadrunner? I say they/I identify with the Coyote. So these cartoons are realy tragedies…about the futility of life, and how you can run and run and strive and struggle, but you will never achieve your goal. Nice message to give to the kids, eh?

5

I am less worried about the meaning of the cartoons than
the image the Road Runner Cartoons give to us.
As opposed to the cartoon:
Road Runners are brown.
They can fly.
They eat rattlesnakes.

I have never heard one make noise, so I don’t know what
sound they can make.

6

You may also have noticed that rabbits don’t talk, nor can they travel long distances by tunneling (whether or not they make a left turn at Albuquerque). Tasmanian devils don’t spin. Coyotes do not buy equipment via mail order. Ducks cannot stick their beaks back on after having them blown off by shotguns.

Real road runners aren’t funny. The Road Runner is.

–Dav