On NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” somone made the usefull political analogy to the cartoons where the Sheepdog and the (wolf?) puch the timeclock as friends but turn into enemies when the whistle blows.
But the person on NPR named the wolf-character as Wiley Coyote. Is that accurate? For one thing, he has a different name and voice. But I don’t recall that he was drawn differently than Wiley Coyote. Was this just Chuck Jones’ laziness?
That was Ralph Wolf. But yes, he did look a lot like Wile E. Coyote. Perhaps they were played by the same actor?
As Thudlow Boink says, it was Ralph. At the beginning of the cartoon you would see them punch in at the time clock and say “Good morning Sam” “Good Morning Ralph.” I confess, **Thudlow **remembers better than I, since I couldn’t remember which was Sam and which was Ralph.
Ralph Wolf also has a Rudolphesque red nose, which the coyote lacks. He shares with him a love of absurdly complex schemes to try and obtain edible creatures, and perpetually loses. The similarity is because it’s Chuck Jones who originated both series (and did them best, IMHO), but they’re clearly different creatures, despite being extremely similar. Besides, Wile E. never talks in any Jones cartoons. He did in one non-Jones cartoon, and thenm his voice was completely different from Ralph’s.
Yes, they were Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. I caught the error on WWDTM as well.
And Thudlow Boink touched on one of my favorite theories, but didn’t take it far enough. I contend that Ralph Wolf, Wile E. Coyote and The Coyote were three distinct characters played by the same actor. To the best of my recollection, within the roadrunner cartoons, he is only ever referred to as “the coyote”, and “Wile E. Coyote” only showed up as the uber-polite, yet still gadget-happy, foil for Bugs Bunny. I’m currently doing the research to support this theory, which basically means watching a lot of cartoons.
Robot Arm, are you saying that Wile E. Coyote was the “super-genius” who spoke to the camera, while the character who only communicated to the audience through handheld signs was the “Coyote”?
It wasn’t so much that Wile E. spoke to the camera, but he would introduce himself to Bugs (complete with business card) and talk to himself (mostly praising his own geniousity) while preparing one of his traps. And, yes, the Coyote would only communicate (to both the Roadrunner and the audience) with signs.
And the two characters are somewhat different in temperament. The Coyote has a definite streak of desperation and frustration when his traps go awry. Wile E. coyote has more of a resigned, back-to-the-old-drawing-board personality.
What I’m looking for is any reference to “Wile E. Coyote” within the Roadrunner cartoons. In the introductions, during the freeze-frame when their taxonomic names are shown (“ravenous vulgaris”, etc.), I believe he’s always just “Coyote”. There are also times when we see his mailbox, or some package from the Acme company with his address; I’m still checking those.
There is one of the Roadrunner cartoons where they break the fourth wall (and establish a fifth) by showing two kids watching the Roadrunner on television and commenting on it. At one point the Coyote addresses them directly, explaining why he wants to catch the Roadrunner; but I don’t count that since he explicitly breaks character.
Chuck Jones states in his book Chuck Amuck that Ralph Wolf is just Wile E. Coyote with a red nose. Are Wile E. Coyote and Ralph Wolf one and the same? Is the same “actor” portraying both roles? Perhaps.
Regarding the Coyote and Wile E. Coyote: based on Warner Bros. publicity, they are one and the same. Modern cartoons refer to him as Wile E. Coyote; according to Jerry Beck, an as-of-yet unreleased cartoon called Little Go Beep features him and the Road Runner as babies. His father appears in this cartoon- his name is Cage E. Coyote, and he tells his son that he must catch a Road Runner and must take a vow of silence until he does.
Modern cartoons can suck eggs. I’m talking about the classics here.
I don’t know about that. Another time, Jones said Ralph Wolf was Wile E’s cousin thereby accounting for their physical similarities and penchant for using elaborate–and frequently defective–gadgets from Acme to catch their prey.