Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner

Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner
Production company	DePatie–Freleng Enterprises Format Films
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	August 21, 1965
Starring	Paul Julian
Executive producer(s)	Herbert Klynn
Producer(s)	David H. DePatie Friz Freleng
Music composed by	Bill Lava
Story by	Rudy Larriva
Animation	Hank Smith Tom McDonald
Director(s)	Rudy Larriva
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Title card
Second title card

Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner is the five hundred and first Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 21, 1965. It was written by Rudy Larriva, produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng, and directed by Larriva.

After getting tricked off a cliff while playing a game of hopscotch, Wile E. tries using an overhead spike trap and then makes a female Road Runner decoy using a lightning rod to catch the Road Runner.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Characters

Organizations

• Acme

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Midwest desert

Objects

• Hopscotch
• Spiked grate
• Bird Seed
• Acme Lightning Rod
• Paintbrush
• Acme Glue
• Fake plumage and beak

Vehicles

• None

Production

Development

The film was subcontracted to Format Films, making it the first theatrical Warner Bros. cartoon to have their involvement; the first of eleven theatrical Wile E./Road Runner cartoons to be directed by Larriva; and the first overall by Larriva.^[1]

Filming

It was copyrighted in 1965 (MCMLXV).

Music

The music was scored by William Lava. It is the only three shorts in which he properly scored for the Wile E./Road Runner shorts, as the subsequent ten entries that followed (from Tired and Feathered to Clippety Clobbered) used a set of musical cues due to extremely low budgets;^[1] the other two shorts were The Wild Chase and Rushing Roulette.

Crew credits

• Layout: Erni Nordli
• Backgrounds: Tony Rizzo
• Film editor: Lee Gunther

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: August 24, 1965 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title is a parody of the 1964 psychological horror film Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte.
• The MPAA certificate number is 21058.
• This is the first Road Runner cartoon to not have involvement from Chuck Jones; not counting Road Runner a Go-Go and Zip Zip Hooray!, which were edited from Jones' featurette Adventures of the Road-Runner.^[1]
• It is currently the only Road Runner cartoon to not have a restored print.
• The short rarely airs on U.S. television due to a scene of Wile E. performing a stereotypical Native American rain dance.
  • Despite this, it continued to air on MeTV, beginning with a April 2, 2021 episode of Toon Me With Me.

Errors

Critical reception

Home availability

• In the United Kingdom and Ireland:
  • March 23, 1998: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Bumper Edition: Volume 7 on VHS.^[2]

• In Japan:
  • August 20, 1998: Warner Home Video releases Bugs and Road Runner: Runaway Rabbit on LaserDisc.^[3]

References