Why does the roadrunner always win over the coyote? (A cliché in cartoons)

What frightens me is that I just know that somewhere out in hollywood someone is sitting there thinking about turning the Roadrunner cartoon into a movie. Casper, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scooby Do, it is just a matter of time.

 

Well, there was Space Jam.

D'oh!

 

Yeah, there was also Osmosis Jones...

 

I hate the roadrunner!!

 

Beep beep!!

 

Actually the Coyote wasn't "dumb", looking back on it it seems more like the fates were just against him. It is too much coincedence that that many of his plans go awry. In fact many Warner cartoons seem to have this theme. Remember that spooky one about the frog (the WB channel mascot) that sang, but only for the guy that found it. The guy only wants to make some cash (who wouldn't), but he eventually ends up in an asylum. That's really wack when you think about it.

 

"We're doomed to suffer, it's our lot in life!"

 

Unless you're a roadrunner, in which case, you're destined to succeed due to dodgy ACME products...

 

Me too!! I wish I could be more like the roadrunner.... he's in great shape, he always comes out on top, he's *never* in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

I hate to say this...... but it's a cartoon. Mind you, how DOES roadrunner do that stuff?

Maybe he uses the force?

 

Remember, if he used the "force", LFL would be all over Warner Bros. in an instant

Please, try and steer this back on course of a discussion, not telling us how you feel about the roadrunner (unless it adds a valid point to the discussion).

Personally, I've felt that the roadrunner always wins over the coyote for a few reasons. With the way the character of the coyote looks, we assume he's a plotting/mischevious (possibly even evil) character. While the roadrunner looks sweet and innocent. I always thought of that as a ploy for children to fall in love with the roadrunner. ..and, since it's a child's show, you can't have the character who is loved by the target audience die (in this case, be eaten).

 

That roadrunner always looked hella cool!

 

I think part of it also comes down to morals. The kid will see the good guy winning, the bad guy getting what he deserves and as such hopefully learning a lesson from that. Basically another form of trying to teach kids right fro wrong and sticking it in a form that they will understand.

I also think there's something else behind it though, or at least partially. these cartoons are cliched. They do follow a set pattern. That pattern, however, was defined however many years ago, when society did at least try to be morality based. So if a parent had seen what they classifed as a 'good guy' being beaten, then they would have not let their kids watch it. This, in turn, would have lost the company money. So they tried to be what the parents would have wanted them to see.

A question came to me when writing this post, though, and that is this:

How, exactly, can we honestly classify characters like the roadrunner and jerry as good guys? Yes, they are originally the innocent victims. They are going about their lives in the normal manner when they are attacked by some random person who wanted them for food.

But do they not lose their innocence after that? Lets take Tom an Jerry. I remember episodes where Jerry would hit Tom on the foot with a mallet - how is that a good guy? He may have been innocent in the beginning, but he certainly changed that by the end.

So these cartoons, in my mind at least, are not about the good guy winning and the bad guy losing. They are about the smarter one winning and the less intelligent one losing.

 

I think part of it also comes down to morals. The kid will see the good guy winning, the bad guy getting what he deserves and as such hopefully learning a lesson from that. Basically another form of trying to teach kids right fro wrong and sticking it in a form that they will understand.
-- I hadn't thought of that -- that is a very valid point. The way the shows are built, yes, they do point out in a very basic way "right and wrong". That's very cool that ya pointed that out


How, exactly, can we honestly classify characters like the roadrunner and jerry as good guys? Yes, they are originally the innocent victims. They are going about their lives in the normal manner when they are attacked by some random person who wanted them for food.
-- I think it's just an assumption made by how everything is placed together. I remember growing up and having the thought of "the roadrunner being a good guy". I think since the assumption is placed in your mind as a child, it sticks with you for the rest of your life. Darned media


But do they not lose their innocence after that? Lets take Tom an Jerry. I remember episodes where Jerry would hit Tom on the foot with a mallet - how is that a good guy? He may have been innocent in the beginning, but he certainly changed that by the end.
-- I most certainly agree with you there. In this case, the roadrunner wouldn't be innocent anymore, he'd be enlightened to the "evil" of the coyote. And I never considered him "innocent" since he tricks the coyote into getting himself hurt.


So these cartoons, in my mind at least, are not about the good guy winning and the bad guy losing. They are about the smarter one winning and the less intelligent one losing.
-- In the end, yes, that very conclusion can be drawn about the characters. Although when it first comes to my mind, I don't think about the intelligence of the characters, but wether they're "good" or "bad".

 

Bugs Bunny is a good example of "intelligence" winning over obstacles. He's not the strongest, but he is smarter than any of his adversaries. The roadrunner on the other hand seems to be more of a force of nature.

 

Frankly, it?s a wonder ACME is still in business?

Whoa, shnarbles. You have given me something to think about.

We always seem to classify one character as being a member of two sides ? good or bad ? but we never investigate as to why we do this. Partly the reason the roadrunner annoyed me so, was because of the fact he always seemed to enjoy beating his opposition (Yes, I know, all he did was beep-beep ) It?s like my mother always used to drill into me, ?Two wrongs don?t make a right?.

RMC, that?s true, also. He wasn?t as sparkling clean as he was portrayed; rather he was obviously intelligent enough to avoid the ambushes. Darn, I just wish one time the least intelligent of the pair would triumph. From this, it makes me realise that cartoons can show a window to reality ? barely somewhat. If you don?t have the brains to survive, your superiors will squash you. Hmm, this automatically makes me consider the social chain of dinosaurs.

?Good? and ?bad? are stereotypes, but we?re always reverting back to them.

Am

 

Bugs Bunny is the most bad guy that is sometimes portrayed as a good one.One example,after he throws Sam out off a cliff he´s in the ground with a matress saying "sometimes my conscience kinda bothers me.But not this time"and lets Sam receive the good news!Also Bugs Bunny his sooooooooo cocky!