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Chuck Jones' Rules of the Road Runner
Beep-beep!
It turns out that even in the wild world of Looney Tunes, there are rules. In his autobiography Churck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, Chuck Jones explained why cartoons need rules: "The rules and disciplines are properly difficult to identify. But there are - there must be - rules. Without them, comedy slops over the edges. Identity is lost."
He gave a classic Looney Tunes pairing as an example: Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. While it may seem to the audience that these two goofballs are chasing each other all over the desert, they are actually following a strict set of Jones' rules. The set of rules began with an initial thought that there should be no dialogue between the two characters, and this led to the expansion of rules that Jones decided should be consistent throughout all of their cartoons.
Here are Jones' rules for the Coyote vs. Road Runner cartoons, quoted directly from his book.
The Road Runner cannot harm the coyote except by going "Beep-beep!"
This happens at least once a short, and it's when the Road Runner is so close to the Coyote, but he doesn't notice until being spooked by the "Beep-beep!".
No outside for can harm the coyote - only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products.
Earlier in the book, Jones says that the Coyote's greatest, and only, enemy is himself.
The coyote could stop at anytime - if he were not a fanatic.
Jones quotes George Santayana: "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim."
No dialogue ever, except "Beep-beep!"
Occasionally, Wile E. Coyote will speak to the audience, but never to the Road Runner. But sometimes they communicate through signs!
The Road Runner must stay on the road - otherwise, logically, he would not be called Road Runner
Can't be a Road Runner if you're not on the road!
All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters - the southwest American desert.
In retrospect, this environment is a lot of fun. The desert provides plenty of opportunities for different action scenes, with all the cliffs, mountains, ravines, and miles and miles of road to chase each other on.
All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained by the Acme Corporation.
Acme began as a gag company just for Wile E. Coyote's orders, but it expanded to the rest of Looney Tunes whenever a place needed a name, like Acme Dancing Studio.
Whenever possible, make gravity the coyote's greatest enemy.
Jones was inspired by Tex Avery, who Jones said "Tex, more than any other director, was fascinated by the limitless possible extensions of the medium. He simply ignored all the physical laws of the universe, with, perhaps, an occasional nod to the law of gravity."
The coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.
This is similar to Jones' approach to Daffy, where the character is not defeated but only temporarily bruised and ready to jump back into the fight for the next cartoon.
