More than 250,000 people in Hawaii access the World Wide Web though Oceanic Cable’s high-speed internet service. Since 2010 the company has been moving away from its service Road Runner. Before it does so completely, I thought I’d explore its history.
Time Warner Cable Ventures developed Road Runner as a cable alternative to slow, dial-up phone modems in the 1990s. Executives Glenn Britt and Carl Rossetti said they had not even heard of the Internet when they undertook rolling out the service on an experimental basis in Elmira, N.Y., in 1995.
The Road Runner was first developed as a cartoon in 1949 at Leon Schlesinger’s Hollywood studio, which made Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes. His first appearance was in "Fast and Furry-ous."
My mother, Martha Sigall, began working as an inker and painter at Schlesinger’s in 1936 and was there when many characters were created. She wrote a book about her 53 years in animation, titled "Living Life Inside the Lines," in 2005.
Director Chuck Jones got most of the credit for developing Road Runner, as was the tradition at the time, but one of his writers, Mike Maltese, came up with the idea.
Maltese created the love-struck skunk, Pepe Le Pew, and worked on Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester & Tweety, Tom & Jerry, Betty Boop, the Flintstones and the Jetsons.
"Mike Maltese liked to go Desert Hot Springs, 100 miles east of Hollywood, with his wife Flory for vacations," Sigall recalls.
"While relaxing around the pool, he saw many little birds running nearby. He asked the pool attendant what they were and was told they were roadrunners." Roadrunners range between 18 to 24 inches from tail to beak and weigh less than a pound. They are dark brown, with lighter markings, a distinctive head crest and an oversize bill.
MEMBERS OF the cuckoo family, they are capable of flight but spend most of their time on the ground. They can run 20 miles per hour, faster than most people. Roadrunners make a quiet coo sound like a dove, and a clacking sound with their beaks.
Maltese thought they might be a great idea for a cartoon character.
"When he got back from the Desert Hot Springs, we happened to get together with them one night," Sigall continues, "and he was talking about this idea he had for a cartoon character. He asked me what I thought of it."
"At the time I had never heard of roadrunners. I as- sumed it was some kind of rodent. I was almost ashamed to say, but I asked Mike, ‘What’s a roadrunner?’"
"He said, ‘Well, let me show you,’ and he drew a rough sketch of a bird with a long neck and long legs. I could not see how it would be funny."
"Lew Irwin, who assisted the animators, was standing next to me. I asked him if he thought it would make a good cartoon.
"He said ‘Martha, don’t roll your eyes. You know Mike can make a joke out of a wet floor mat and make it funny.’"
Maltese took the idea to director Chuck Jones, and the two developed the character we know today.
"Originally there wasn’t going to be any dialogue,’ Martha Sigall continues, "but Mike and Chuck thought the Road Runner should say something when he confronted Wile E. Coyote."
"Paul Julian, who was a wonderful background artist, happened to come out his office just as the bell rang at the end of the work day. The hallway quickly filled with people when Julian was carrying a wide tray of backgrounds."
"To avoid bumping people, instead of saying "excuse me’, he’d say "meep-meep, meep-meep."
"Mike heard him and suggested to Chuck that Road Runner say meep-meep when he comes face to face — with Wile E. Coyote. Chuck Jones liked it and brought Paul Julian into the audio room where he was recorded."
THE SOUND he makes sounds like meep-meep, but the studio writes it as beep- beep.
Julian was never paid or credited for voicing Road Runner. My mother says she heard it was because he wasn’t a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Others have said it was because Mel Blanc’s contract gave him an exclusive on voice credits.
The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote were a variation on the traditional cat-and-mouse theme. They were paired in 48 cartoons.
Nationally, Time Warner Cable is moving away from the Road Runner brand as it expands into other services, such as wireless and mobile computing. It stopped using the Road Runner graphic in 2011 and now use a graphic that combines an eye and an ear.
Bob Sigall, author of "The Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
