To Beep or Not To Beep

To Beep or Not to Beep is a Merrie Melodies animated short starring Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner. Released December 28, 1963, the cartoon was written by Chuck Jones and John Dunn, and directed by Jones (Maurice Noble received credit as co-director).

The title is a play on the famous line in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. This installment of the Coyote-Road Runner series marked the first time that no Latin-esque terms are used to indicate who each character is.

Almost all of the footage was originally made as part of a television pilot named Adventures of the Road-Runner. The pilot was never sold, and several gags from the short were rearranged into this cartoon in a cost-cutting measure (being much similar to the practice often used in the latter Three Stooges two-reelers of the mid-to-late 1950s). A whole new soundtrack was crafted by musician Bill Lava and editor Treg Brown.