Beep, beep (sound)

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"Beep, beep" is onomatopoeia representing a noise, generally of a pair of identical tones (beeps) following one after the other, often generated by a machine or device such as a car horn. It is commonly associated with the Road Runner (meep, meep) in Looney Tunes cartoons featuring the speedy-yet-flightless bird and his constant pursuer, Wile E. Coyote. Beep, Beep is the name of a 1952 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series.

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Road Runner cartoons

Chuck Jones, the creator of Road Runner, has stated that this sound, the only way the Road Runner can harm the Coyote, was inspired by hearing a Doppler-like effect as background artist Paul Julian imitated a car horn when he could not see where he was going. [1] Julian voiced the various recordings of the phrase used throughout the Road Runner cartoons, although on-screen he was uncredited for his work. Although commonly quoted as "meep meep", Warner Bros., the current owner of all trademarks relating to the duo, lists "beep, beep" as the Road Runner's sound, along with "meep, meep." According to animation historian Michael Barrier, Julian's preferred spelling of the sound effect was either "hmeep hmeep" [2] or "mweep, mweep". [3]

In 1978, Warner Bros. recycled the Road Runner's "beep, beep" sound for its television series, Wonder Woman , which featured a tiny robot-on-wheels named Rover who makes the "beep, beep" sound on occasion. It only appeared in the second-season episode "I.R.A.C. is Missing".

1968 Plymouth Road Runner Plymouth Road Runner BW 2016-07-17 13-30-55.jpg
1968 Plymouth Road Runner

So popular was the image of road-burning speed inspired by the Road Runner, that Plymouth (a division of Chrysler) named one of their V8-powered "muscle car" models after the cartoon bird. The car was fitted with Road Runner decals and a horn that made the well-known "beep, beep" sound when activated.

The Road Runner cartoon also later became associated with Time Warner's Road Runner cable internet service.

In comic books, the Road Runner's actual name was given as "Beep Beep". [4] In the Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", Homer Simpson meets a character – not Julian – named June Bellamy (herself a tribute to voice actress June Foray), who says she recorded the sound of the Road Runner. She comments, "They only paid me to say [meep] once. Then they doubled it up on the soundtrack."

The Playmates

1951 Nash "Country Club" 2-door hardtop 1951 Nash Rambler yellow 2-door hardtop.jpg
1951 Nash "Country Club" 2-door hardtop

"Beep, Beep" ("The Little Nash Rambler") was a song which utilized the "beep, beep" sound in a tempo-changing novelty record recorded by the Playmates in 1958. The record became a #4 hit on the Billboard Top 40 record chart for twelve weeks. The lyrics tell the story of how the beep-beep horn of the "Little Nash Rambler" following close behind the driver of a Cadillac infuriates him into going ever faster—but the Rambler driver keeps pace with the Cadillac, in order to yell out of his window to the Cadillac driver in the final line of the song, "Hey, buddy, how can I get this car out of second gear?" [5]

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References

  1. ↑ Michael Barrier. "Beep, Beep" on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 (Region 2 DVD release) (DVD commentary). Event occurs at 0m26s. Actually the title is somewhat of a misnomer; the actual 'beep beep' sound you just heard the Road Runner make was made by a background painter named Paul Julian, who used to make it in the hallways at Warner Brothers when he was carrying a large painting along, so people would get out of his way. Chuck Jones heard him make that - or Treg Brown I guess, actually, the sound effects wizard at Warner Brothers - heard him make that noise and suggested that they record that for the Road Runner, and it's been the standard Road Runner noise ever since.
  2. ↑ Michael Barrier. "Fast and Furry-ous" on Looney Tunes All-Stars: Part 1 (Region 2 DVD release) (DVD commentary). Event occurs at 6m10s. Even though the expression was spelled 'beep beep' on the screen, and that the word 'beep' was used in many subsequent Road Runner cartoon titles, Paul Julian insisted that the correct spelling was 'H-M-E-E-P"; 'hmeep hmeep', rather than 'beep beep'. But obviously after dozens of Road Runner cartoons, and other appearances of the Road Runner and Coyote in other media, with the word 'beep' attached, it's much too late to make any change in that spelling.
  3. ↑ Michael Barrier. "Beep, Beep" on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 (Region 2 DVD release) (DVD commentary). Event occurs at 0m50s. Paul Julian said that the actual spelling of that should be something more like 'M-W-E-E-P'; 'mweep mweep' as opposed to 'beep beep'. But 'beep beep' it is on screen here and 'beep beep', as far as 99.9% of the world is concerned, it still is.
  4. ↑ Sanburn, Josh (September 13, 2010). "Top 10 Unforgettable TV Sounds: The Road Runner's 'Beep Beep'". Time . Retrieved November 20, 2021. For the record, he was known as Beep Beep the Road Runner in the original comic.
  5. ↑ "Autos: Rambler in High Gear". Time . December 8, 1958. Retrieved August 7 2021.
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