On this day in 1949, we had the premiere of Fast and Furry-ous, which brought us the first appearances of Wile E. (Ethelbert) Coyote and the Road Runner. And yes, Mark Evanier is responsible for the name Ethelbert. So come with us now and take a look while we try to figure out one question — why does Mel Blanc get a voice credit for this cartoon?
Glenn Hauman
Glenn is VP of Production at ComicMix. He has written Star Trek and X-Men stories and worked for DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, Random House, arrogant/MGMS and Apple Comics. He's also what happens when a Young Turk of publishing gets old.
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Mel Blanc? Why, I thought it was someone else…at least that's what I saw on The Simpsons, when Homer became the voice of Poochie…Homer: How'd you get to be so good?June Bellamy: Oh, just experience I suppose. I started out as Roadrunner. [as Roadrunner] Meep!Homer: You mean "meep-meep"?June: No, they only paid me to say it once, then they doubled it up on the soundtrack. [to herself] Cheap bastards.
In regards to Joe in Philly's comments, June Bellamy was actually voiced by June Foray and I'm sure everyone realizes the whole bit on the Simpsons was just a gag.In real life, the Road Runner in "Fast and Furry-ous" was voiced by an air horn!When no one could find the air horn for the second cartoon, that's when Mel Blanc took over.Blanc was definitely the sound effects for Wile E. Coyote, although the character did not find his voice until his first confrontation with Bugs Bunny.
According to the Simpsons Archive website June Bellamy was voiced by Tress MacNeille. The character seems to be based on June Foray, who did appear way back in season 1.