http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTtT5CCR-XA

You are right on target when you say: “Elmer Fudd doesn’t get as much physical punishment, but is instead the victim of his own slow-wittedness.”. Elmer was partly his own enemy. He just could not match the speed of BB. But Wile E. – a resilient, determined, single-minded and focused adversary – was failed more by the world around him rather than his incompetence.

Thank you Sam!

I agree that the Tom & Jerry cartoons revolve around human concerns, while the Road Runner shorts are more mechanized. And Road Run ner to be honest, is not very likable, he’s ruthless, and doesn’t have any personality as Bugs Bunny does when he lowers the boom on his victim, Wile E. Coyote, who although out-matched is a resilient, determined, single-minded and focused adversary, who is fated to failure time and time again. Elmer Fudd doesn’t get as much physical punishment, but is instead the victim of his own slow-wittedness. His punishment is more in the line of ‘mental cruelty’ methinks.

The annoying, mean-spirited Road runner to be perfectly honest is an annoying, one-note character that quickly becomes a bore in my view. That’s essentially a major reason why I am not a fan of the RR stuff, even as I revere Jones’s work above all others.

You pretty much acknowledge much of this and I must salute you for that superlative final paragraph comparing Wil E. Coyote to the Greek king Sisyphus. (“The Absurd Hero”) But in fact I was fascinated with the entire section ‘deconstructing Wil-E.’ Great stuff.