'Looney Tunes' animator Chuck Jones explains what makes Wile E. Coyote tick

NPR | By Terry Gross

Published September 18, 2026 at 9:50 AM EDT

Jones, who died in 2002, shared the specific rules he had for the characters he co-created in this 1989 interview: "The roadrunner can never harm the coyote; the coyote could only harm himself."

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and executive producer of NPR's Fresh Air.

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