Here are some of the rules we obeyed in the Coyote-Road Runner series:

The characters were created for Warner Bros. in 1948 by animation director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese, with Maltese also setting the template for their adventures. The characters star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts (the first 16 of which were written by Maltese) and occasional made-for-television cartoons. Originally meant to parody chase-cartoon characters like Tom and Jerry, they became popular in their own right.

RULE 1. THE ROAD RUNNER CANNOT HARM THE COYOTE EXCEPT BY GOING "BEEP-BEEP!"

RULE 2. NO OUTSIDE FORCE CAN HARM THE COYOTE - ONLY HIS OWN INEPTITUDE OR THE FAILURE OF THE ACME PRODUCTS.

RULE 3. THE COYOTE COULD STOP ANYTIME - IF HE WERE NOT A FANATIC. (REPEAT: "A FANATIC IS ONE WHO REDOUBLES HIS EFFORT WHEN HE HAS FORGOTTEN HIS AIM.")

RULE 4. NO DIALOGUE EVER, EXCEPT "BEEP-BEEP!"

RULE 5. THE ROAD RUNNER MUST STAY ON THE ROAD - OTHERWISE, LOGICALLY, HE WOULD NOT BE CALLED ROAD RUNNER.

RULE 6. ALL ACTION MUST BE CONFINED TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE TWO CHARACTERS-THE SOUTHWEST AMERICAN DESERT.

RULE 7. ALL MATERIALS, TOOLS, WEAPONS, OR MECHANICAL CONVENIENCES MUST BE OBTAINED FROM THE ACME CORPORATION.

RULE 8. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, MAKE GRAVITY THE COYOTE'S GREATEST ENEMY.

RULE 9. THE COYOTE IS ALWAYS MORE HUMILIATED THAN HARMED BY HIS FAILURES.

By Chuck Jones