In cartoon physics, that is:

Class, just remember the Three Laws of Cartoon Physics for the exam:

1. The probability of any contraption issued by the ACME Corporation actually doing its job starts at 1%, and is thereafter inversely proportional to the sheer bullheadedness of the user.
2. A object at rest, such as a pile of boulders at rest in mid-air, will stay at rest until and unless you do something really moronic – like standing directly under it and poking at it with a long stick.
3. When running out over a yawning chasm of empty space, the distance you will cover is a function of the velocity at which you shot over the lip of the canyon, as well as the amount of time taken before you look down and realise that there is sod-all underneath your feet.

Man, they don’t make cartoons like this anymore. I grew up watching these ridiculous old-school Tex Avery and Chuck Jones concoctions – I practically had several episodes of Tom & Jerry memorised from back in the day. I especially loved the old T&J episode, The Cat Concerto, which had to be simultaneously one of the most over-the-top violent things ever committed to film, and one of the funniest.

Also, you have to hand one thing over to Wile E. Coyote: the poor bastard never, ever, ever gives up.

UPDATE: Holy crap, I just found the motherlode…