Cartoon Law I. Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation. Daffy Duck steps off a cliff, expecting further pastureland. He loiters in midair, soliloquizing flippantly, until he chances to look down. At this point, the familiar principle of 32 feet per second per second takes over. Cartoon Law II. Any body in motion will tend to remain in motion until solid matter intervenes suddenly. Whether shot from a cannon or in hot pursuit on foot, cartoon characters are so absolute in their momentum that only a telephone pole or an outsize boulder retards their forward motion absolutely. Sir Isaac Newton called this sudden termination of motion the stooge's surcease. Cartoon Law III. Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter. Also called the silhouette of passage, this phenomenon is the speciality of victims of directed-pressure explosions and of reckless cowards who are so eager to escape that they exit directly through the wall of a house, leaving a cookie-cutout- perfect hole. The threat of skunks or matrimony often catalyzes this reaction. Cartoon Law IV. The time required for an object to fall twenty stories is greater than or equal to the time it takes for whoever knocked it off the ledge to spiral down twenty flights to attempt to capture it unbroken. Such an object is inevitably priceless, the attempt to capture it inevitably unsuccessful. Cartoon Law V. All principles of gravity are negated by fear. Psychic forces are sufficient in most bodies for a shock to propel them directly away from the earth's surface. A spooky noise or an adversary's signature sound will induce motion upward, usually to the cradle of a chandelier, a treetop, or the crest of a flagpole. The feet of a character who is running or the wheels of a speeding auto need never touch the ground, especially when in flight. Cartoon Law VI. As speed increases, objects can be in several places at once. This is particularly true of tooth-and-claw fights, in which a character's head may be glimpsed emerging from the cloud of altercation at several places simultaneously. This effect is common as well among bodies that are spinning or being throttled. A 'wacky' character has the option of self- replication only at manic high speeds and may ricochet off walls to achieve the velocity required. Cartoon Law VII. Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot. This trompe l'oeil inconsistency has baffled generation, but at least it is known that whoever paints an entrance on a wall's surface to trick an opponent will be unable to pursue him into this theoretical space. The painter is flattened against the wall when he attempts to follow into the painting. This is ultimately a problem of art, not of science. Cartoon Law VIII. Any violent rearrangement of feline matter is impermanent. Cartoon cats possess even more deaths than the traditional nine lives might comfortably afford. They can be decimated, spliced, splayed, accordion-pleated, spindled, or disassembled, but they cannot be destroyed. After a few moments of blinking self pity, they reinflate, elongate, snap back, or solidify. Corollary: A cat will assume the shape of its container. Cartoon Law IX. For every vengeance there is an equal and opposite revengeance. This is the one law of animated cartoon motion that also applies to the physical world at large. For that reason, we need the relief of watching it happen to a duck instead. Cartoon Law X. Everything falls faster than an anvil. Examples too numerous to mention from the Roadrunner cartoons. Cartoon Law XI. Whenever a person is injured, they are supplied with bandages even if there is nobody around to supply them with any. A cat gets in a fight with another cat. During the fight, both cats create nothing but a blur. Immediately after the fight, one or both cats are seen, covered with bandages, and walking dizzily. Cartoon Law Amendment A ======================= A sharp object will always propel a character upward. When poked (usually in the buttocks) with a sharp object (usually a pin), a character will defy gravity by shooting straight up, with great velocity. Cartoon Law Amendment B ======================= The laws of object permanence are nullified for "cool" characters. Characters who are intended to be "cool" can make previously nonexistent objects appear from behind their backs at will. For instance, the Road Runner can materialize signs to express himself without speaking. Cartoon Law Amendment C ======================= Explosive weapons cannot cause fatal injuries. They merely turn characters temporarily black and smoky. Cartoon Law Amendment D ======================= Gravity is transmitted by slow-moving waves of large wavelengths. Their operation can be wittnessed by observing the behavior of a canine suspended over a large vertical drop. Its feet will begin to fall first, causing its legs to stretch. As the wave reaches its torso, that part will begin to fall, causing the neck to strech. As the head begins to fall, tension is released and the canine will resume its regular proportions until such time as it strikes the ground. Cartoon Law Amendment E ======================= Dynamite is spontaneously generated in "C-spaces" (spaces in which cartoon laws hold). The process is analogous to steady-state theories of the universe which postulated that the tensions involved in maintianing a space would cause the creation of hydrogen from nothing. Dynamite quanta are quite large (stick sized) and unstable (lit). Such quanta are attracted to psychic forces generated by feelings of distress in "cool" characters (see Amendment B, which may be a special case of this law), who are able to use said quanta to their advantage. One may imagine C-spaces where all matter and energy result from primal masses of dynamite exploding. A big bang indeed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some more cartoon laws from other sources that were posted to rec.humor: The more frightened you are, the longer it takes to rev up your feet. If a large object (such as a boulder or piano) is falling towards a cartoon character, instead of moving out of the way, said character will open a small umbrella as protection. This will have no effect. Or, the character will start to run from under the piano (or safe) by spinning his feet, kicking up dust, but not moving. Any given character (e.g. Bugs Bunny), dressed as a woman, is completely irresistible to any other character (i.e. Yosemite Sam or that idiot lion - "One lump or two?") despite the cross-species implications. The love-struck victim usually takes on wolf-like characteristics and his eyes pop out of his head. The will invokes spontaneous generation of matter. For example, if Bugs Bunny wants a bottle of Hare Tonic for a gag, he just reaches off screen, or behind him, or somewhere, and it magically appears in his hand. Whenever you sneak up on someone on tippy-toes you *must* be accompanied by piccato violin in the background. A character's body will always fall faster than an anvil or a rock so the object will inevitably land on the character. Unless, of course, the object is a bomb, in which case the character will land on the bomb, which then explodes. If you are an alligator or crocadile and you are punched, you will fly into the air and return as two suitcases and a handbag. Falling Guidelines: The feet go, then the torso, the head, and finally the ears, leaving behind a small cloud of something. ------------ And let's not forget about cartoon magnets: In the Cartoon Universe, all lines of magnetic force are not only visible, but often times audible. (They resemble squiggly lightning bolts and sound like bad tuning on a ham radio). Magnetic force intensity increases in direct proportion to the size of the magnet in question. The weight of the magnet, however, is inversely proportional. Magnets used in any attempt to trap, catch, or locate prey (through the use of iron pellets and bird feed, for instance) will invariably attract refrigerators, irons, knives, anvils, horse shoes, nails, and busses. These objects will fly through the air and of course smash, impail, and pummel the wielder of the magnet. (Unless, of course, the weilder is standing in front of the magnet, in which case the magnet will effectively pin them to a large, metal object.) ------------- On Dynamite: Extraction of a foreign body from a rabbit hole through the use of a plunger, or vacuum cleaner will result in the removal of one stick of dynamite. Cartoon denizen birthday cakes are invariably served with a large number of smallish sticks of dynamite, rather than candles. The last ditch effort of every failed pest erradication scheme is to inundate the area with an enormous volume of high explosives, (which proves to be futile as well) Dynamite can be disguised as carrots, telephone receivers, candles, and roast turkey. (this is not a comprehensive list) Ignition generators (the push boxes) explode. Unless, of course, they are to be futile as well) Dynamite can be disguised as carrots, telephone receivers, candles, and roast turkey. (this is not a comprehensive list) Ignition generators (the push boxes) explode. Unless, of course, they are being operated by the original targetted individual of any trap involving dynamite. This leads one to conclude that dynamite is a natural phenomenon, and not a manufactured artifact, which would explain the easy availability. Powder kegs, TNT, and bombs may be used as a substitute, although they are rarely disguised. The lighting, and delivery of any higly explosive object by a cartoon villian will invariably result in the return to the villain of said object. Cartoon villains are unable to throw, douse, or rid themselves of any explosive object. ------------------- Wiley's Law of Gravitation States that you can defy gravity if: A) You are a cartoon character B) You don't look down Gravity is subjective: When Wile E. Coyote runs off the edge of a cliff, he doesn't fall until he looks down and realizes that his feet are no longer on the ground. Does the ACME company have a huge deficit, or what? THEY NEVER RECEIVE PAYMENT! There's an article in the christmas issue of the British journal New Scientist, which lists a number of interesting laws of physics in the cartoon 'tooniverse' one of which is that mass attracts gravitationally, but energy repels. Hence the Coyote can chase the road runner off a cliff, but he doesn't fall until he stops moving ( i.e. has no kinetic energy ). I would like to add to this hypothesis the idea that in the tooniverse energy is a vector ( it has magnitude AND direction ) rather than a scalar ( it has magnitude only ) as it is in our universe. It then seems that energy in the tooniverse owing to motion parallel with the ground results in repulsive 'anti-gravity', while energy resulting from motion perpendicular to the ground has no gravitational effect. This explains why Wile.E.Coyote's kinetic energy from the motion of falling doesn't save him. It seems that vertical motion strengthens the binding between molecules in the Coyote's body ( ensuring that he doesn't splash when he hits the ground ) and in the ground itself (ensuring that he leaves a nicely formed hole in the shape of his body, rather than an impact crater). Improvements to this theory would be welcomed, as the construction of a consistent theory of cartoon physics is truly a scientific venture of utmost importance. Any reaction will result in a four-fold and opposite reaction upon the person(s) causing the reaction. Traffic occurs, and only occurs, when one or more persons may be injured by aforesaid traffic. The laws of Physics are entirely optional, and may alter dramatically in order to pull off a gag. How about : Bugs Bunny running away from angry pursuer. Bugs goes into a slide to make a sharp turn, and then slides off the film (past the sprocket holes) and eventually returns to the cartoon as normal. The chase continues. If thou art creeping up behind someone, said motion shall be performed to the accompaniment of Pizzicati Stings. A fast circular motion of the legs can cause a slight upwards force. See - any character who spins it's legs so fast that it hovers momentarily above the ground, then eases off and lets the already moving legs hit the ground resulting in instant acceleration. Note that when threatened a toon will often panic - resulting in a longer time spent trying to start moving. Toon eyes are particularly poor at discerning detail. Thus Bugs Bunny need merely use a pair of rabbit ears in order to convince eg. an abominable snow- man that eg. daffy duck is the bunny he wants. See also Broomhilda in the Wagnerian Elmer v Bugs cartoon. Any falling tree not only has infinite extendability, but also a rubber property and a character location device. All this enables the tree to repeatedly fall on a character, hammering them into the ground, no matter where, or how far from the said falling tree the character runs. Holes are actually placeable objects. They can be slid up walls, into trees, down on the ground, etc. Trap doors can be opened to let a character in, and henceforth can be closed and folded in half again and again and again, until the trapdoor, hole, and (presumably) character are reduced to the size of nothingness. All physical laws will be either suspended or enforced, depending on which would be funnier. An object's hardness varies inversely to its velocity: A character falls onto a rock, the character crumples. The rock falls onto a character, the rock splits. Buildings in the cartoon universe are of any dimension necessary. Cartoon characters can run for very long distances without reaching an end of the building A character may attempt to cut of the limb another character is standing on, only to have the cut off limb remain in place while the entire tree falls. Characters can breathe in outer space. A character can take on the shape of a swallowed object. Characters are capable of consuming large quantities of materials, as in drinking the contents of a swimming pool. Swimming pools are always empty when a character expects them to be filled, but does not know for sure. Characters can be anywhere, at any time, even if it means vast changes in distances, physical condition, and costume. The roadrunner can be running into a tunnel one second, and be the engineer of the train coming out of the tunnel the next second. Cartoon houses always have perfectly formed, good sized mouseholes in the baseboards. Any character, whether good or bad, when landing upon a surface, will create a dust cloud, regardless of the type of surface. Whenever a villian or bad guy is given a smokable device (cigar, cigarette, etc) to smoke, it is usually lit by the nice guy. When the villian proceeds to smoke said smokable, the device explodes, and whenever a villian turns around to look at the match or lighter that was used to light the smokable (now in ashes), it too explodes.. Also, if a villian manages to extinguish the fuse of a stick of dynamite, there will be a second fuse at the other end. Luck is inversely proportional to intelligence. Intelligence is measured in "coyotes" (also known as "wileys" in some regions). Luck is measured in "roadrunners". And let's not forget the law of pain on cartoons. If your tail is cut off, or some other type of pain is inflicted, it doesn't hurt until you see it. If you find a foot and bite it, it doesn't hurt you a bit. Then you discover that it is your own foot and it hurts like hell! ---- The map is the territory: Any country seen from orbit will have its name written on it. The function of any device may be changed by changing its label. Eg changing the label on a roadrunner seeking missile to coyote seeking missle Extreme example - moving the hands forward on a clock may cause the sun to set. Pulling the sheets of a calendar can change the season (especially change it from Duck Hunting Season to Rabbit Hunting Season). Subjective food temperature corresponds to physical temperature - eg character breathes fire after eating chillies. ---- The Cartoon Special Laws of Fluid Dynamics: 1) If a cylindrical conduit is charged with fluid pressure greater than that rated for the container, said fluid assumes some of the properties of a solid. This law holds regardless of the elasticity of the material making up the conduit. Example: a garden hose that has been hooked up to a fire hydrant will retard the flow of water, causing a giant lump of water to form, which then travels the length of the hose and erupts with explosive force at the far end. 2) If a cartoon character is introduced into a rigid conduit, said conduit will become elastic in the vicinity of the cartoon character, allowing passage of the character through the conduit. This phenomenon appears at times to be triggered by an act of will on the part of the character, and at other times appears to occur _despite_ an act of will. Special circumstances may allow explosive devices the same method of passage through conduits. ---- Explosive forces can be held indefinitely in closed containers, releasing their full force upon opening. This is regardless of the strength of the container, since carrots have been known to withstand and cap off gunshots. ---- Smoke is almost always opaque. Ref: Roadrunner Respiration has nothing to do with air. Ref: Breathing under water/ground Soil is light and compactable. Ref: Any rabbit that digs tunnels Ref: Any toon who's dug a hole Digging is the fastest mode of land transportation. Ref: Any toon that's dug cross-country All travelling directions can be related to or have as a landmark one or more of the following locations: Kukamonga (did I err?) Albuquerque, New Mexico the LaBrea tar pits Shovels hold many times their surface area in dirt. Ref: Any toon who's dug a large hole in four or five shovels full of dirt. Potential energy has a time delay before becoming kinetic. This delay varies by substance, temperature, and a vast number of other factors. It is virtually impossible to predict. Ref: Springs that don't go sproing right away Ref: Catapults that don't immediately hurl Radio sources give off harmless corona discharges. Ref: Many radio-controlled devices ---- THE LAW OF FALLING BEINGS: For any being there is at least one body part that will not begin to fall until the rest of the body has fallen five to ten feet. (Usually eyes, ears, or a waving hand however there are exceptions. See corrallary.) Corrallary to above law of falling beings: Delayed part may be non-body, such as hats, feathers, anvils, boulders, and any form of TNT. In addition, any of the above can happen in multiples for increased jocularity. THE PUPIL THEOREM: Cartoon beings pupils will shrink in direct proportion to the amount of fear instilled in said being. THE PRONOUN CLAUSE: Cartoon beings of sufficient intelligence may use free pronoun substitution at any time to avoid physical attack or danger. ---- These are mine (Evans A Criswell) (criswell@cs.uah.edu): NOTE: At the time this thread was going strong, I had just got some laserdisc box sets of Warner Brothers (Vols. 1-4), Tom and Jerry, and Tex Avery cartoons. This was 6 sets of 5 discs each (approx 55 hours worth). I watched, say, one disc per night and made notes of cartoon laws I could post. That's why I could post a new set of "cartoon laws" each day for so many days. With over 400 cartoons at my disposal, I can go back and watch any group of cartoons at any time and when I do, and notice new laws that could be put in my list, I add them. There are still quite a few cartoons in my sets that I haven't had time to watch, especially in the Warner Brothers sets. I'm sure there will be more added as I watch those cartoons, or simply notice things I hadn't noticed before in cartoons I've seen many times over the years. Matter can be transported through telephones. Example: Heads, fists, water. Water does not keep machines from working (especially cars under water). Dynamite can stay lit under water, and sometimes matches can be struck under water. An airplane that runs out of gas will stop in midair. A driverless vehicle, especially one pulling a camper with characters in it, will follow the road. Cartoon characters exhibit great strength. Example: Rabbits bending gun barrels into knots. Cat pulling carpet from stairs and causing piano upstairs to fall down. Mirrors may be rotated 180 degrees to view one's rear. Shadows often have a life and mind of their own. A character's shadow's actions may differ significantly from the character's actions. Small characters usually always cast huge, frightening shadows. Rabbit holes are usually very deep and complex, and often have elevators installed in them, that move in zigzag patterns up to the ground. Any character can balance huge towers of objects, expecially dishes, on their heads or in their arms. When they're doing this, if another object falls that they need to catch, they'll drop the thousands they're carrying or balancing to catch that one, or one more object will land on their stack, which is always just enough to upset the balance. In the last case, the last object is often a feather. In many cases, pain is like gravity. Characters do not react to pain until they realize that something should be causing them pain. Cat does not jump and scream until he notices that his tail is caught in the mousetrap. A character will not start running and screaming until they notice that their hind end is on fire. This phenomenon usually never applies when characters are stuck with pins, needles, or knives from the rear. In that case, the pain instaltly propels them upward with great force into the sky, or into the ceiling. Radio programs are interactive. The radio announcer can hear the listener and respond to them, in many cases. Characters, especially mice, can transport themselves from one place to another when there is no passageway. Mouse crawls into the one of the holes of a bowling ball. Cat covers the hole. Mouse jumps out of hole of another bowling ball. An elevator may be forced back to the ground floor by grabbing the floor indicator dial pointer above the door and turning it back to point to the first floor. Any inanimate object can come to life at any time. Talcum powder explodes! Bathroom plungers can be used to suck any small creature out from under a floor, or inside a wall through a mouse hole, or a hole in the floor. Just place the plunger over the hole in the floor or baseboard and plunge away. Bending an arrow will cause it, when shot, to follow a circular path and return, shooting the character in the rear end. Moving a target to another location, like to a character's rear end, will cause anything shot at it to curve and hit it, even if this means making a large 360 degree turn. Bullets have minds of their own. Bullets often stop and wait for their target to reappear, then give chase again. They can follow the target, regardless of which way it moves or runs. Bullets can also be scared, often by the target wearing a scary looking mask, causing the bullets to do a 180 degree turn and flee back into the gun they were shot from, usually causing the gun barrel to bulge. A piece of U-shaped pipe is often used very effectively by a target character in directing bullets back toward the shooter. If the target character sticks his finger in a gun barrel and it is shot, it will cause the gun to fire backwards, shooting the character holding the gun. Champagne bottles make effective cannons for mice and birds, since the corks always shoot all the way across the room, often into the eye of the target. Vacuum cleaners are very powerful. The suction power does not decrease with distance from the vacuum. That is, it does not matter how far the mouse or bird runs. They'll still be pulled toward it. Attempting to catch a mouse or bird with a vacuum cleaner, though, usually causes everything except the mouse or bird to be pulled toward the vacuum, such as furniture, curtains, lamps, causing the vacuum operator to be bombarded with heavy objects. Something about rubber bands makes characters very strong. Characters wishing to hurl themselves great distances with rubber bands stretch the bands back so far that they pull the rocks or poles the bands are attached to back into them at great speed. Any character exploring new territory where noone has ever been before will find the words "Kilroy was here" written on a rock or wall. Mail orders come within a matter of seconds. The strength of a breeze from a fan does not decrease with distance from the fan. Any character in a bathtub or sink, when the plug is pulled, will swirl down the drain with the water. When a character runs into a solid object, like a rock or wall, they become flat as a pancake and usually must peel themselves from the surface. Often, when a character is hit over the head with a hammer, the transition to unconsciousness is not instantaneous. They keep doing their thing for five to ten seconds, then fall over unconscious. A variation on the usual gravity situation: If a character realizes he has walked over an edge, if he reacts quickly enough, he can run and get back to solid ground before he begins falling. Baby Bear is much larger than Papa and Mama Bear in some of the old Warner Brothers cartoons. Nearly anything can be sucked through straws. Mice and birds often get sucked through, but many times, very large objects, even bombs, go through without rupturing the straw. Of course, these objects wind up in the stomach of the character using the straw. The myna bird is the toughest creature of the jungle. (Somewhat obscure: see the Warner Brothers "Inki at the Circus", "Inki and the Lion", "Inki and the Myna Bird".) Whenever a cat is going to land in a kitchen sink full of water, the mouse will pull the plug, the water will drain, and the cat will crash into all the dishes in the bottom of it. The "go fetch the stick" trick can always be used on a dog by a cat to get out of a tight spot. Any character swallowing Jello will start to shake and squirm like the Jello. If Bugs Bunny is burrowing under the ground or under snow and is being chased, there will be a tree in the way. Bugs Bunny's ears will spread apart and the tree will pass between the ears and Bugs will keep going. The character chasing Bugs will crash into the tree. If one character squirts water into the mouth of another character with a hose pipe or squirt bottle, water will come out the character's ears. Characters, and the clothing they wear, are capable of stretching great distances without breaking or tearing. When the force that is causing the stretching ceases, the character snaps back like a rubber band. Parts of a character often get bigger when exerting a force. A crab's claw expands greatly when about to grasp or attack. Fists usally increase in size before pounding. Glass and metal objects can be chewed and swallowed successfully. Usually, this results in the breaking of the character's teeth and when the object is swallowed, it sounds like glass breaking or pieces of metal clanging together, or occasionally even a splashing sound. Any inflated object (raft or balloon), when the plug is released, will fly around at great speed in wild circular patterns, usually with a character hanging on for dear life. All the air runs out when the object is far up in the sky. When this happens, the object and character stop in midair, then free fall to the ground. This also applies to characters that have swallowed balloons or characters that have been inflated as if they were balloons. Every character, no matter how large, is afraid of a mouse, except, of course, for most cats and dogs. Invisible ink actually makes a character transparent and invisible. Sometimes, when transparent and invisible, they still cast a shadow, though. Characters heads are empty. Objects can go into one ear and out the other, or into the mouth or nose and out the ears. Mice and birds can walk around inside larger characters' heads. When any character is hit on the head, a large, narrow, tall lump forms. If the character is a camel, when the lump on the head forms, the size of the hump on the back decreases simultaneously. Any part of the body, such as an eyelid, nose, etc., when stretched and let go, will flap and roll like a window shade that has been let up quickly. An object entering a cat's mouth at great speed or momentum will pass through the cat's body into the tail, sticking there. Occasionally, the object will break through the end of the tail. It is possible for an animal to grab itself by the tail and pull itself through curved passageways (pipes, walls with two mouse holes, pool tables, etc.). If a character swallows a frog or jumping beans, the character will start to uncontrollably jump around. (Similar to the Jello phenomenon). Maybe that's how "earthquake pills" work. :-) Dogs' noses are removable and can pop off at any time to sniff something. Dogs often use this ability when trying to follow the tracks of a character when the tracks go off in two directions at once. The character the dog is trying to catch will wait for the nose to follow it alone, then pound it flat with a hammer. The nose will then yelp in pain like a miniature dog and run back to the dog. Any arbitrary amount of matter may fit into a hat. When a character gets shot or swallows dynamite or gets stabbed many times, the character will drink a glass of water and the water will squirt from the holes the bullets, explosive, or knife made. The edge of a lake, pond, or river may be lifted as if the surface of the water were a carpet. Cakes or pies may be made and cooked in a few seconds, often on stoves and ovens out in the middle of the woods with no electricity or gas to power them. Fly paper, applied to a character's face and removed, will remove the features of the character's face. Cartoon ducks crowd around the lake until the exact minute duck hunting is allowed, then all instantly fly off. In the afternoon at the end of duck \ hunting hours, the ducks all come back. There is always a time clock on a tree near the lake to whistle the beginning and ending of duck hunting hours. Ever wonder what kind of life there is on the moon? In the strange cartoon "The Cat Who Hated People" (MGM, Tex Avery), a cat went to the moon to get away from people, and found all sorts of strange noisy creatures resembling: Bicycle horn tooting itself Steam whistle blowing Mouth and hands (not connected by anything) saying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.." Accordion stretching back and forth Yoyo going up and down Fire engine whistle Tire running over nail and blowing out, over and over and over... Hammer chasing nail, pounding after it Lipstick chasing lips Hand and scissors chasing a piece of paper Dog leash (no dog) chasing a fire hydrant Baby powder chasing a safety pin chasing a diaper Shovel chasing a flower, digging holes with every step Pencil sharpener chasing a pencil Another example of the label-changing phenomenon: Changing the label of a weight actually changes the weight. A character can change the labels on a dumbbell from 1000 pounds on each side to 1 pound each by covering up the zeros. He will pick the weight up very easily. While holding the weight, the stickers covering the zeros will come off, or another character will write in some zeros, and the weight will become heavy again, usually causing the weight and the character to crash through the floor. For all you physics people: Do you think the relabeling changes the weight or the actual mass? I tend to think it changes the actual gravitational pull around the entire area of the weight, because the character, instead of just dropping the weight that he no longer has the strength to carry, crashes through the floor or gets pushed into the ground while holding the thing. Male cartoon animals wear boxer shorts under their fur. Cats, when scared from behind, or stuck with a pin, shoot upward into the ceiling, getting stuck there because their claws penetrate the ceiling and pop through the floor upstairs. The cat is freed when another character takes a claw hammer and unbends the claws as if they were nails. A dog house can change size on the fly. The best example is in the MGM Tex Avery cartoon "Three Little Pups". The third pup (Droopy) built his house of bricks, and its total height was less than the dogcatcher's. During the course of the cartoon, the house grew dramatically, and shrunk back to its original size. Sound can be stored in a bubble and released at a later time. ------