Modern Day
The Warner Brothers cartoon road runner had a character name Wiley Coyotes. It was based on the legend of Old Man coyote. He was know for his his cunning and sly traps. The legend of the coyote was the same, that he was a trickster.
Most modern standards would consider it foundation a bit unethical or to some even racist. The coyote was all ways out smarted everytime, and no matter how hard he tried. It is said it was founded on that purpose as a so called joke, for adult entertainment purposes, which most early cartoons were created for.