Cartoon physics
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Cartoon physics is a joking reference to the fact that animation allows regular laws of physics to be ignored in humorous ways for dramatic effects. For example, when a cartoon character runs off a cliff, gravity has no effect until the character notices and reacts.[1]
In words attributed to Art Babbitt, an animator with the Walt Disney Studios: "Animation follows the laws of physics — unless it is funnier otherwise."
The phrase also reflects the fact that many of the most famous American animated films, particularly those from Warner Bros. and MGM studios, unconsciously developed a relatively consistent set of such "laws" that have become regularly applied in comic animation.
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[edit] Examples
Specific reference to cartoon physics extends back at least to June of 1980, when an article "O'Donnell's Laws of Cartoon Motion"[2] appeared in Esquire. A version printed in 1994 by the IEEE in a journal for engineers helped spread the word among the technical crowd, which has expanded and refined the idea. Dozens of websites exist outlining these laws.
O'Donnell's examples includes:
- Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation.
- Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter. (Also called the silhouette of passage.)
- Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot. (Corollary: Portable holes work.)
[edit] History of the idea
The idea that cartoons behave differently than the real world, but not randomly, is virtually as old as animation. Walt Disney, for example, spoke of the plausible impossible (see The Plausible Impossible, 1956), deliberately mispronouncing the second word so it rhymed with the first.
More recently, the cartoon characters Roger Rabbit and Bonkers D. Bobcat have their own variations on the theme, explaining that toons are allowed to bend or break natural laws for the purposes of comedy. Doing this is extremely tricky, so toons have a natural sense of comedic timing, giving them inherently funny properties.
In 1993 Stephen Gould, writing in New Scientist, noted that "... new, looney toon analysis reveals that these, seemingly nonsensical, phenomena can be described by logical laws similar to those in our world. Nonsensical events are by no means limited to the Looniverse. Laws that govern our own Universe often seem contrary to common sense."[3] This theme is further described by Dr. Alan Cholodenko in his article, "The Nutty Universe of Animation"[4].
In a Garfield animated short entitled "Secrets of the Animated Cartoon" the characters Orson and Wade give demonstrations of different laws of the cartoons and show humorous examples of them.
[edit] Non-exclusivity
Despite the wording of the term, cartoon physics is not limited to either cartoon animations, nor physics. For example, a person recovering remarkably quickly from a serious injury would classify as biology rather than physics. Also, live-action shows can also be subject to the laws of cartoon physics, explaining why, for example, The Three Stooges did not go blind from all the eye-poking.
Printed cartoons have their own family of cartoon physics "laws" and conventions.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ In a neologism contest held by New Scientist, a winning entry coined the term "coyotus interruptus" for this phenomenon—a pun on coitus interruptus and Wile E. Coyote, who fell to his doom this way particularly often.
- ^ O'Donnell's Laws of Cartoon Motion", Esquire, 6/80, reprinted in IEEE Institute, 10/94; V.18 #7 p.12. Copy on Web
- ^ Stephen R. Gould, Looney Tuniverse: There is a crazy kind of physics at work in the world of cartoons (1993) New Scientist
- ^ Dr. Alan Cholodenko, "The Nutty Universe of Animation, The “Discipline” of All “Disciplines”, And That’s Not All, Folks!" International Journal of Baudrillard Studies Volume 3, Number 1 (January 2006)
[edit] External links
- Cartoon Laws of Physics
- The Laws of Anime Contains proper credits for Darrin Bright and Ryan Shellito that are missing from 100 Laws of Anime Physics below
- 100 Laws of Anime Physics
- Animeinfo.org: Anime Physics
- The Laws of Anime
- Laws of Cartoon Thermodynamics from Roger Ebert's website.
- Acceleration Due to Gravity: Super Mario Brothers - a physicist's determination of the value of g used in Super Mario Bros.
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