In today’s films, there is an ever-growing demand to make the impossible come to life. Animators and visual effects artists are getting becoming better masters of their craft, and they make it harder and harder to differentiate between scientific fact and cinematic fiction. When it comes to animation, audiences have come to expect stunts and gags that defy the laws of physics. One principle that is commonly broken in animated movies is that of action with an equal reaction. In the films “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “The Croods,” and “The Incredibles,” this occurs in scenes involving jumps.
In “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” Flint and Sam walk into a house made of Jell-O. Flint walks through the Jell-O without much effort, but a minute later, we see him and Sam bounce high into the air as if the floor were a trampoline. When Flint walks into the Jell-O, the tilt of his body implies that not a lot of force was put into pushing through the gelatin, and the Jell-O seems easily breakable. In the scene following that, Flint and Sam should not have been able to stand on the floor, much less bounce around the room, without falling through. When Sam and Flint walk and bounce around the house, the pressure under their feet is a lot greater than the force Flint put into walking into the Jell-O because the base of support is a lot smaller and the amount of pressure applied is greater. There are many instances in which the fact is sacrificed for fiction, but the audience is willing to overlook this because it adds comedic effect.
The film “The Croods” opens with the Crood family coming out of their cave for the first time in days. Eep bursts out of the cave, jumps onto her father, jumps onto the cliff face, runs across the wall, and jumps up on top of their cave. This series of shots contains many actions that defy physics. For instance, when Eep jumps onto Grug, Grug doesn’t seem to move very much. Although Grug is very sturdy, Eep is built in such a way that she should have been heavy enough to warrant a larger reaction from Grug. This is an example of action with a lesser reaction. When Eep jumps off of Grug’s back, she jumps very high, but she doesn’t have the anticipation to match it. Also, her path of action is exaggerated to look more arched and fluid. She seems to travel along a half circle, which is not realistic. She starts traveling vertically before she starts moving horizontally. If we were to track her position horizontally, it would look like she slows into the motion. In addition, Eep should not have been able to run across the cliff face with such ease. Gravity would have pulled her down before she even ran two steps. In order for Eep to be able to run along the wall in such a way, she would first have to be traveling horizontally at a high speed so that inertia would hold her against the wall long enough for her to run across. Despite the many instances in which the laws of physics are broken, the audience is still able to accept the impossible because it brings the scene to life.
“The Incredibles” is a film in which many physics principles are broken because it’s a universe in which superheroes exist, and superheroes are often exceptions to certain laws of physics. However, in the case of gravity, Mr. Incredible is not exempt. During the final battle scene, Mr. Incredible is fighting the Omnidroid. He lunges at it, tackles it, and it falls to the ground. One way in which the scene was exaggerated is the fact that Mr. Incredible should not have been able to knock over the Omnidroid. Heavier objects taking longer to move when they are at rest. At his current weight and speed, the Omnidroid should have stopped Mr. Incredible in his tracks. In order to knock over the Omnidroid, Mr. Incredible would need to either weigh more or travel faster. Either way, the law of inertia would have kept Mr. Incredible moving long enough to at least make the Omnidroid budge. Also, the surface of the Omnidroid is much too smooth for anyone to be able to get a good grip on it. Mr. Incredible’s hands should have slipped across the surface, and his entire body should have just shot past its target. Another example of why this scene is not realistically plausible is because Mr. Incredible and the Omnidroid are several stories above the ground, yet Mr. Incredible lands on the ground unharmed. As tough as Mr. Incredible is, it’s easy to believe that he doesn’t sustain life-threatening injuries, but falling from that height should have hurt him in some way. Furthermore, if objects fall at the same rate, Mr. Incredible should not have separated from the Omnidroid as they fall from the building. Although Mr. Incredible has less mass than the Omnidroid and would have a lower terminal velocity in comparison, he would still fall at the same speed as the Omnidroid. Air resistance would not have been a large factor in Mr. Incredible’s falling speed because the Omnidroid would have blocked any incoming air resistance. Although the physics in this scene is impossible, the action is still believable and it adds entertainment value to battle.
In the three films, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “The Croods,” and “The Incredibles,” it’s clear that jumps are often exaggerated by breaking the laws of physics. A basic knowledge of physics makes it easier to tell which shots are based on cinematic fiction and which are scientific fact. Although animators do not always accurately follow the principle of action and reaction, these scenes are still believable. The audience is able to believe the impossible.
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