Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?: The Sword in the Stone
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8fLvs8rNu8)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8fLvs8rNu8)
The term “cartoon physics” is often used to describe physics that is completely unrealistic but still acceptable because it is situated in a cartoon world setting and it adds entertainment value. “The Sword in the Stone” is one of those movies that is based on real world physics but utilizes “cartoon physics” in certain scenes to make them more entertaining or dramatic. “The Sword in the Stone,” a classic from Disney, is a unique retelling of the legend of King Arthur and Merlin. The story focuses on a young Arthur who meets the great wizard Merlin, who decides to tutor him in academics. Throughout his training, Arthur is turned into various animals to experience the world from different perspectives. In one scene, Arthur and Merlin turn into squirrels. They both meet their own squirrel admirers and try to protect themselves from their affection. Much of the action in this scene makes excellent use of “cartoon physics” because squirrels are active animals. Though the physics of the movie are mostly based on the real world, it takes certain liberties with “cartoon physics” to make it more entertaining.
In this scene, one of the things that is physically unrealistic is the law of inertia. One example is the idea of having a character leap from a high place and fall straight down. At one point, Merlin accidentally jumps off of a tree branch while trying to get away from his squirrel admirer. His path of action as he is falling is perfectly straight. This is physically incorrect because objects that have a forward velocity tend to fall in arcs. According to the law of inertia, an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. As Merlin leaps off of that branch, he has two forces acting on him. He has his constant forward velocity and the accelerating downward pull of gravity. As a result of these two forces, his path of action would be a parabolic arc. The only ways Merlin can fall straight down is if there is a third force acting against his forward velocity (like a strong wind) or if he suddenly loses that forward velocity (slamming into a tree). Unfortunately, there is no wind and Merlin does not hit a tree, which leaves this scene to be physically unrealistic. We see this again in more detail when Arthur leaps from a branch to escape the red girl squirrel. His path of action is initially an arc, but his forward velocity starts to slow down as he begins to fall. It eventually cuts to a shot where he is falling down completely straight. The arc is skewed so it seems like Arthur hits the brakes after he reaches the apex of his jump which is physically impossible.
A different example of the same principle involves the wolf as it chases the girl squirrel off of a cliff. In this scene, the girl squirrel leaps off first and the wolf follows. While in the air, the girl squirrel uses the wolf’s back as a platform to jump back onto the cliff safely as the wolf falls into the water below. The path of action of the wolf is off because it leaves the cliff horizontally until the girl squirrel jumps onto its back. In this case, the scene is physically unrealistic because gravity is supposed to be constant. The moment the wolf leaves the surface, it would start falling immediately. Similar to the example of a ball rolling off of a table, the wolf’s path of action should be an arc even if it leaps into the air.
These scenes all face the same problem when it comes to the law of inertia. The moment the character is in the air, one of the two forces acting on them is disregarded. This causes them to travel straight in either a forward or downward direction. In these cases, the unrealistic physics were used to increase the drama their scenes. It is more scary to be plummeting down to the ground without a sense of direction than to have some control.
A different physics principle broken by this scene is Newton’s law of action and reaction. For every action, there should be an equal and opposite reaction. Merlin tries to get his admirer to stop bothering him by shoving her away. Unfortunately, she thinks that he is playing around and returns the favor by shoving him into the tree. In this scene, the girl squirrel’s strength is greatly exaggerated by showing a reaction that doesn’t match with the action. With just one hand, the girl squirrel is able to push Merlin some distance into the tree and cause it to shake. It feels exaggerated because the girl squirrel doesn’t seem to be putting the amount of energy into the action to achieve that big of a reaction. The reaction seems very big because of Merlin’s great acceleration and impact against the tree. It is a big difference when compared to an earlier shot in which a different girl squirrel pushes Arthur down in the same manner. In that scene, she uses two hands and has an anticipation before pushing Arthur. The result of that push is more believable because we get to see the build up of energy through an anticipation. The other squirrel had no anticipation so the push didn’t feel like it had the necessary energy and weight to carry out the desired reaction. In reality, her push would have probably been more like a nudge. The anticipation plays a big role in relating the build up of energy to the audience. It is the difference of pushing something using only your arm versus pushing something using your whole body weight.
In this case, the physics are unrealistic to make the scene entertaining and funny. The contrast between Merlin’s initial push and the girl squirrel’s is big and unexpected. Merlin puts all of his weight into his push and can barely move the girl squirrel while it only takes her one hand to achieve greater results. The exaggeration of the squirrel’s strength is a great sight gag because one wouldn’t expect something that small to have that much power.
The effects of gravity on objects is another area in which the physics are unrealistic. The gravity in this movie seems to be moderately low. Many of the objects that fall throughout this scene falls a little too slow or too evenly. For example, in the beginning when Merlin is teaching Arthur to gauge his jumps, Merlin attempts to jump from branch to branch but stumbles. During his stumble, his glasses fly upward only to land back on his face moments later. The glasses appear to have some even timing throughout its travel and even slows down as it comes close to the face. Compared to the broken branch that fell earlier in the scene, it feels a little too slow. This also applies to the log that falls onto the wolf after it lands in the pool of water. Like before, the log appears have a pretty even timing as it falls onto the wolf. We also see a bunch of rocks that fell along with the log reach the water much sooner than the log. The gravity is inconsistent on the various falling objects in this scene but the log’s slower fall allows the audience to see what is happening. One more example of slow gravity can be see in the falling leaves when Merlin is falling and promptly changes back into human form. The timing of all these leaves is very even, especially compared to the leaf drop animation test in which the leaf has texture and contrast in its timing.
There are also moments where the characters seem to defy gravity. One is when Arthur is dangling from a branch and the red headed girl squirrel grabs onto him. The girl squirrel appears to float in mid-air while holding onto him. In actuality, the girl squirrel would fall down and drag down Arthur with her. Another example is the previously mentioned wolf as he flies off of a cliff completely horizontally. During that moment, it appears that gravity was momentarily turned off until the girl squirrel jumped onto its back and pushed it downwards.
“The Sword in the Stone” may be based on real world physics, but it utilizes the use of “cartoon physics“ to make the movie more enjoyable and reinforce the fantasy elements of the story. Many of the scenes would be much shorter and less interesting if real physics were actually used. “Cartoon physics” allow the artists to simplify what is already there and have fun with it.
In this scene, one of the things that is physically unrealistic is the law of inertia. One example is the idea of having a character leap from a high place and fall straight down. At one point, Merlin accidentally jumps off of a tree branch while trying to get away from his squirrel admirer. His path of action as he is falling is perfectly straight. This is physically incorrect because objects that have a forward velocity tend to fall in arcs. According to the law of inertia, an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. As Merlin leaps off of that branch, he has two forces acting on him. He has his constant forward velocity and the accelerating downward pull of gravity. As a result of these two forces, his path of action would be a parabolic arc. The only ways Merlin can fall straight down is if there is a third force acting against his forward velocity (like a strong wind) or if he suddenly loses that forward velocity (slamming into a tree). Unfortunately, there is no wind and Merlin does not hit a tree, which leaves this scene to be physically unrealistic. We see this again in more detail when Arthur leaps from a branch to escape the red girl squirrel. His path of action is initially an arc, but his forward velocity starts to slow down as he begins to fall. It eventually cuts to a shot where he is falling down completely straight. The arc is skewed so it seems like Arthur hits the brakes after he reaches the apex of his jump which is physically impossible.
A different example of the same principle involves the wolf as it chases the girl squirrel off of a cliff. In this scene, the girl squirrel leaps off first and the wolf follows. While in the air, the girl squirrel uses the wolf’s back as a platform to jump back onto the cliff safely as the wolf falls into the water below. The path of action of the wolf is off because it leaves the cliff horizontally until the girl squirrel jumps onto its back. In this case, the scene is physically unrealistic because gravity is supposed to be constant. The moment the wolf leaves the surface, it would start falling immediately. Similar to the example of a ball rolling off of a table, the wolf’s path of action should be an arc even if it leaps into the air.
These scenes all face the same problem when it comes to the law of inertia. The moment the character is in the air, one of the two forces acting on them is disregarded. This causes them to travel straight in either a forward or downward direction. In these cases, the unrealistic physics were used to increase the drama their scenes. It is more scary to be plummeting down to the ground without a sense of direction than to have some control.
A different physics principle broken by this scene is Newton’s law of action and reaction. For every action, there should be an equal and opposite reaction. Merlin tries to get his admirer to stop bothering him by shoving her away. Unfortunately, she thinks that he is playing around and returns the favor by shoving him into the tree. In this scene, the girl squirrel’s strength is greatly exaggerated by showing a reaction that doesn’t match with the action. With just one hand, the girl squirrel is able to push Merlin some distance into the tree and cause it to shake. It feels exaggerated because the girl squirrel doesn’t seem to be putting the amount of energy into the action to achieve that big of a reaction. The reaction seems very big because of Merlin’s great acceleration and impact against the tree. It is a big difference when compared to an earlier shot in which a different girl squirrel pushes Arthur down in the same manner. In that scene, she uses two hands and has an anticipation before pushing Arthur. The result of that push is more believable because we get to see the build up of energy through an anticipation. The other squirrel had no anticipation so the push didn’t feel like it had the necessary energy and weight to carry out the desired reaction. In reality, her push would have probably been more like a nudge. The anticipation plays a big role in relating the build up of energy to the audience. It is the difference of pushing something using only your arm versus pushing something using your whole body weight.
In this case, the physics are unrealistic to make the scene entertaining and funny. The contrast between Merlin’s initial push and the girl squirrel’s is big and unexpected. Merlin puts all of his weight into his push and can barely move the girl squirrel while it only takes her one hand to achieve greater results. The exaggeration of the squirrel’s strength is a great sight gag because one wouldn’t expect something that small to have that much power.
The effects of gravity on objects is another area in which the physics are unrealistic. The gravity in this movie seems to be moderately low. Many of the objects that fall throughout this scene falls a little too slow or too evenly. For example, in the beginning when Merlin is teaching Arthur to gauge his jumps, Merlin attempts to jump from branch to branch but stumbles. During his stumble, his glasses fly upward only to land back on his face moments later. The glasses appear to have some even timing throughout its travel and even slows down as it comes close to the face. Compared to the broken branch that fell earlier in the scene, it feels a little too slow. This also applies to the log that falls onto the wolf after it lands in the pool of water. Like before, the log appears have a pretty even timing as it falls onto the wolf. We also see a bunch of rocks that fell along with the log reach the water much sooner than the log. The gravity is inconsistent on the various falling objects in this scene but the log’s slower fall allows the audience to see what is happening. One more example of slow gravity can be see in the falling leaves when Merlin is falling and promptly changes back into human form. The timing of all these leaves is very even, especially compared to the leaf drop animation test in which the leaf has texture and contrast in its timing.
There are also moments where the characters seem to defy gravity. One is when Arthur is dangling from a branch and the red headed girl squirrel grabs onto him. The girl squirrel appears to float in mid-air while holding onto him. In actuality, the girl squirrel would fall down and drag down Arthur with her. Another example is the previously mentioned wolf as he flies off of a cliff completely horizontally. During that moment, it appears that gravity was momentarily turned off until the girl squirrel jumped onto its back and pushed it downwards.
“The Sword in the Stone” may be based on real world physics, but it utilizes the use of “cartoon physics“ to make the movie more enjoyable and reinforce the fantasy elements of the story. Many of the scenes would be much shorter and less interesting if real physics were actually used. “Cartoon physics” allow the artists to simplify what is already there and have fun with it.
That's a wonderful scene and while the points you make regarding the physics are entirely correct you probably already know that these unrealistic tweaks help to make that world feel magical.
ReplyDeleteScore: 105 points
Introduction and Conclusions: 15
Main Body: 20
Organization: 20
Style: 25
Mechanics 25