Laws of Cartoon Motion

[NancyGormezano]

Just found this in my stash - probably got it at a community college class (DeAnza College, Cupertino, CA) on animation (class taken around 1991 - Now those were the days, and of course, I still was probably the oldest person in the class):

 

O'Donnells' Laws of Cartoon Motion

 

I. Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of it's situation. (Think Daffy Duck walking off a cliff, suspended in mid-air until he chances to look down - only at this point does 32 ft per sec squared take over)

 

II. Any body in motion will tend to remain in motion until solid matter intervenes. (Toon characters are so absolute in momentum that only a telephone pole or outsized boulder retards their forward motion, absolutely.)

 

III. Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to it's perimeter.

 

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.

 

V. All principles of gravity are negated by fear. (Eg, Spooky noise will induce motion upward - usually to a treetop, -or - The feet of a character who is running need never touch the ground, especially in flight)

 

VI. As speed increases, objects can be in several places at once. (Eg, character's head may be glimpsed emerging from cloud of altercation due to tooth & claw fight, at several places simultaneously)

 

VII. Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot.

 

VIII. Any violent rearrangement of Feline Matter is impermanent.

 

IX. For every vengeance there is an equal and opposite revengeance.

 

X. Everything falls faster than an anvil.

 

(Hope you enjoyed - and since time has passed and new laws of the Toonerverse have been discovered - be free to add your own)

[Paul Forwood]

Ha ha haaaa!

 

Thanks, Nancy.

 

It's good to be reminded of that in these days of ultra-realism.

I'll pin that up somewhere.

 

Now back to my BVH tests.

[Rodney]

Just saw this Nancy.

I must have been gone when you posted.

 

Definitely some good inspiration for cartoon animation in this list.

[seven]

X. Everything falls faster than an anvil.

 

(Hope you enjoyed - and since time has passed and new laws of the Toonerverse have been discovered - be free to add your own)

 

You are welcome to the topic Surrealism to add your own!

[Dhar]

Now those were the days,

Indeed they were.

 

I took my animation classes in Southern California in 1981 one of which was on the hands of George Goepper (he was in his 80s then- a retired Disney animator). Computers then were nothing more than big calculators.

 

Who would've thunk it that we'll be animating with mouse & keyboards instead of animation table and cells!

 

I still have my animation board, super 8mm camera with stop motion, animation cell and papers, guide - hey...I just realized... I'M OLD !!!!!

[brainmuffin]

That reminds me of TOON! the cartoon roleplaying game. Somewhere around my house I have most (If not all) of the books for that game, and I think I've played it twice...

 

But the game is filled with rules based directly on the laws of the cartoon world. Like, if you need something, find a mailbox. Write up an order for Acme, Co. and drop it in. In the time it takes to tap your foot a few times and check your watch, it will be delivered right to you!

[seven]

Just a link to the Cartoon Laws of Physics:

http://remarque.org/~doug/cartoon-physics.html

 

And there are some Amendments too!

 

[NancyGormezano]

That reminds me of TOON! the cartoon roleplaying game.

Sounds like a good resource to use for gathering ideas - had never heard of the game (could be cause I don't play games - ya think? ) - I have just googled it and will be investigating ... hey! Did I hear someone say Plagerism ?

 

http://www.sjgames.com/toon/

[robcat2075]

BTW, Steph Greenberg did an animated version of "the Laws" a while back.

 

http://better-mouse-trap.com/physics/thelaws.htm

 

Those are just screenshots, there may be an online version somewhere.

[brainmuffin]

Yep, Nancy, that's the game... My favorite is the "Legend of Toon-Fu" genre...