The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Cats Don't Dance

             Once upon a time, there was a princess and a peasant…. Cats Don’t Dance is an animated feature film about never forgetting one’s dream’s, in this case, getting that big break in the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Specifically, this film wants to transition the feeling of the fun, playful, sophistication that is the Golden Age of the MGM musical. This era began in 1939, coincidently the same year this animated film takes place. MGM musical films were full of cinematography, smooth signing and effortless dancing transitions, but most of all, the self-reflexive pleasure of being in show business.  From the people who brought you Looney Toons, Warner Bros. Studios (WB) released Cats Don’t Dance in 1997, with choreography help by MGM musical legend Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain) and the brassy singing talents of Natalie Cole. The story follows Danny, a cat from a small town in Indiana who travels to Hollywood to follow his dreams of becoming a star. Once he arrives though, it is evident that the only thing selling in Hollywood is the adorable Darla Dimple. While she may appear to be sugar, spice and everything nice, she is really: 2 part Shirley Temple, 2 parts Cruela DeVil and 1 part Jack Nicholson from The Shining (because she teeters on the fine line between “needs anger management” and “batshit insane”). Because of her, animals don’t become stars in Hollywood; they are just swept into the corner to become nothing but extras. In order to highlight the playful feeling of the MGM musical, the physics of Cats Don't Dance fluxuates from "normal" to extreme throughout the film to put the characters in outrageous situations which eventually leads them to their big break, in true Warner Bros. animation fashion.

            Throughout Danny and the gang’s pursuit to become stars, it is evident that force and gravity’s basic principles are bent in this version of Hollywood. Cat’s Don’t Dance starts off like a musical should, with an optimistic song and dance. Here, Danny just arrived in Hollywood and captures the essence of the MGM musical perfectly. 

Danny's Arrival, and Pudge, the most adorable fat penguin. Ever.

However, in order to capitalize on the fun and playful factors in these musicals, WB decides to break some general rules of physics. Danny is able to float across the screen as he effortlessly helicopters and back flips around Hollywood Blvd. Gravity doesn’t have the same hold on Danny as opposed to our universe. The exertion required to move around like that is astonishing, but he pulls it off without a sweat. This effortless style is reminiscent of Signing in the Rain’s “Make ‘em Laugh.”

Make 'em Laugh
 (Unfortunately, the videos I found of this scene from the movie had the "Embedding disabled by request." But just click on the link and it will lead you to the video)

One of the exceptions to physics in Danny’s arrival is Newton’s Law of Inertia. This states, that an object moves with constant, uniform motion until acted on by an unbalanced force. One example of this is if you’re standing on a moving bus going 30mph, you too are traveling at 30mph. But when the bus stops, you lurch forward because your body is still moving at 30mph. However, when Danny is singing and dancing around on top of cars and trolleys, he is practically unaffected when these vehicles stop and go. It is evident that the Law of Inertia isn’t as prevalent in this universe in order to give the characters more independence. As a result, everything they do looks easy in order to convey the effortless sense of MGM musicals. Because of this, Danny fits right into the MGM musical era.

             While Danny escapes Newton’s Law of Inertia, someone else is able to bend her center of gravity depending on her mood. Danny comes from a small town and truly believes he can be in his first big picture within a week. However, the only part he can get has one line, “Meow.” Danny decides to “jazz this up a bit,” which causes Darla to have a brain hemorrhage. So she sends Max her enormous King Kong/manservant to put him in his place. This ends up breaking Danny’s hopeful spirit.

(watch from 3:20, or earlier if you like!)

AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE DROWNED! 

In this clip however, it is clear that some of gravity’s rules are being toyed with. Darla, who has an immense head for the size of her body, can support herself upright while being held by a single rope. She is able to twirl and dance midair like an angel while maintaining an upright position. As shown with the Ken doll demo in class, if you hang an object, the center of gravity (CG) is directly below the string. In Darla’s case, if the rope is attached to the middle of her back, she should be tipping forward onto her face or even upside down depending on how heavy her head and legs are. In order for her to stay upright, she would need some sort of weight on her back (maybe the angel wings are made of lead?) or a second rope. In spite of this, when Darla has a temper tantrum, she does lose her balance and flail around to regain it. She hangs and wobbles in such a way that would be more appropriate for someone of her stature. Cat’s Don’t Dance, follows some basic rules of gravity, but chooses when and where to follow them depending on the situation. When she is singing, dancing, and everything is going her way, she is in control of her CG. This capitalizes the effortless feeling of the MGM musical. But when something upsets her, she loses control of her CG as well as her temper. Darla and her relationship with her CG emphasize her wild mood swings, which conveys how out of place she is in this type of playful film. As a result, Darla will soon be out of date in this upcoming age of the MGM musical era.

           Throughout the film, it is evident that the bigger the character, the exponentially heavier they become. This allows for more opportunity to get the characters in outrageous situations that normally wouldn’t be possible. This effect is seen with three large characters; Tilly the Hippo, Woolie Mammoth the elephant, and Max the ape-man servant. In the middle of the movie, Tilly simply leans against a single story diner and actually moves it off of its foundation. While she is 2-3 times larger than most characters, this wouldn’t normally be possible. Then towards the end of the movie, Woolie Mammoth sits down in a movie theater, and ends up catapulting nearby moviegoers up in the air. They fly straight up out of the frame, but never fall back down. The fact that they were catapulted and never to be seen again, simply by him plopping into a chair, suggests that he weighs more than a typical elephant. But his buddy, TW the turtle, gets their seat and popcorn; so it’s all good! Furthermore, Max the behemoth man who can’t possibly be human, is constantly crushing the ground as he walks and can rip apart industrial pipes faster than you can say, “Hulk smash!” It is clear and established that the greater the size, the exponentially greater the character’s weight and strength becomes.

            However, upon closure inspections, there are reoccurring contradictions to this rule. While these characters can move buildings and crush the ground they stand on, they are still able to function with certain everyday things like normal people, when their immense weight should prevent this. While Tilly moves an entire building just by leaning against it, she can also sit down on a normal wooden bench without breaking it. In addition, Max must literally weight tons in order to crush compressed concrete as seen in the first clip. So how can we figure out how much Max weighs?

 He would also fall flat on his face because of his CG and leaning forward like that, but my paper is long enough....

Later on in the movie, Max chases Danny on top of a parade-sized Darla Dimple balloon while it’s still floating. These balloons typically require 40-60 people to hold down during a parade. If the average balloon carrier is about 200lbs, then 8,000-12,000lbs is required to safely hold one down, which is 4-6 tons. So, if the balloon remained in the air, it is safe to assume that Max weighs less than the 4-6 tons needed to hold down a giant balloon. So with that weight in mind, would he be able to stomp through a compressed concrete floor? Keep in mind that due to its strength, compressed concrete is a material that skyscrapers are built on top of. And in order to chisel out concrete, one needs a hydraulic splitter that exerts a force between 350-400 tons. If he consistently weighed less than 6 tons, there would be no way he could be able to crush concrete by just stepping on it. Maybe if he jumped, or found a way to apply more force, but he shouldn’t be able to do this just by walking. However, in regards to many other impressive tasks he completes in the film, it is clear that WB found these weight changes essential to the character interactions. While a character’s large size is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to indicating their immense weight and power, this universe’s principle is contradicted in order for it’s behemoths to fit into their Hollywood society. 

 Max, you can either crush concrete or ride the balloon, you can’t have both!

            As evident in many of their animations, something that is prevalent in WB animation is the use of squash and stretch to emphasize action. This is necessary even in realistic animation, because if one simply traces over reference footage, it turns out feeling stiff. However, WB and other animation studios often stress this to convey more movement and to make the sequence more fun. In the last scene, when Danny and the others finally have their chance to show the world what they can do, the squash and stretch is very evident.

(watch from 6:40 on, and then part 8 to see the end since this movie was cut into parts a bit awkwardly)

As the animals showcase their talent, they look flawless. There are some instances where there is extreme squashing and stretching, but it is done to highlight their importance and talents. Often, the singing character will tilt their head forward to the screen, but their head becomes bigger than just a perspective change or a camera effect. This is done to convey their Hollywood attitudes to show that they are finally in control of what’s going on, and that they will soon take over the big screen. In addition, there are a couple times when Danny sings, his neck stretches several times its normal length. In one instance, his adam’s apple shoots off his bow tie as he hits a high note. This is to visualize his singing talents. As for the other characters, they squash and stretch themselves as they line dance and do their own thing across the stage. Overall, the whole performance is a fun, graceful, and effortless showcase of talent that flawlessly embodies the MGM musical.

            On the other hand, Darla’s squash and stretch has no elegance and often gets her into trouble. You can just sense the evil in her hair, dress and bow as she scuttles around to preserve her monopoly on Hollywood. Her bow becomes devil horns, and the bounce in her hair and clothing is very sudden and a bit sporadic. It’s nowhere near as graceful and playful as the female cat’s Sawyer’s (the female cat’s) dress and tail. The animals fit perfectly into this MGM musical universe, while Darla is too ridged and stubborn. In addition, she performs all these difficult feats like climbing circuit breakers and manhandling serious stage equipment. As she tries to sabotage the animal’s chance, she is often catapulted across the backstage area, even becoming a pancake at one point when she tries to set off the smoke machine. She tries so hard to ruin these animal’s dreams but the deus ex machina effect of the MGM musical universe just keeps shutting her down. As a result, she ends up enhancing the animal’s performance, which blows the audience away and ultimately gives them their big break. Because Darla tries so hard in a universe where things are supposed to look effortless and easy, she literally falls flat on her face.

            Cats Don’t Dance is a tribute to the MGM musical that plays around with physics in order to convey the same playful and effortless feeling. Throughout the film, force and gravity’s principles are bent to showcase who fits into the MGM musical mold, and who doesn’t. In addition, large characters have changing weight in order to cause hilarity ensuing destruction, as well as allowing them to sit next to their friends on a bench. Finally, the squash and stretch ending solidifies who is going to make it in Hollywood, and who is going to get the boot. In memory of the late Gene Kelly, Cats Don’t Dance is a lively film that is reminiscent of an era where the streets were paved with gold, and breaks a few rules of physics to emphasize the fun, effortless, and playful nature of the MGM musical.


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I tried making clips myself from the video file I have of the movie, and the clips would play fine on my computer. But when I uploaded it to my blog or youtube, the syncing between the video and sound was off so it was very distracting. Instead, I found a couple clips from youtube and indicated where to start watching.


As I was writing my paper, my thesis ended up changing a bit, which changed my whole approach to the paper. So here is my updated outline:

I. Introduction
   A. Modeled after the MGM Musical

   B. Short synopsis: Animals trying to find their big break in Hollywood.    
   C. Thesis: In order to highlight the playful feeling of the MGM Musical, the physics of Cats Don't Dance fluxuates from "normal" to extreme throughout the film to put the characters in outrageous situations which eventually leads them to their big break, in true Warner Bros. animation fashion.

II. Force and Gravity’s Principles are Bent

   A.  Danny

            i. Gravity-floats around

            ii. Doesn’t abide to Law of Inertia

   B. Darla

            i. Center of Gravity

            ii. Depends on her mood

III. Large Characters are stronger and heavier than their size suggests

   A. Large Characters

            i. Tilly

            ii. Woolie Mamoth

            iii. Max

   B. However, this is contradicted because their weight fulxuates

            i. Tilly weight can move a building, but she can also sit on a bench.

            ii. Max can break concrete with his feet

            iii. Can also ride a balloon. Can’t do both.

IV. Squash and Stretch Finale

   A. Animals

            i. Neck stretching and face enlarging.

            ii. Accentuates dancing

   B. Darla

            i. Ridged movement of devil bow and clothing

            ii. Bounces all over the place, not graceful

            iii. MGM Musical deus ex machina

V. Conclusion