The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

            In a world filled with superhero's, how do you make those powers feel real? How can extraordinary powers that don't exist in real life ever feel like they are believable? A large part has to do with understanding the physics behind it and knowing when and where to bend the rules. Pixar's The Incredibles does an excellent job of this, and they build a very interesting and believable world that contains these supernatural abilities. Creating a world that feels believable physically with only a few alterations to serve the story adds greatly to the effect of creating convincing super powers, which is vital to the Incredibles' success.

            First of all, The Incredibles has to have a strong and well established baseline for physics in the universe in order for the bending and breaking of the rules to feel incredible and yet believable, and to make the super abilities feel super. They achieve this by utilizing very realistic physics in virtually every scenario other than those that involve the super abilities. You can see the realistic simulation of physics throughout the vast majority of the film, but there are some clear examples that stand out. A lot of things go flying through the air in this film, and a lot of the arcs feel right. Objects travel on a parabolic trajectory whenever they move through the air. This can easily be found in scenes such as when Mr. Incredible jumps across the gap between two sky scrapers in order to save a suicidal man, when Dash tumbles through the air, or when Elastigirl is throwing herself over building tops. 

There are also numerous examples of centripetal force throughout the film, including the scene right before Dash flies through the air when he grabs on to a vine and is swung around a tree, and once again in that same scene where Elastigirl is throwing and holding herself to building tops. 

Throughout the entire film there is also a very strong and correct sense of balance and weight. This accurate sense in weight is very apparent in scenes where Mr. Incredible lifts enormous objects and they feel balanced right. 

All this to say that there is a strong sense that the physics of this world is similar to our own so that when rules are bent or pushed they are surrounded by a context that makes them feel even more extraordinary.

            Throughout the film there are dozens of characters introduced that have abilities that allow them to either suspend or bend certain laws of physics. One example of this is Mr. Incredible's super strength which allows him to jump long distances, lift enormous weights, and in general exert an incredible amount of power. In the universe of this film he is exempt from a lot of the rules that exist in our own. For instance, assuming that Mr. Incredible is capable of the strength it would take to lift a train—though it is more than a stretch of physical reality that any human could actually have the brawn of Mr. Incredible—the physics of the world are still bent slightly to allow for a more interesting and readable show of his power. In the scene where he is exercising by lifting two train cars (shown below), he is lifting objects many times his own weight by pulling down. However, applying Newton's laws would require that the "object [Mr. Incredible] will always change its velocity in the direction of the unbalanced force." Unless he weighs as much as the train, the net force comparing his weight versus the train's would weigh in favor of the train. So, to be physically accurate in this scene, Mr. Incredible should be lifted into the air when he pulls on one chain for the train, because it would require the weight of the other train in his other arm to lift the one. In fact, he would not be able to lift the train until there were tension between the chains and him, and then he could utilize the weight of both to lift each. Throughout the film one can see similar suspension of the rules surrounding Mr. Incredible, however, the rule bending makes sense because it serves the purpose of the story well and often creates a more interesting or non-distracting effect, and the strong and accurate feel of the physical world around these moments allows them to feel believable.

This is a crude version of what may happen with real world physics.

            Dash is another great example of how the physics of the universe are adjusted to fit the needs of a super ability. Dash can move and run at extremely high speeds and it is done in a very believable manner, as with most of the other super abilities. However, the creators pushed some physical laws in order for him to feel even faster. For instance, Dash is capable of essentially accelerating and decelerating instantaneously. In the real world, this kind of acceleration and deceleration is really not seen coming from anything with Dash's mass. He is able to start and stop on a dime, while being able to run hundreds of miles per hour, and in order for him to move that fast with real world physics it would take him at least some slow-in and slow-out. We can even see an example of this contrasted in the movie, when we see Dash run into swarm of insects and trip and fall we then see a more physically realistic slowing-in, for an object with his mass moving at that speed, as he tumbles across the forest floor. 

However, even though his ability to accelerate is not entirely true to reality, it functions in such a way that serves the purpose of his ability because if Dash could not control his acceleration as well as his speed, he would have quite a difficult time using his ability, and most likely would not even survive long. Furthermore, if it were in the real world, the speed at which he moves would probably cause some reactions in the environment around him that would be disruptive to the function of his character and abilities as well. There's a scene in which Dash moves across a classroom and back so as to leave a tack on his teacher’s chair, all in less than one frame of a video recording.

 Utilizing a table provided in the uniform motion video, he was moving at least 650 miles per hour assuming the distance between his seat and the teacher's is about twenty feet. The speed of sound is 761 miles per hour which would create a sonic boom, and since Dash had to be moving only at least 650 miles per hour to move faster than the recording of the camera it is quite possible that he actually reached 750 or more in speed. So in the scene Dash is trying to be sneaky, but realistically there would have been a sonic boom alerting the class of what was going on, and at that point the thumb tack on the teacher’s chair would probably be the last thing he'd worry about. So it makes sense why some of these physical rules had to be bent for Dash. Also, the friction involved with that kind of speed with his clothes and the air would probably also have some negative results. However, the minds at Pixar did in fact address this thought regarding friction with a bit of technology within the Incredibles universe.

            There is a significant amount of technology that plays vital roles in both the film’s story and its physical rules. Some examples of this are with the clothes that Edna designs for the super family. She is able to construct uniforms that are capable of matching their wearer's abilities. This includes garments that can withstand heat over 1000 degrees and enormous friction without heading up or wearing out, can turn invisible, can stretch incredible amounts and still retain its shape, be bullet proof, be virtually indestructible, and can even be machine washable. 

Now, most of this is far beyond the realm of what current fabrics or technology are capable of, yet in one scene the film essentially says, "These materials are possible and exist," so that as an audience we can move forward and fully believe and excuse the show of superpowers and the bending of a number of physical laws.

            There are other pieces of technology that seem to fall under the "super" laws of physics, and that includes the giant robots, who act essentially as anti-heroes. In many ways they behave very realistically according to real world laws of physics, but again, some rules are pushed to positive effect for the sake of the story. The main things that stand out is their incredible dexterity and ability to maneuver. 

There are a number of scenes in which we see these giant machines moving undoubtedly thousands of pounds quickly and seemingly effortlessly. Particularly with the arms, there seems to be quite a bit of mass to them, and yet they can wave around easily, almost as though they're more similar to the mass of a regular human arm. The amount of momentum they should realistically have with the speed at which they are moving would take a strength in material, engineering, and energy that does not seem currently feasible to create. However, without this ease in movement these monstrous machines would not pose much of a threat to the heroes, and so it seems like an important rule to bend. Finally, perhaps one of the biggest and most apparent break away from realistic physics is Syndrome's built ability "zero-point energy." 

This ability that Syndrome uses allows him to nullify the effect of gravity and the movement of a target. He can also move them anywhere in space as though they have no mass, so there's minimal momentum and no resistance, at least as long as the "energy" is active. This is quite clearly a break from reality, but it is a seriously awesome piece of technology that adds a lot to the show of superior engineering capabilities that this villain has. It falls into a similar category as something that has been a part of sci-fi for decades: anti-gravity. While I'm sure many scientists and physicists would like to make such a technology a reality, the laws of physics that it overcomes makes it a target that seems like it will remain only making our tales and epics feeling more incredible.

            The Incredibles is a wonderfully crafted film, and clearly an incredible amount of thought went into every aspect of its creation. The physics are carefully and intentionally pushed throughout the film in order to make the universe feel epic and extraordinary. The standard rules of the world are only broken in ways that allow these super characters to feel truly incredible, and to help make for a very entertaining world to watch.