First Term Paper

I would like to discuss the laws of physics applying to the world of Kung Fu Panda 2 by DreamWorks. Kung Fu Panda is a movie about a panda bear named Po who learns Kung Fu from other talking animals. The sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, is the back-story of why Po lives in the village he grew up in with his adopted father, a goose. The main difference between this universe and our own, is that all of the animals have the ability to walk on two legs, talk, and preform Kung Fu. With that aside, the majority of the time, they obey the laws of physics that are specific to our universe.

DreamWorks is known for making 3D animated movies that appeal to children. The universe made specifically for Kung Fu Panda 2 allows for dramatic, comedic, and intense scenes that all fit within the levels of appropriateness one would expect to find in a children’s movie.

This universe allows for certain things to happen that would be impossible to achieve with our laws of physics. An example of this is the weapons used by the Kung Fu masters in the movie. When the characters are simply carrying them around, they appear as if they are made from cardboard since they are so easy to maneuver around. This observation was made by looking at the ratio of the weapon's size to how heavy it should appear. The continuity of this illusion, however, is broken when the characters use the weapons to fight with. They then appear to be made of metal, wood, stone, and other much denser materials. The audience is given the impression that they are heavy objects when they slam into another character or the ground, as they will fling said character to the side or create craters in the ground. The animators could have made the choice to visually shift the weight of the weapons for two reasons: to give the illusion that the characters are strong and can effortlessly wield their weapons, or to not draw attention to the fact that the characters are carrying around heavy masses.

Master Thundering Rhino holding his hammer

Most likely, a combination of both reasons was the incentive to break the continuity for these instances. The Kung Fu masters are indeed supposed to appear tough and strong. If they had to shift their weight to pick up and carry their weapons, as would be normal to see in our universe, that would definitely detract from the present action and would give the illusion that these characters are weak. It was wise of the animators to only use the law of action and reaction when the weapons were used to fight with rather than in scenes where emphasis was not meant to be on the weapons. Then, when the moment was appropriate, the weapons were used to fight with and caused tremendous reactions as they came in contact with another object.

My next hypothesis about the universe created for this movie is that the anatomy of the animals created in this universe does not coincide with the range of motion for animals in our universe. It appears as though, if you are an animal that is trained in the art of Kung Fu, your range of motion is more similar to that of a human being than the anatomy of that same animal in our universe. Vice versa, the secondary characters all appear to have a range of motion that more similarly resembles animals of our universe (ignoring the fact that all the animals, fowl and quadruped alike, walk upright on their hind legs).

We see this when the main characters make it to Gongmen City to fight the evil Lord Shen. Upon entering the city, the main characters find themselves having to fight the evil henchmen amongst all the town’s people. The animals that are trained in the art of Kung Fu can bend their knees and swing their arms in a manner similar to the range of motion of a human being. The anatomy of a canine in our universe, for example, would not allow for the animal to be able to swing its arm back the way the wolves do in the movie to strike another character. The same principle applies to Tigress, Po, Master Thundering Rhino, Master Storming Ox, and Master Croc.

While these Kung Fu masters have this ability, the anatomy of the village animals do not allow for such free flowing movement. They appear to be relatively stiffer than the main characters. Their entire anatomies differ from those of the Kung Fu Masters. An example of this are the sheep that live in Gongmen City. They are essentially spheres (torsos) walking around on sticks (their legs). The wolves, on the other hand, have their muscular mass spread throughout their bodies much more. The sheep juxtaposed with the evil henchmen give the audience a sense of who has the power and control in this setting. The complex muscle structure of the wolves makes them appear much larger, and therefore more impressive and stronger than the simple shapes that make up the sheep. Even from the establishing shot where the heroes observe the city from afar, the audience is visually told which characters overpower the others.

Po fighting Wolf Boss with a townsperson caught in the middle

My next hypothesis of this universe is that the density of characters changes depending on the aesthetic of the scene. This is similar to the aforementioned example that at the beginning of the movie, Master Thundering Rhino appears to be carrying around a cardboard weapon, and then it turns to a heavier object when used to fight with. This hypothesis, however, seems to follow with the continuity of the movie more when it applies to the characters.

An example of this is Po’s soft belly. At times in the movie when no serious action is going on, the animators emphasized Po’s enormous stomach by making it jiggle every time any sort of force is applied to it. The effect this produced closely represents what one would find in a water balloon drop test. Other times, such as fight scenes, Po’s stomach will appear static and move with him as he turns and does flips. In these scenes, his entire body appears to be one solid mass. It is almost as if Po is consciously thinking about what times are appropriate to allow his belly to have a long settle time, and when it is not.

Po in an action shot with a "tight" belly

This principle does not only happen to Po. The rest of the Furious Five appear to do similar things throughout the movie. Viper for example, appears to be made out of elastic material when used as a sling or rope in some scenes, and then appears to be made from bones and scales when striking a pose or slithering around in other scenes. This same principle happens with Monkey’s tail as well.

Another scene is one where the Furious Five and Po are on a boat headed to Gongmen City and Tigress instructs Po to strike her hand. The first time he hits her outstretched hand, there is absolutely no reaction or recoil in either of their bodies. Soon after, Po collapses in pain at how much it hurt to strike her hand, giving the illusion that Tigress is composed of very dense material, like concrete or stone. She then explains that she is tough because she has trained all her life. Each time after pointing out this fact, there is an appropriate reaction to Po hitting her hand. From this we can assume that Tigress is able to will her anatomy to be stiff and rigid as if she was a statue when the time is appropriate.

Tigress ready to fight
My last hypothesis about this universe is that the timing of simple laws of physics such as gravity and force are elongated or shortened due to what would feel appropriate to a specific situation. The heroes of the movie are able to jump from the ground, to a rooftop by shear act of propelling their own body weight. To achieve something like this in our universe, one would need some sort of sling or trampoline in order to act against the force of gravity in such a manner. Similar to this act of defying gravity, is when the heroes jump down from a very high place (such as rooftops or cliffs) to the ground. In order for someone in our universe to fall from such a great height and survive, the time of the impact would have to be elongated as to “cushion” the fall; simply landing on the ground would be too great of a pressure acting on the body and would have a tremendous reaction. Most of the time the only cushion the characters have is that they land and bend their knees, as if they only fell a distance of 2 or 3 feet rather than several yards.

Po and the Furious Five falling from a great height

         Another instance of where timing is particular to the mood of a scene is the climax of the movie. Po finds himself standing on a rock in the middle of the water, where all the cannons on Lord Shen’s fleet are pointed straight at him. The first cannon that is fired at Po is intense and dramatic. The cannon ball leaves the cannon at 1:13:23. Po then has time to compose himself, calm his nerves, find inner peace, and slip into the right mindset. The cannon ball finally reaches him at 1:13:36. The next cannon ball that is fired at him leaves the cannon at 1:13:59 and takes 35 frames to get to him at 1:14:01. If the movie was shot at the standard 24fps then we can use the equation 24/1 = 35/x to find that it only took 1.46 seconds for the second cannon ball to reach him whereas the first one took nearly 13 seconds. Allowing for the first cannon ball to take so long felt realistic in the sense that it added the dramatic uncertainty of if he would be able to deflect it or if he would be blown to pieces. After establishing that he could overpower the weapon, there was no need for it to be as dramatic and allowed for the speed to be more realistic to when a cannon is fired in our universe.

Po catching the cannon ball that was hurled at him

         The movie as a whole was extremely well thought out. The decision to have this universe overall apply to our laws of physics allowed for a realistic establishment. Bending rules at certain times allowed for dramatic as well as comical scenes. I feel as though DreamWorks did a wonderful job with this movie as everything reads clearly while maintaining entertaining continuity.