Aarhus Universitets segl

Studenterkollokvium, André Vu-Phung: Classical Mechanics in Classic Cartoons

Locked in an eternal game of cat and mouse, two cartoon characters will soon learn about their perculiar existence with the power of physics.

Oplysninger om arrangementet

Tidspunkt

Mandag 25. april 2022,  kl. 15:15 - 16:00

Sted

Fys. Aud.

Vejleder Klaus Mølmer

It is no secret that animated shorts and movies stretch the laws of physics in order to make way for entertaining scenes and character expressions that would otherwise not be possible in the real world… but can the extent of this stretch be quantified?

In this presentation, I will be taking a close look at the iconic duo, Tom \& Jerry, created by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna. I will be focusing on a small part of the short, ‘The Bowling Alley Cat,’ from 1942, slowly building up enough theory to learn about the specific physics found in the world of the animated cat and mouse. Given that this is a classic cartoon, I found it appropriate to analyze it using methods found in classical mechanics.

1942 is a long time ago, however; has animation today changed its view on physics from then? I end the presentation by answering this question.