Outline of First Term Paper

The Laws of Physics in Disney Pixar’s Incredibles (2004)

I.      Introduction

a.     Introduce movie

b.     Thesis statement – The laws of physics in the real world pertain to the laws in the movie, yet certain situations are exaggerated for comic relief

II.    Laws of Gravity

a.     The laws of gravity act on all characters – man committing suicide falls at a realistic rate

b.     Some characters defy gravity through superhuman strength – Mr. Incredible lifts cars and other heavy objects, Dash runs on water through excessive speed

c.     Path of action – objects and characters launched in the air appear to follow the physics involved with projectile motions, and don’t seem to be exaggerated

                                               i.     Dash launched in the air from grabbing onto a rope

                                             ii.     Mr. Incredible throwing objects throughout the movie

                                            iii.     Buddy ejected out of the chair

III.  Action/Reaction

a.     Mr. Incredible’s boss gets thrown through many walls, and survives the impact on all of them

b.     People get punched, reacting in a realistic ways

IV. Squash and Stretch

a.     Certain situations exaggerate stretching of characters to add to effect – Mr. Incredible stretches as he tries to squeeze out of tight fits

b.     Characters that land from being in the air have the squash and stretch typically scene by humans jumping

V.   Momentum

a.     Everyday objects with weight display the subtle laws of physics and inertia – cars coming to a stop

b.     Mr. Incredible stops the train from going over the broken track (Impulse)

VI. Conclusion

a.     All characters obey the general laws of physics, with the exception of the superheroes

b.     Laws of physics obeyed by everyone to extenuate the super human abilities of the heroes