The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

The Unique Laws of Physics in Hercules

            Hercules is a hand drawn animated film that was released in 1997 by Disney. It is inspired by the stories of Heracles from Greek mythology. In this version of Hercules, our main character was stripped of his god hood as a baby. When he grows up and learns of his lost god hood, he trains with a satyr to become a true hero and have his god hood restored. The story is filled with action, humor, and numerous mythological creatures. As a result, the world of Hercules has its own unique laws of physics. Force and Inertia are heavily exaggerated, mythological creatures follow their own laws of physics that resembles the real world, but is still noticeably different and unique to this world, and the elements from water to smoke act more on emotion rather than real laws of Physics.

Hercules, the main character, is a god with super strength. To show this strength and exemplify his other worldly characteristics, force and inertia behave very differently compared to the real world. One example of force not behaving normally is when Hercules slips while running to stop pillars from collapsing he slides across the ground and hits a man carrying lots of pottery vases. But while he is sliding there is no noticeable decrease in his speed as would normally happen when something is traveling across a surface due to friction. The inertia of the sliding is greatly exaggerated to emphasize the force Hercules is able exert as he was quickly running before slipping.

Another example of Hercules’s strength being shown through exaggeration is when he is swinging on a rope and is able to change direction while in mid-air during the swing. It is possible for a person to change direction mid swing, but only by little. It is possible for a person to throw their body in a different direction that deviates from their current swing path and have the path be affected. However, a weight shift alone is not enough for a person to significantly deviate from their course as Hercules can. Many people would preserve such a shift as being dependent on strength and so in the world of Hercules it makes sense that being means he can deviate as much as he does while swinging through the obstacle course.  

A last example of the laws of physics being different when relating to Hercules’s strength is him flicking a bend metal sword back to a normal straight shape. The idea here is the same a person that keeps moving when a bus stops. When Hercules stops his sword, the top portion of it keeps moving due to inertia and stops when it has returned to its normal shape. A typical sword in that era was made of bronze a metal that is far too stiff to be affected by a sudden stop like the one in Hercules. This is an example where the physics of this world are rooted in true laws of physics, but have been exaggerated to emphasize the story and strength of the character.

One example other than for Hercules’s strength includes action/reaction involving an explosion from Hades. Out of anger Hades causes an explosion on a mountain cliff. Everything at the base of the cliff jumps up due to the explosion. However, there is no appearance of reaction moving away from the explosion as would happen in real life. In reality, the force of an explosion of that size would cause a push that radiates outwards. It is shown to have affected Pain and Panic in this way by being blown against the wall, but for everything else there was no such radial force.

Another way that the laws of physics are different is the existence of mythical creatures and how the laws of physics apply to them differently than real animals and people. For example, Pegasus, a horse with wings, is able to create enough lift to carry its weight plus two people with wings disproportionally small compared to that of a real bird. In reality, wings of that size would not be able to overcome the force of gravity, especially when taking into account that the average weight of a full grown horse is roughly 800 lbs. to 1200 lbs.

Another example of a horse creature with its own rules of physics is a centaur, which is half man and half horse. In the story, Nesses the centaur is at least double the size of an average horse. Despite this though, he is able to move his limbs at the same speed of a normal horse as shown when he runs towards Hercules. By having Nesses move faster than a creature of that size would in reality, he seems more intimidating, more threating, and more of a challenge for Hercules to overcome. This fast movement for a large creature also applies to a Cyclops that is several stories tall. Once again, despite his height, he is able to move his limbs at the same speed as a normal human. The reason for this is so that Hercules seems even smaller. It is a time when Hercules is weak and helpless. By making the Cyclops have human speed, the audience will identify with the Cyclops and so will make Hercules seem that much smaller and that much weaker as he is being beaten by the Cyclops.

One example that contradicts this observation of larger creatures moving at the same speed as smaller counterparts is the earth titan. The earth titan is the same size as the Cyclops, but moves considerably slower, and closer to what would be expected of a creature that size as seen when the titans are walking towards Mount Olympus. The slower movement was more emphasized for the earth titan because he is made of rock is therefore visually more heavy looking. The audience would then expect the earth titan to move much slower.

The elements of fire, water, air, earth, etc. behave very different in the world of Hercules compared to the real world. Story and emotion act as the main forces governing the elements much of the time. An example of this is one previously mentioned which is the titans. Each of them is made of rock, ice, wind, or lava. They move and feel just as any other living creature. Another instance where the elements are alive is when the rock statue of Zeus comes to life to talk to Hercules, which happens a few times through the film. The stone no longer behaves like a stone, but as a person with how fast it moves and how it reacts with emotion as Zeus talks to Hercules.

The elements don’t just come to life, but also react to the main emotion of a character during that particular part off the story. An example of this is Hades’ hair which is actually fire. The fire on his head either grows or shrinks depending on Hades’ mood. When Hades’ is angry the fire grows and spreads over his body, without any added fuel or air. Another example is smoke drifting around Hades. Rather than reacting to normal pressure differences and currents, smoke will move and react according to the story moment at the time. A scene of this is when smoke surrounds Hades as he plots a new way to kill Hercules.

Another example of elements reacting to emotion rather than real world physics is when a tree smacks Phil. While a tree can bend due to the force of wind and will lean in a certain direction to get more sunlight, a tree does not have the capability of moving so quickly without exterior force acting upon it.    

It is clear that the laws of physics are different in the world of Hercules compared to the real world, but since it is consistent through-out the film, the audience doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. The entire world of Hercules is centered on characters and creatures that do not and cannot exist in the real world. So in order for all the mythological beings to appear real, a new must be created with different laws of physics. However, they are based on real laws of physics and so the world is believable. With consistent rules of physics with just enough believability, the audience will accept and enjoy the story being told without being bothered or disturbed by a different world.