The Physics of Tangled

          Ever since its doors opened, Disney Studios has been creating magic on the screen. The secret to their success lies in the motto, "let the animation be felt, not seen". This deftness of hand is what allows audiences to have their breath taken away by animated movies. They know that what they are seeing cannot possibly be real, that it can only exist in this movie, yet they are mesmerized because the action is executed believably. Tangled, Disney's 2010 animated movie, was received with critical acclaim. It has all the charm that Disney is known to carry, but on a closer inspection, what makes this movie so enjoyable? It is because the world that Tangled presents to the audience is one in which the laws of physics have been bent to allow unique animated characters to interact with their surroundings, while still being believable.

            The trailers for the movie Tangled boast that Rapunzel has seventy feet of golden locks. Seventy feet of human hair would weigh much more than Rapunzel's neck and spine could support, yet Rapunzel is able to maneuver around like a normal person. For example, Rapunzel is able to lower Mother Gothel on her hair, then swiftly run away from the window. With her entire length of hair suspended off of a tower, she would not be able to dash quickly away without the weight of the hair snapping her head back.

            In another scene, Rapunzel heaves herself onto a riverbank with considerable ease. With her entire length of hair drenching wet, she would not be able to support herself out of the river because her damp hair would be much heavier than her dry hair, not to mention that the river's current was very rapid. The combined forces of her heavy hair, and the swirling current, would make it especially difficult for Rapunzel to support herself.

            It may be logical to think that Rapunzel can support her hair because so much of it lies on the ground. However, when Rapunzel enters the town, she has her hair braided so that none of it touches the ground. The weight of her hair would be the same, but the surface area over which the weight is distributed would have shrunk significantly. It is certain that her neck and spine would not be able to support her hair when she has it braided off the ground.

            Instead of behaving like heavy human hair, which would not be able to move and flow so effortlessly, Rapunzel's hair acts more like a silk scarf. She is able to dash about quickly with her hair trailing behind her like a ribbon. With this said, her hair also does not float about in an ethereal fashion as it falls. The makers of the movie made her hair feel heavy, yet it does not adhere to true physics. This allows Rapunzel to be able to perform normally, yet still feel like she has very long hair.

            Eugene, another one of Tangled's characters, also does not follow the true laws of physics. Instead of behaving like a human, Eugene behaves much like a cat, or any other light weighted animal. This is appropriate because he is a thief. He is able to scale the castle astonishingly fast. Much like a cat, he is also unearthly quite. His feet make no noise even though he jumps from towers to roofs, to other towers. He would be much noisier if he landed with his full body weight like a normal human would. Conversely, it could be speculated that perhaps the castle walls don't behave quite like stone. It may be that the material of the castle is cushioning the impact of Eugene's movements, which would also allow for them to be very quiet.

            Also like a cat, Eugene can survive falls that would normally be much too high for a human to handle. He is able to land unscathed after tumbling down a canyon. He is also able to be launched hundreds of feet into the air, and survive the landing. He behaves as if he were very light, like a cat, which is able to survive falls higher than that of humans due to the nature that their terminal velocity is too slow to be fatal in some cases.

            Apart from being very light, Eugene can also be weightless completely. When he and Rapunzel are running from the guards, he leaps across a wide canyon and lands on the other side. Compared to what would happen in real life, Eugene's path of action as he leaps is greatly exaggerated. The only way he could achieve this is if the force of gravity on Earth were less than what it really is.

            The animations of Maximus the horse may seem out of place when talking about the subtlety of Rapunzel's, and Eugene's animations. Maximus is the only character that behaves in a way that can be categorized as cartoon. Although he exists in the same world as the other two characters, he is allowed more freedom in his movements for the special reason of comedic relief. For example, Maximus's head stays suspended in the air for a split second before following the rest of his body into a fall. This visual stretch is not something that occurs in physics, but it is used to really draw attention to the abrupt action that takes place, in this case, a supporting branch that suddenly snaps.

            Maximus's animations also include the cartoon like power of having super strength, but only at certain moments. When Eugene is launched into the air, and lands on Maximus's back, Maximus does not so much as flinch at the impact. If the animators were to adhere to true physics, Maximus would collapse on impact, and Eugene would most certainly not have survived.

            The steed also exhibits anthropomorphic traits. He can stand on two legs and use his front hooves like hands, for instance, he rips a poster off of the wall. He then proceeds to chomp the poster with the characteristics of a paper shredder. There are times that he goes from acting like a dog with a wagging tail, to butting heads with Eugene in the blink of an eye. His movements and actions are extremely exaggerated to be very fast, and he moves his body in ways a horse never could. 

            Tangled, like any other animated movie, has many flaws in physics when compared with the real world. But what would the point of the story be, if Rapunzel had seventy feet of hair, yet she was confined to a neck brace and a hospital bed because there was no way her body could handle all that weight? Once the real physics makes it impractical for a character to act, then the physics must be bent. Disney bends the physics of Tangled in such a way that the audience probably does not think about it. They feel it, but they do not see it. Rapunzel's hair is believably heavy, yet it doesn't hinder her, Eugene's actions are believably nimble for a thief, without looking like he has superhuman powers. Maximus is outrageous, but it is for comedic effect, so the audience still does not question the laws of physics. These subtleties are what draw viewers into the world, and what makes the world so believable.