Introduction:
The law of inertia means an object moves with constant, uniform motion until acted on by an unbalanced force. Or an object at rest (not moving) remains at rest until acted on by an unbalanced force.
Body:
1- Power puff girls, episode 39, Meet the Beat Alls. Mojo Jojo’s cape keeps moving as if there’s wind even though he’s inside the building this defies the law of inertia since there’s no force acting on the cape, but it still keeps moving in its own, having waves go through it, just to give the effect of evilness and chilliness. Even when Mojo Jojo is just standing, the cape keeps flapping on its own. When Mojo Jojo is walking or fighting, the movement of his body doesn’t seem to affect his fur; the hairs on his body don’t have any drag or follow through. This is due to the style of the cartoon and keeping it simple as possible. On other characters such as Blossom, her hair actually has follow through and drags, but that’s because it’s more obvious to the viewer if it’s not moving.
The episode can be watched here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wil8wOuVry8
2- Looney Tunes - Witch Hazel' s Vanity. When the witch is laughing it seems that the force of gravity stops affecting her, and she just floats up in the air for a couple of seconds until she is done with her laughing, then the gravity force seems to affect her again. It feels as if the forces on her body are balanced even though she’s floating in the air but not hanging up with a rope or anything to give the tension to oppose the gravity.
The clip can be watched here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYtgsLnEl38
3- Norman McLaren – Neighbours is a short done in pixilation style in 1952. The overall short has a weird feeling to it, even though it’s being acted by humans, cutting away certain frames, makes the movement appear as if it starts by itself. An example of that is when the man lays on the flat ground, and then suddenly with no force acting on him, he starts sliding around. Also the guys stand up, and then start rotating with no force affecting them. In this example the law of inertia is completely ignored.
The short can be watched here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YAYGi8rQag
Conclusion:
The law of inertia is almost always being broken in these examples, sometimes in very obvious ways, other times in subtle ways. Playing with the law of inertia adds a new flavor to the show, whether it makes it more stylized like the Neighbors pixilation example, has simpler more appealing character designs like in Power Puff girls, or just to add more personality like the Witch Hazel.
