The Plausible Impossible: Animation Theory

THE PLAUSIBLE IMPOSSIBLE

By Drew McCall

In this project, we had to choose 5 moments from one of the supplied cartoons and list a series of "plausible impossibles". Plausible Impossibles are instances where something is impossible under the circumstances, but is made to appear possible to the audience. Below are some examples from a Disney "Gus Goose" cartoon.

EXHIBIT 'A': CHAIR MOTION

In the cartoon, Gus Goose arrives at Donald Duck's house and rushes in after smelling the delicious spread of food that Donald has prepared to eat. He rushes in so fast, that the chair rocks back and forth extremely quickly (like a spring) before it stops. This is a plausible impossible because it is plausible to rock back and forth in a chair like he did, however it is impossible for the chair to rock back and forth like this simply by running into it fast. The chair also does not behave like a spring, such as the cartoon suggests.

EXHIBIT 'B': SANDWICH CARDS

After sitting down, Gus goose then begins to eat. He takes two tall stacks of bread and bologna and begins to 'shuffle' them in order to make a sandwich. It is plausible to "shuffle" the bread and bologna if you TRY, but they will by no means behave like a deck of cards, and shuffling them would not make a sound similar to a deck of cards shuffling. This is therefore a plausible impossible.

EXHIBIT 'C': ACCORDION NECK

Gus Goose then takes the sandwich that he just created and eats it. This causes his neck to elongate upward, and causes his neck to take the shape of an accordion, and even make the sound of an accordion. This may seem plausible because the sandwich is so very large that it may seem as though his neck will take the shape of it once the sandwich is inside, but this is impossible because his neck is unable to get longer or change shape in real life. His neck also cannot make the sound of an accordion simply because he ate a sandwich. Once again, this is considered a plausible impossible.

EXHIBIT 'D': PASTA SOCK

After seeing a heaping plate of spaghetti, Gus Goose then takes out a pair of knitting needles and gets to work knitting the noodles into a sock, which he then slurps down as though the entire sock was made out of one enormous noodle. While it may be plausible to create a single long spaghetti noodle and make pasta out of it, it is preposterous to think that he would be able to knit the noodle into a sock and then slurp it down the way Gus Goose did. This is yet another example of a plausible impossible.

EXHIBIT 'E': COFFEE AND BREAD

After getting irritated with Gus Goose eating all of his food, Donald Duck tries to calm his nerves by pouring himself a cup of coffee, with which Gus Goose promptly sticks a baguette into. The baguette then appears to soak up ALL of Donald's in a matter of a few seconds. It is definitely possible to have bread soak up a drink like coffee, plenty of people do this every day. But it is impossible to have a piece of bread soak up ALL of the coffee in a coffee mug and still retain its shape. It is also impossible to think that the bread would be able to soak all of it up in just a few short seconds. This makes this instance another plausible impossible.

These are just a few examples of plausible impossibles that I saw during the first minutes of this cartoon. Plausible impossibles are things that many audiences take for granted in cartoons, they are part of what makes cartoons so enjoyable. Plausible impossibles are everywhere in the cartoon world, and being aware of them is a necessary part of being a successful animator.