Though squirrels may never die from a fall due to their low
terminal velocity, portrayals of “saber-toothed” squirrels seem to shrug off
death even better as they withstand run ins with giant glaciers and risky encounters
with lightning bolts. This is all seen in directors Chris Wedge and Carlos
Saldanha’s Ice Age, an animated film that takes place in a prehistoric world in which a mammoth (Manfred), a sloth (Sid), and a saber-toothed tiger (Diego)
race against time to return a human baby to his father before the coming season
blocks their way with ice and snow. Blue Sky Studios granted themselves certain liberties with the physics of their imaginary world such as those regarding the properties of water and ice, compressibility of smaller creatures, and the interaction of momentum
and force. Some of these rules are altered due to the constraints of 3-D programming, and though
their work is based on truth and facts, Blue Sky Studios are first and foremost entertainers, making entertainment a crucial factor for most of their decisions.
First, water and ice play an
important part in the film since the movie is based on an ice age which is
short of neither water nor ice. Though water in real life is already unique in its
properties, the directors gave the water in
Ice Age additional properties or adapted it to the
situation at hand. For example, when the party found themselves in a cave, sliding
on ice into a snow wall (which seems to be about around three inches in depth),
they were able to all leave perfect openings modeled after their silhouettes in
the wall. It would seem that the empty space should be quickly filled from the
weight of the snow above it but that only happened on the last and largest hole.
Blue Sky Studios’ choice in having such physics may be due to comedy. A different answer may be because the animals are sliding so quickly that the silhouettes
help the audience to know which animal had just impacted the snow. Suspense is another possible motivator since the two previous collisions leads up to the final one in which
the snow wall finally collapses. Whether it’s for comedy, clarity, or suspense,
the choice has been made in the name of entertainment.
Along with snow being able to hold
itself together regardless of its own weight for a time being, ice also seems
to be quite slow to melt when met with something intense such as a river of
lava. When the rescuers caught themselves in a ice field harboring hot steam
vents and a body of lava underneath, it can be noticed that none of the ice in
close contact ever melts from the sheer blaze of things; they merely fall to the
lava shown below it. This can be contributed to the complex process of ice
melting being difficult to convey with 3D programming at the time. Surely it has
been done as seen in other scenes of the movie. The reason for excluding it in this scene may be because it may be too much to process for the computer since the scope of environment calls for a large scale meltdown.
As proof of their ability to model
melting ice, there is a scene in which the beloved “saber-toothed” squirrel,
Scrat, is trying to free his acorn from a block of ice by using the small fire
built by Sid. A strange behavior exhibited was that the ice around the acorn
melted so quickly that the ice seemed to have bypassed the stage of dripping
water and jumped right into hissing steam. Regarding the melting process, this
also acts as a contradiction seeing as how an ice cube falls to the presence of
a campfire while an ice bridge on the other hand falls, but doesn’t actually
melt in the proximity of a lava river. Again, this and the lack of dripping
water from the ice cube can be blamed on the constraints of the 3D program and
complexity.
In the film, the sounds of the ice
breaking around them surely brought panic to the main characters but apparently,
quivering icicles from above invoke the same sense of urgency though with a
different sound, something akin to the playful tinkering of a wind chime. It
could be said that the chiming noise was actually the suspenseful music being
played as the animals were being caved in but the sound did not fit in terms of
musical accompaniment. Also the chimes only played when the icicles were being
shown. This could be due to the aesthetics of icicles; the hanging of it may
resemble a glass wind chime. A better reason though could be attributed again
to suspense. The settling of the icicles is very subtle and could demand much
screen time to convey properly the passing danger of being caught in a shower
of sharp ice shards. With the sound of the chimes though, the volume could be quickly
reduced to have the mind relate the quieting sound to the settling and
stability of the imposing icicles without needing to compromise too much screen
time.
When the icicles did fall though,
the speed of their descent was slowed as seen in the shot in which the camera
took on the point of view of the icicles to fall on the main antagonist, a
saber-toothed tiger by the name of Sota. The slowing down of the icicles is for
clarity since the speed at which the camera would move as a realistic, falling
icicle might be too fast for the audience to process the anticipation of Sota’s
death.
For the second rule of physics that
is to be analyzed, the compressibility of smaller creatures seem to be more
exaggerated than in the bigger animals. For example, in the beginning of the
movie, Scrat somehow found himself being sandwiched between two glaciers. The
crack is less than the full length of the acorn he is holding and yet the
compression of his body propels him from the danger without any lasting or
visible bodily harm seen on him. Also his eyes seemed to have expanded beyond
its normal size, possibly his body squeezing out of the crack into his eyes.
Another instance in which Scrat is met with great physical pain is when a
migrating herd comes upon him and he is repeatedly stepped upon until his body
latches onto an animal’s foot and he is dragged screaming along as the foot
comes down with each step. Hypothesis for such resilience is possibly comedic
purposes. For explanations as to why they don’t apply this sort of exaggeration
to the larger animals is perhaps the larger animals seem strong enough to care
for themselves while there would be more sympathy for smaller and weaker
creatures .
For the third hypothesis, the
relation between momentum and force is exaggerated at certain points through
the film. Most notably is when in the beginning of the movie, Scrat has dug his
acorn into the ice and that starts a long crack to form. The length of the
crack is unrealistic and Blue Sky knows that so they make it even longer for
humor. Though the time of impact on the ground is small, the momentum with
which Scrat drove his acorn into the ground is also small comparable with the large
force produced. It’s unnatural that such a disaster could be produced from a
squirrel. Adding to that, pitting the acorn against the ground and ice, it is
unexpectedly the latter that wholly surrenders to the former producing an
avalanche.
The same event is repeated at the
end of the movie except the environment is now that of a sandy beach and the
end result is the eruption of a volcano. The food of choice is also that of
a coconut but the difference in size is still not enough to warrant the
volcanic eruption. With the introduction of the new environ, the lack of smaller particles is more apparent, specifically the absence of
proper sand mechanics. While the crack is growing, though the texture of the
ground suggest there being sand, none actually fall into the crack due to the
shifting weight. This makes the ground plane feel similar to a clean, bare
surface which is thrown off by the sight of palm trees growing in such a place.
Again, it may be too much for the scene to process millions and millions of
sand specks. Also the idea of the ground cracking is less plausible and
apparent with the grains of sand able to fill up the hollow space.
In conclusion, for the laws of physics that aren't capped by the the difficulties of 3D programming (melting and sand mechanics), Blue Sky Studios manipulates the scenes to heighten the film's entertainment value (exaggerated force from an acorn/coconut). To an observant eye, the unnatural physics may deter a viewer but to an understanding one, the changes are welcomed if not enjoyed. That is one of the many perks of animated films as opposed to live action. Physics can be played with, sometimes making a more interesting, if not more believable, world. If anything, it's one of the few places in which "saber-toothed" squirrels are struck by lightning.
