Curiouser and Curiouser: The Physics of Wonderland Outline (Paper 1)

The Laws of Physics in Alice in Wonderland

I. Introduction
a. Introduce “Alice in Wonderland” (Disney, 1951)
b. Hypothesis: The physics of Wonderland differ from the real world in several ways, often in unpredictable and exaggerated ways.

II. Unbalanced Actions and Reactions
a. Characters hats or glasses seem to jump off their heads at times. Their movement is often un-proportional to the character's movement.
b. Alice's sneezes propel her back several feet, and even launch a character between 50-70 feet into the air
c. At one point the characters are running through the surf. Even though the waves are above their heads, they are completely unaffected by the push of the waves.

III. Gravity and Hang Time
a. Characters falling/jumping seem to pause at the top of their arcs for an extended amount of time
b. lighter objects fall faster than heavy ones
c. Cheshire cat and some of his body parts tent to float through the air, without slowing in or out

IV. Behavior of liquids
a. the splashes from cups/bowls often have impossible arcs
b. liquids can defy gravity, like the "half cup" of tea
c. the red paint on the rosebushes doesn't act like a liquid. Instead of dripping from a moving paintbrush it trails far behind then recoils like elastic

V. Competing Hypothesis: Accurate depiction of "parachutes" on falling objects
a. at certain times the film accurately portrays the effects of changing the surface area of an object to change the terminal velocity and slow a fall
b. when Alice falls down the rabbit hole her skirt poofs out like a parachute and slows her fall
c. when the Doormouse is launched into the air by a firework, his fall is slowed when he opens his umbrella

VI. Conclusion
a. Most of the differences from our world happen when the characters are experiencing extreme emotions
b. it is difficult to come up with rules, because nothing is really constant throughout the film
c. these inconsistencies make the work feel more believable, after all it is a world of nonsense