Animation Manipulation (based on 2.6)

One of the benefits of animated series and films as opposed to live-action is what Matt Groening calls the "rubber-band reality." This refers to the fact that animated stories can alter people, places, or things within a show that you simply cannot do in live-action. For example, if the episode calls for Homer and Marge to be awaken from their slumber because they hear something in the closet directly adjacent to their bed, the animators simply draw a closet in their bedroom in a spot where in other episodes there was just a blank wall. Typically in live-action films and tv series, once something is established, it must remain consistent throughout. The exaggerated universe that exists in animated shows allows for more flexibility in the way events unfold even though the material covered within the narrative is usually based in reality.

The same is true for the South Park television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. For the most part, much of the show focuses on everyday issues (in particular contemporary politics) but because of the nature of it's unrealistic animation style, the show will veer off into fantastical situations such as interactions with a morally ambiguous Satan, etc. There is an episode in which the four main characters find martial arts weapons and decide to take on ninja personas. The idea itself, (young boys pretending to be warriors) is based in reality, however because the series is animated, the Parker and Stone can get away with having their characters injure their friend Butters to the point where a jagged metal shuriken is lodged in the young boys eye. This is certainly not something that can be portrayed on a live-action show with the same level of casualness that the animators implement (the boy clearly suffers and yet all the characters around him attempt to hide his serious injury, but because we are aware of the fact that this is animation, we find this incredibly funny). What is also interesting about the episode is that much of the humor derives from the transformation in animation style once the boys don their warrior personas (references to Japanese anime), humor that can only exist within the realm of an animated show.

This seems to not be the case with animated films such as The Incredibles. Because much of the film's publicity rests on the star power voicing the characters, the zaniness is toned down a bit. We are aware that behind the characters are our favorite actors, people based in reality, so we are not completely removed from our real world. The animated characters may still find themselves in fantastical situations, however it generally seems that such animated movies cannot abuse their characters to the extremities often displayed in South Park (sure these are fictional characters far removed from reality...but Brad Pitt voiced him! We can't hurt Brad Pitt). This is my reasoning as to why animated series have a certain level of ease when it comes to shifting from reality to surreality and finally to the absurd.