No, it’s a cat trying to jump from one window to another ledge, and failing. Cats are known for being nimble and good jumpers, for having excellent balance and being good judge of abilities. I have seen cats make jumps like that, this cat should have been able to close that gap. Except, if you watch closely, the problem is traction, or rather the lack thereof. The cat’s hind feet slip on the windowsill, and so instead of launching the cat across the gap in a spectacular display of aerodynamics, said cat is splayed with no forward momentum and sails straight down.
It is funny, but also a “Oh, poor cat” moment. With the original, you hear sounds of the cat hitting stuff below, what stuff is not shown. The music timing accents the leap.
Same thing with the kitten from the toilet lid. Hind feet slip and cat goes splat.
Very well done syncing of music to video there, I laughed.
This one was posted on Cracked a few weeks ago in a list of obscure YouTube comedy gold videos. It’s so simple and dumb, and yet I laughed until my nose ran."
I damn near had a stroke laughing at that one!
"drewtwo99
That may be the funniest 36 seconds, but this may be the funniest 47 seconds on the internet!"
It’s probably my love of all things Brit-humor, but the English working class voice-over sold it for me!
As an avid reader of The Straight Dope should know, the terminal velocity of a cat is non-fatal. In fact, evidence suggests cats are far more likely to be injured on short falls, where they have less time to adjust their attitude for optimal landing.
And the original video contained in the description that the cat was apparently unhurt by the fall.
The cat lived next door, and had jumped across to check out that apartment (perhaps since all the windows were open. And apparently seriously misjudged the traction on the counter he was trying to launch from when jumping back home.
For me, the humor is the cartoony reactions: the cat seems to come to a stop in mid-air and then fall vertically, just like Archimedes thought. Even though I know that isn’t happening, that’s what it looks like to me. And I can’t help but imagine the cat’s expression transitioning from triumphant to confused to that Cassandra-like look that you’d find, say, on that bull who crossed Bugs Bunny. The look that says “I know something terrible is about to happen, but I am powerless to prevent it.”
Actually, he means Aristotle, who’s usually given the blame for an incorrect philosophical view of mechanics and ballistics.
Offhand, I can’t recall anything Archimedes wrote about ballistics, but he was a superb experimentalistr, and I don’t think he’d make that kind of mistake. For a thorough lambasting of Aristotle and effusive praise of Archimedes, sec Peter Beckmann’s wonderfully cranky and ranting The History of Pi, which is, nonetheless, a very good read.
Chuck Jones, of course, is the latter-day illustrator of these principles, and the Dean of Cartoon Physics.
Actually, he means Aristotle, who’s usually given the blame for an incorrect philosophical view of mechanics and ballistics.
Offhand, I can’t recall anything Archimedes wrote about ballistics, but he was a superb experimentalistr, and I don’t think he’d make that kind of mistake. For a thorough lambasting of Aristotle and effusive praise of Archimedes, sec Peter Beckmann’s wonderfully cranky and ranting The History of Pi, which is, nonetheless, a very good read.
Chuck Jones, of course, is the latter-day illustrator of these principles, and the Dean of Cartoon Physics.
