Realistic Depiction of a Panic Attack in Animation

About

Realistic Depiction of a Panic Attack in Animation refers to a series of memes and discourse about the inclusion of accurate depictions of panic attacks in animated movies and series like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Following the release of The Last Wish in December 2022, critics and viewers online praised the film's depiction of Puss having a panic attack for being accurate and relatable, resulting in memes making fun of people for putting such high praise on the scene. Panic attacks appeared in several animated works following this, resulting in memes about animation shoehorning in realistic panic attack scenes to win praise from viewers. In late April 2023, a copypasta referencing the discourse went viral on Twitter.

Origin

On December 21st, 2022, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish premiered in theaters. The film was positively received by many online. In January 2023, people online, particularly on Twitter, began praising a scene in the film where Puss has a panic attack (shown below), calling it accurate and realistic.

One of the earliest examples of viral praise for the scene was posted by Twitter^[1] user @lunar__axis on January 9th, 2023, writing, "he fact they nailed this perfectly is astounding," garnering over 12,500 likes in four months. On January 15th, Twitter^[2] user @marcsmoons posted the scene, writing, "Dreamworks normalizing panic attacks is something very special to me," garnering over 212,000 likes in the same rough span of time (shown below, left). On January 17th, Twitter^[3] user @terry12539 posted, "I still CANNOT get over how beautiful the panic attack scene is," garnering over 12,000 likes in the same rough span of time (shown below, right).

Spread

As praise for the scene continued to go viral, some also began criticizing Velma's depiction of a panic attack from the 2023 Velma series. On January 16th, 2023, Twitter^[4] user @NNovasaur retweeted the scene, writing, "Meanwhile, Puss in Boots has the most accurate depiction of a panic attack in media I’ve seen-- this is EXACTLY how it feels," garnering over 414,000 likes in four months (shown below).

Meanwhile, Puss in Boots has the most accurate depiction of a panic attack in media I’ve seen-- this is EXACTLY how it feels. You can’t think, can’t speak, and sometimes even the sound of a loved one trying to help gets drowned by your heart beating out of your chest. https://t.co/aP2RHE6w2A pic.twitter.com/PNU3yMhqY2

— Novasaur🎙️🍒 (@NNovasaur) January 16, 2023

On January 18th, Twitter^[5] user @CavalePrashanth made a post revealing that he animated the Puss in Boots panic attack scene, writing, "Beyond thrilled to see all the love it has been getting on social media," garnering over 130,000 likes in four months. On January 19th, Twitter^[6] user @_cosmicbrownee_ made a post criticizing Velma's depiction of a panic attack as bad and Puss in Boots' as good, garnering over 199,000 likes in four months (shown below).

On January 23rd, the Universal Pictures YouTube channel uploaded a video showing the process of animating the panic attack scene in The Last Wish, garnering over 493,000 views in four months (shown below).

Discourse about the panic attack scene continued over the following months, inspiring memes criticizing people who put so much praise on the scene. On March 31st, Twitter^[7] user @Eyeholer posted a video of someone punch a baby, writing, "Me to a baby after I show him puss in boots the last wish and he fails to realize that it saved animation and accurately portrays a panic attack," garnering over 17,400 likes in a month (shown below).

On April 29th, Twitter^[8] user @DiscussingFilm made a post about how a new Spider-Verse short film would feature Miles Morales having a panic attack, garnering over 32,000 likes in two days. Commenters drew comparisons to this and Puss in Boots. That day, Twitter^[9] user @JosNamesnotJo2 retweeted it with screenshots of scenes from Spider-Verse, Velma, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Puss in Boots, writing, "Covered up in oil who's winning the panic attack off," garnering over 28,100 likes in two days (shown below, left).

That day, Twitter^[10] user @ReverendClown quote-retweeded a clip from the PAW Patrol movie, writing, "How is this a good movie I don’t see a realistic depiction of a panic attack," garnering over 69,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Later that day, a Redditor posted a Bush Finding Out About 9/11 meme referencing the discourse to /r/moviescirclejerk,^[11] garnering over 2,900 upvotes in two days. On April 30th, TikToker^[12] @cleoofffilm posted a meme joking about the panic attack in animation discourse, garnering over 500,000 views in a day (shown below).

'Most Accurate Depiction of a Panic Attack' Copypasta

A copypasta also became popular on Twitter around the same time, where users post clips from movies, TV shows and other media that do not necessarily depict the character having a panic attack, writing, "X has the most accurate depiction of a panic attack in media I’ve seen – this is EXACTLY how it feels. You can’t think, can’t speak, and sometimes even the sound of a loved one trying to help gets drowned by your heart beating out of your chest" (examples shown below).

X has the most accurate depiction of a panic attack in media I’ve seen – this is EXACTLY how it feels. You can’t think, can’t speak, and sometimes even the sound of a loved one trying to help gets drowned by your heart beating out of your chest

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References