portable hole
{{short description|Fictional device which can create a passageway through solid surfaces}}
{{Spatial anomalies in fiction}}
In various works of speculative fiction, a portable hole is a two-dimensional device that can be used to contravene the laws of physics{{cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=Victor |date=2018 |title=The Gravity of Cartoon Physics; or, Schrödinger's Coyote |journal=ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=29–49 |doi=10.4312/elope.15.1.29-49|doi-access=free }} by creating a passage through a solid surface, through which characters can move.
Notable uses
The 1955 Looney Tunes cartoon, The Hole Idea, presents a fictional account in which Calvin Q. Calculus invents the device.{{Cite book|last=Segal|first=Eliezer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmILCgAAQBAJ&q=portable+hole|title=Chronicles and Commentaries: More Explorations of Jewish Life and Learning|date=2015-06-30|publisher=Quid Pro Books|isbn=978-1-61027-823-2|at=Section, "Portable Holes and Rolling Stones"|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Liebman|first=Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REaeCQAAQBAJ&q=%22the+hole+idea%22+looney+tunes&pg=PA317|title=Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts|date=2015-05-20|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0936-2|language=en}}{{Rp|317}}{{Cite web|title=Robert McKimson's "The Hole Idea" (1955) {{!}}|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/robert-mckimsons-the-hole-idea-1955/|access-date=2018-06-12|website=cartoonresearch.com|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=The hole idea [Motion picture]|url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=fi%2056000800&searchType=1&permalink=y|website=Library of Congress: Catalog}} Another early Looney Tunes example, Beep Prepared from 1961, developed the trope further and features the Road Runner lifting a (previously ordinary) hole off the ground, carrying it, then laying it down for the Coyote to fall through; the hole in this case is mundane until the start of the gag, as opposed to an intentional scientific creation as in The Hole Idea.{{Cite web|title=Beep Prepared|url=https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-story/4295-Beep-Prepared|website=The Big Cartoon Database}}{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The concept was shown in The Beatles' 1968 movie, Yellow Submarine, where Ringo picks up a hole from the Sea of Holes, stores it in his pocket, and uses it later to release Sgt. Pepper's Band from captivity.{{Cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=Yellow Submarine Movie Review (1968) {{!}} Roger Ebert|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-yellow-submarine-1968|access-date=2018-06-13|website=www.rogerebert.com|language=en}}{{Rp|249}}{{Cite book|last1=Goldsmith|first1=Melissa U. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TP3DAAAQBAJ&q=yellow+submarine+hole+ringo&pg=PA348|title=The Encyclopedia of Musicians and Bands on Film|last2=Willson|first2=Paige A.|last3=Fonseca|first3=Anthony J.|date=2016-10-07|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-6987-3|language=en}}{{Rp|348}} In 1988, Who Framed Roger Rabbit again used a portable hole as a plot device.{{Cite news|date=2017-06-15|title=Who Framed Roger Rabbit|language=en-US|work=Brandon Talks Movies|url=https://brandontalksmovies.com/2017/06/15/who-framed-roger-rabbit/|access-date=2018-06-13}}{{Cite book|last1=Elwood|first1=Graham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QjJVAZY138C&q=who+framed+roger+rabbit+%22portable+hole%22&pg=PA81|title=The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies|last2=Mancini|first2=Chris|date=2012-06-01|publisher=Morgan James Publishing|isbn=9781614482215|language=en}} Detective Eddie Valiant is able to escape being crushed by a steamroller by using one, echoing the 1955 Looney Tunes gag.{{Cite news|date=2018-05-28|title=May 28th, 2018 Movie – Who Framed Roger Rabbit|language=en-US|work=movieadayblog|url=https://movieadayblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/may-28th-2018-movie-who-framed-roger-rabbit/|access-date=2018-06-13}}{{Cite news|last=Solomon|first=Charles|date=28 January 1994|title=Attraction Review: Disney Spins a Car Toon Tale|page=259|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54635879/portable-hole/|access-date=3 July 2020}} The 1988 cartoon series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh features a portable hole with similar properties in the episode "Bubble Trouble."{{Cite web|title=Bubble Trouble|url=https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-story/32124-Bubble-Trouble|website=The Big Cartoon Database}}{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a portable hole is a circle of cloth made from phase spider webs, strands of ether and beams of starlight. When deployed, it creates an extradimensional space six feet in diameter by ten feet deep. Folding the cloth causes the entrance to this space to disappear, but items placed inside the hole remain there. Sufficient air is contained in the hole to support life for up to ten minutes.{{Cite web|url=http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#portableHole|title=Wondrous Items :: d20srd.org|website=www.d20srd.org|access-date=2018-06-14}}{{Cite web|url=https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Portable%20Hole#content|title=Portable Hole {{!}} D&D 5th Edition on Roll20 Compendium|website=roll20.net|language=en|access-date=2018-06-14}} In the novelization of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott uses a portable hole when the lead characters are playing Dungeons & Dragons.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YR6bxXzx9nUC&q=hole&pg=PA11|title=E.T., the Extra-terrestrial: The Movie|last=Collins|first=Terry|date=2002|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780689843679|language=en}}
In episode 695 of the Final Fantasy-based comic 8-Bit Theater, Fighter, after buying some items and a portable hole with Red Mage, decides to "work smarter, not harder", and put all the items into the portable hole. He then proceeds to fold the portable hole into itself.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nuklearpower.com/2006/05/13/episode-695-physics-are-for-other-people/|title = Nuklear Power » Archive » Episode 695: Physics are for other people}}
In Rajiv Joseph's play, Guards at the Taj, one of the characters, Humayun, invents a transportable hole.{{Cite web|title=On (Trans)Portable Holes|url=http://www.marintheatre.org/productions/guards-at-the-taj/on-transportable-holes|access-date=2018-06-13|website=Marin Theatre Company}}{{Cite news|title=Guards at the Taj|language=en-US|url=https://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles-theater/reviews/guards-at-the-taj-geffen-playhouse_74678.html|access-date=2018-06-13}} Humayun describes it as a hole one can carry and attach to anything to make a hole in it.{{Cite book|last=Joseph|first=Rajiv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTY2DwAAQBAJ&q=%22guards+at+the+taj%22+portable+hole&pg=PT41|title=Guards at the Taj|date=2017-04-11|publisher=Oberon Books|isbn=9781786821447|language=en}}
Other uses of the term
A 1933 newspaper described John Williamson's underwater photography apparatus as a portable "hole in the sea". It was a bendable tube from the ship to the sea bottom for a photographer to descend.{{Cite news|date=29 March 1933|title=At The Theatres: With Williamson Beneath The Sea|page=4|work=The Daily Record|location=Long Branch, New Jersey|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54634780/portable-hole/|access-date=3 July 2020}}
A 1949 newspaper column by Truman Twill speculates on a prefabricated underground storage unit described as "a portable hole to be sunk in the ground at a desirable location".{{Cite news|last=Twill|first=Truman|date=26 May 1949|title=In the Vault|page=6|work=The Marion (Ohio) Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54635048/portable-hole/|access-date=3 July 2020}}
Gramicidin A has been described as a portable hole; it is a polypeptide with a helical shape. When it forms a dimer, it can embed itself in cellular bilayer membranes and form a hole through which water molecules can pass.{{Cite book|last=Mouritsen|first=Ole G.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1156049123|title=Life - As a Matter of Fat: The Emerging Science of Lipidomics|publisher=Springer|year=2005|isbn=9783540232483|pages=186|oclc=1156049123}}
The Museum of Modern Art has a work by Ben Vautier titled, The First Portable Hole (Le Premier trou portatif).{{Cite web|title=Ben Vautier. The First Portable Hole (Le Premier trou portatif). 1960 {{!}} MoMA|url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/135177|access-date=2020-07-02|website=The Museum of Modern Art|language=en}}
In Shari Lewis presents 101 magic tricks for kids to do, a trick named "the portable hole" is described.{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=Shari|url=https://archive.org/details/sharilewispresen0000lewi_t8f2|title=Shari Lewis presents 101 magic tricks for kids to do|publisher=Random House|year=1990|isbn=9780394820590|location=New York|pages=64}} A card trick titled Acme Portable Hole is available commercially.{{Cite web|title=ACME - Portable HOLE|url=https://tricksupply.com/product/acme-portable-hole/|access-date=2020-07-02|website=Tricksupply|language=en-US}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Cite web|title=The Portable Hole|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19055074-the-portable-hole|access-date=2 July 2020|work=goodreads.com}}
- {{Cite web|title=Developer demos 'portable hole' augmented reality effect with ARKit {{!}} Cult of Mac|url=https://www.cultofmac.com/531851/developer-demos-portable-hole-augmented-reality-effect-arkit/|access-date=2 July 2020|work=Cult of Mac|date=28 February 2018 }}
- {{Cite web|title=Visitor tumbles into 'Descent Into Limbo' installation at Portuguese Museum|url=https://whnt.com/news/visitor-tumbles-into-descent-into-limbo-installation-at-portuguese-museum/|access-date=2 July 2020|work=WHNT.com|date=21 August 2018}}
- {{Cite magazine|title=Elaborate Poster Puts All of Wile E. Coyote's ACME Purchases on Your Wall|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/12/acme-poster-kickstarter/|access-date=2 July 2020|magazine=WIRED|quote=portable}}
{{science fiction}}