What is The Uncanny Valley? Meaning & Examples from Film

The Uncanny Valley is a term coined by robotics professor Masahiro Mori in 1970 to describe the eerie feeling people get when encountering robots or animations that look and move almost, but not exactly, like natural beings. The closer an object comes to resembling a human without fully achieving lifelike accuracy, the more unsettling it tends to be. This concept applies widely in animation, CGI, Animatronics, horror movies, and video games, where creators exploit the uncanny valley to evoke discomfort and horror.

The Uncanny Valley is in movies – intentionally and unintentionally. When used deliberately, it can have a great effect – fx as a scary element in horror or for comedic purposes. When used unintentionally, it can pull us out of the diegesis and make us judge a movie as bad!

What does “Uncanny” Mean, anyway?

According to psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch in On the Psychology of the Uncanny (1906) and Sigmund Freud in The Uncanny (1919), the “uncanny” can be described as a state of mind in which one can no longer distinguish between what is real and what is unreal, as well as between objects that are alive and those that are dead.

This “gap” (you could call it a valley) between the real and the unreal scares us as humans because it causes uncertainty in our judgment of reality. When we can’t successfully put things in boxes, it causes us to fear the unknown future. Can I trust this person? What is this? Can it hurt me?

The Uncanny Valley: Mori’s Theory Explained

According to Mori, our positive feelings and empathy gradually increase the more an object (such as a robot or an animated character) resembles a human. This increase continues until the object reaches an almost-human state, appearing almost identical to a real human but still having small but crucial differences.

It is precisely here that the ‘uncanny’ or eerie effect occurs, where the object begins to seem eerie or disturbing. This is because small deviations from the human – such as unnatural movements or inaccuracies in facial features – can evoke a feeling of strangeness and discomfort. This feeling reaches its peak in the ‘uncanny valley,’ after which the feelings can become more positive if the object achieves complete humanity.

This phenomenon can also be observed in animatronics and CGI special effects in film and video games, where digitally created characters can seem eerie if they are almost, but not quite, human.

Elements that Deepen the Valley

Movement often enhances this effect, as unnatural or machine-like movements in an otherwise human-like figure can seem particularly alienating. Fx, the movements of the T-800 cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and T-1000 (Robert Patrick) in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) are uncanny—likewise are the movements of the zombies in The Walking Dead (2010) TV series.

These are great examples of deliberately employing the Uncanny Valley to cause the audience emotional response (horror).

A lesser-discussed aspect of the uncanny valley is the impact of asynchronous sound and image. When the audio does not perfectly sync with the visual movements, especially in speech or action, it can amplify the uncanny effect. This lack of synchronization can make characters appear more robotic or artificial, enhancing the eerie sensation.

For instance, if a character’s voice is out of sync with the movement of their lips, it can be subtly disconcerting, adding a layer of discomfort for the viewer or player. On the other hand, it can also have a comedic effect, such as when you watch old Chinese synchronized Kung-Fu movies dubbed with English voice-overs.

Read more about ADR, dubbing, and looping in film.

Unintentional Uncanny Valleys in Film

Sometimes, the uncanny valley appears unintentionally in film. This is often true when filmmakers push the technologies to new limits. While pushing the boundaries of what is possible is always appreciated and fundamental for evolving movies, the results are sometimes lacking.

Here are three movie examples where the uncanny valley was not intended:

Example 1: The Polar Express (2004)

Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express features CGI characters who closely resemble the film’s voice actors, notably Tom Hanks:

Despite the advanced motion capture technology, many viewers (myself included) found the characters, especially their eyes, to be soulless or zombie-like, which induced discomfort rather than empathy. This reaction can be attributed to the characters’ almost lifelike appearance but lack of subtle human nuances that convey emotion.

Example 2: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Analysis: This film attempted to digitally resurrect characters and actors from the original 1977 film, notably Grand Moff Tarkin, originally played by Peter Cushing, who had passed away in 1994. Despite the impressive CGI, the recreation of Cushing is eerily unnatural.

This reaction is a textbook case of the Uncanny Valley, where the recreation was almost lifelike but lacked the subtle imperfections and nuances that make human faces familiar and relatable.

Example 3: Cats (2019)

The adaptation of the famous musical Cats utilized CGI to blend human actors with cat features, intending to create a whimsical fantasy world.

However, the result is unsettling, with the anthropomorphic characters falling into the Uncanny Valley (you could even call it unintentional horror) due to their bizarre amalgamation of cat-like and human features on recognizably human bodies.

This combination of familiar and eerie elements in their appearances evokes a sense of discomfort, to say the least!

Summing Up

The uncanny valley concept illustrates the common eerie feeling audiences experience when encountering CGI characters in films that appear almost but not perfectly human.

Filmmakers are learning to navigate the uncanny valley by improving the realism of digital characters through enhanced technology and a deeper understanding of human nuances.

As film technology advances, the boundary between real and artificial blurs intensifies this phenomenon. The question is whether new technologies such as deep-faking and AI can bridge the gap in the valley. We’re not there yet!

Up Next: What is Anthropomorphism in Film?