This might sound like a rather odd concept, but it's something that I've been pondering a great deal lately, and I'm curious to hear what other people's thoughts on the matter are.
Although I generally credit the old Aesop's Fable "The Frog and the Ox" with cementing my interest in inflation, my first actual encounter with pneumatic expansion was actually the fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs" - specifically the Disney animated version. I remember being fascinated by the way the wolf's torso seemed to balloon out as he inhaled, then contract sharply when he blew down the pigs' houses. In some ways, I think that was the seed that started it all for me.
Although my taste in inflation has 'refined' itself over the years - so to speak - I still find that I tend to associated lungpower and inflation fairly closely. Something about the idea of a character taking an enormous breath and actually swelling and distending with air - sometimes to the point of becoming completely spherical - then blasting it back out again with incredible force, has always had a strange yet strong appeal to me. Sadly, this gimmick or theme (whatever you want to call it) seems to be fairly rare in inflation fiction and artwork. I could probably count the number of stories I've seen it featured in on one hand and still have fingers left over.
I'd be curious to know if there is anyone else out there with similar feelings on the subject. It seems like such an obvious connection to me (though I'm biased, naturally), yet it's proven to be fairly rare.
Thoughts?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R3aQdh1QfHo
A real Kitana kiss of death inflatality.