.. almost sounds like you've been watching "Road Runner" cartoons where Warner Brothers Specialized in Motion Freeze!
.. the concept was simple enough; Road Runner and Coyote running while background was clean and moving -- suddenly Road Runner stopped [ usually with a sound effect like an Arrow being "twang'd" in front of a bowl of bird seed ] while the Coyote flew-by and found a "sudden impact." When the Road Runner had finished eating the bird seeds, she jumped-up "Beep! Beep!" and left the picture in a Puff-of-smoke .. followed by the camera slowly panning to see the Coyote's fate.
.. the Illusion of Sudden-Stop only works if your eyes are "pinned" on the Main Character and your mind is focused on the Main Character as well. The moving background had three layers of mountains/hills/trees/cactus instead of using 3D stuff like they do today which is why the illusion worked back-then.
.. just an observance from an Animators point of view
PS .. anytime you suddenly STOP Motion, your mind does not grasp it as a Motion-Freeze unless something else is still moving ( like the Coyote. )