IFL Science: "Why Do Cartoon Character Tend to Have Only Three Fingers?"

 

Why Do Cartoon Characters Tend To Have Only Three Fingers? And Why Do They Wear Gloves?



If you've watched enough cartoons, you have probably noticed something odd about the characters within them. An awful lot of them have only three fingers and a thumb, and a lot of them are wearing gloves.

The Simpsons have three fingers and a thumb, Mickey Mouse has the same, and Spongebob Squarepants too; you name them, and they probably don't have the usual number of fingers. Popeye is a notable exception, though the number of fingers he has fluctuates over time.

Famously, God in The Simpsons is depicted as having a full set of fingers, as a choice to distinguish him. But in the final scene, even God was back down to three fingers and a thumb.

Then there are characters who wear gloves. These tend to be more vintage cartoon characters, like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Goofy. So, what's the deal with this?

“At the dawn of animation, certain techniques to make the animation process easier were used,” animation historian and professor at NYU, John Canemaker, explained to Vox.

In short, putting gloves on characters made them easier to animate. Back when film was only black and white, and fuzzy by today's standards, making characters' hands stand out was difficult. Mickey Mouse, believed to be the first cartoon character to have gloves for hands, didn't start out with them. But after one cartoon where he wore them for plot reasons, they noticed an unintended benefit to them.

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