Why does Mickey Mouse (and many other cartoon characters) have only 4 fingers, a thumb and three fingers, on each hand?
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M$5 Answers
The age-old question about four-fingered cartoon hands can be answered by taking a pencil, a sheet of paper, and drawing a quick cartoon sketch of a person/animal with hands and fingers. Five fingers is tough to fit, isn't it? There's something about five fingers that is really hard to fit on to a proportionally sized cartoon hand. It probably has something to do with cartoons having somewhat large sausagey fingers for cartoon effect.
Plus remember, these are cartoons! They were designed to be goofy caricatures of people and animals, and it's a funny and convenient shortcut for animators to take. Just as an artist won't sketch every hair of Homer Simpson's head (just add a squiggle and go!) or draw pupils on Little Orphan Annie (poor stone-eyed girl!), four fingers is just a nice way of saying, "Hey folks, these are just cartoons! Goofy characters for your amusement!".
You'll notice that animated films or shows that take themselves more seriously *will* draw all five fingers.
I think the bottom line is that if we can accept that Wyle E. Coyote can walk around like an accordion after an anvil falls on him, then I think we can just accept that three fingers is the least of the problems of most cartoon characters. ;)
It's either that, or Walt Disney was a psychotic S.O.B. who liked to perform amputations in his livingroom and reflected it through his art. The choice is up to you! Mwa ha ha!
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M$I also found this article that collaborates with what I just said.
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M$
Hmm, what about the hand though? Is there anything specific as to why they would neglect a single digit from the hands?
@justin_time Yes, they leave out a digit to make the drawing proportional. The head in a cartoon is usually bigger, so to make it conform to the proportions they have to leave out a digit. Otherwise, they would have to make the character a lot bigger.
I guess it's why humans are usually around 5ft tall. I also heard some rumors about it used as symbolism. But could not find anything of what it could symbolize, so I guess it's just a rumor for now.
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M$
Cost and time.
Its cheaper and faster to draw only three digits and thumb instead of a real hand.
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M$
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M$
