Why so many cartoon characters only have 4 fingers

What do Mickey Mouse, Homer Simpson and SpongeBob have in common? Not much, apart from the fact that all are dear and easily recognizable cartoon characters. But they also share an aspect of design: all these characters look four fingers instead of five. Once you notice, you can never stop seeing it. This four fingers cartoon design is not limited only to the aforementioned examples, since you will notice this peculiarity in most of your favorite animated characters, since all In “Dexter’s laboratory” to all humans in “Futurama”. In most cases, less fingers are attributed to anthropomorphic creatures or those that are considered alien to the stage of a fictional story.

Why has this design choice become a semi -standard animation practice? Is it simply a byproduct of fantasy that hugged these cartoons, where everything is exaggerated to adapt to its unlimited essence? Let’s see as an example to Mickey Mouse, which looks a round and circular design that is traditionally associated with characters destined to seem warm and friendly. As Mickey’s original animators had to maintain coherence with their circular design, draw three fingers with white gloves and a thumb was much easier. Add an additional finger made Mickey’s hands crowded, attracting too much attention to an aspect that should seem perfect with the rest of the animation. In addition, the additional space provided by the missing finger also helped encourage gestures with lighter hands, especially during fast -paced and action scenes.

Let’s analyze other possible reasons behind this generalized animation choice.

In the cartoon “Phineas and Ferb”, the limits of disbelief are often taken to the extreme. Here, an Ornitorrinco named Perry is an undercover secret agent who wears a hat and has the mission of ending a crazy scientist. The starting brothers coincidentally do fun and amazing scientific inventions in their backyard while enjoying their summer vacations. The fact that each character in this series has four fingers is the least surprising appearance, since Phineas’s head literally has the shape of a trianglewhile Ferb is, well … Ferb.

This fantasy element transmitted by programs such as “Phineas and Ferb” is mainly established through characters, which reports the general construction of the world. A classic animated film such as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney presents humans with anatomically correct designs (five fingers in each hand), but a series of cartoons that revolve around Goofy or Donald duck rest in the rule of the rule of the Four fingers. This is simply due to the fact that stories such as “Snow White” are based on traditional morality despite being fantasy, while anthropomorphic beings such as Goofy suspend our disbelief a little more.

And in practice, four fingers instead of five save a considerable amount of time and money to the studies. This was especially true for purely drawn animation, which used to be the standard before computer -assisted graphics became common. Even during these semi -automatic processes, the absence of a finger can make a difference, especially when it favors the contrast of fantastic creatures with human characters.

Interestingly, cartoons or Japanese animated works usually present five fingertips due to social norms, beliefs and negative connotations. An example is that the Yakuza traditionally cuts the little piss of a member as punishment, which is why Japanese animators avoid the design of four fingers. In addition, the sign of four fingers has caste -based derogatory associations, and number four is often considered unfortunate (which means death) in Japanese society, so you will normally see extraterrestrial or anthropomorphic characters with only three fingers in place of four.