I'm really curious, it's also really weird.
2007-12-02 10:11:23 · 8 answers · asked by Kimberly 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Drawing & Illustration
The tradition began with early cartoon animators. It was, simply, a time saving feature, during a time when each cell of the cartoon had to be drawn out by hand. The few seconds it took to draw that fifth digit, times the many thousands of cells in even a short cartoon added up to a LOT of time.
2007-12-03 05:48:38 · answer #1 · answered by Vince M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, it seems to be traditional. The original cartoon short subject films had fewer fingers drawn because realistic hands are difficult and time consuming to draw, and a finger could be removed without many people noticing. Who takes the time to count fingers when Micky Mouse is driving a tugboat and whistling? Since animation is already a highly time consuming process, fewer details, such as fewer fingers, meant less money paid to animators, easier drawing, and a faster finish time.
2007-12-02 18:19:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm in animation school and in my first year this came up. After going through many different answers, it's easier to draw / they look better - what ever we researched it and the answer is they have 4 fingers because they do.
Just like ducks have webbed feet, and giraffes have long legs, cartoon characters have 4 fingers.
2007-12-02 18:19:41 · answer #3 · answered by Rhuby 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I of course dont know THE actual answer, but the thought I've always had about it was that it's a way for the creators (in my mind) to differentiate between real and make-believe for people, ie kids and/or others. With the characters being different physically from you or I, children may understand easier that what they see in a cartoon shouldnt always actually be tried for believed. That's just my take though.
2007-12-02 18:20:09 · answer #4 · answered by sigtauslimer 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
consider how long it would take the old time animation artists to draw hands with a thumb and all the foreshortening issues they'd have to deal with on top of the existing ones...
2007-12-02 19:34:12 · answer #5 · answered by captsnuf 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try drawing them with five fingers... they look too demented with them. so sum1 resolved tht by drawing four fingers instead
2007-12-02 18:19:34 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have no idea, but that is really funny and true.
2007-12-02 18:14:42 · answer #7 · answered by pupgirl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe they are lazy?
2007-12-02 18:17:17 · answer #8 · answered by Britt 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋