Have you wondered why most Cartoon Characters have four fingers only?
Different cartoon characters have become part of many children’s lives but even many adults are drawn to the animated characters.
One thing in common among these characters is that they only have four fingers. Noticing this feature which is lacking when it comes to the human reality and natural state, it would be difficult not to look at these characters’ fingers.
Based on the article in Mental Floss, the four fingers originated with Disney and other early animation studios in the 1920s. From this, the animation tradition continued in Tom and Jerry, The Simpsons, and Spongebob Squarepants.
The earliest cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, had four fingers for aesthetic reasons as animators used circles when sketching bodies, heads, hands, and circular palms. These weren’t appealing with five fingers. Reportedly, Disney explained if Mickey Mouse was given five fingers, it would be like a bunch of bananas.
Another explanation from Channel Frederato, the media network founded by Adventure Time and The Fairly Odd Parents executive producer Fred Seibert, stated that many early cartoon characters were animals such as cats, rabbits, and dogs have paws with five digits, with one hidden farther up the limb.
It was also theorized that animators back may have stopped at four fingers simply to finish their work in a short time. Cartoon characters back then were hand-drawn and it was said that making five fingers would take their valuable time and money so studios were willing to sacrifice it.
If this was the argument, why not draw three fingers only? However, Channel Frederator pointed out that three-fingered cartoons are often mutants or aliens, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the aliens Toy Story.
Until now, animators have adapted the four-finger tradition in creating animated characters.