Why Do Most Cartoon Characters Have Four Fingers?

Most of the celebrities we grew up watching in our childhood cartoon characterThanks to the place they have occupied in popular culture, over the years he has become like a member of our family. Many cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Homer Simpson, Tom and Jerry, SpongeBob and Looney Tunes and Stone Age characters are now familiar to all of us.

Well, all of these characters have a story that most of you don’t realize, even if they do, they don’t care. common points What if we say it is? What these characters we’ve talked about—and many that we haven’t mentioned—have in common. four having a finger. Well, what do you think might be the reason behind this long-standing animation tradition? Let’s see together.

The basis of the four-fingered drawing of cartoon characters lies in the fact that the five fingers do not look ‘aesthetic’

In fact, there is more than one reason why most cartoon characters are depicted as four-fingered; however, the most prominent of these reasons is completely related to the production process of the animation. Accordingly, it is much easier to portray the characters as four-fingered rather than five-fingered as they are in reality, and it saves time for the illustrators. saving makes it possible. It also helps animation studios to save time for illustrators. little It means getting out of business with expense.

However, this reason is more valid for the old times when the technology was not as active as it is today and the cartoonists were drawing cartoon characters with their own hands. Everything about technology today Easier The reason why the characters are still drawn with 4 fingers is a little different.

Accordingly, the drawing of cartoon characters with four fingers is largely ‘aesthetic’ welding. The characters, which are usually depicted with rounded lines, would have an unpleasant image if they were drawn with five fingers rather than four. Even before, Walt Disney, the founder of the world’s most famous animation company Walt Disney Productions, said that if Mickey Mouse had five fingers, his hands would be “a bunch of bananas” He said it would look like Another reason is that most cartoon characters are animals and they are not seen as having five fingers.

On the other hand, if we come to the reason why the characters in anime (Japanese animation) are mostly depicted with five fingers, unlike Western animations, it has different reasons in its own way. These reasons, apart from the fact that the lines of anime characters are closer to people, are essentially related to Japanese culture.

One of these reasons is the Japanese words for four and ‘death’. similar Another reason is related to the Japanese mafia known as ‘yakuza’. Accordingly, as a result of the Yakuza’s inability to pay a debt or commit any other crime that does not require death. as punishment cutting off one finger is one of the main reasons why anime characters are not portrayed as having four fingers.