Cartoons

[dolphinprincess]

It's a thought that I have been wondering for a long while now. Well, not too long, actually, I've only been thinking about if for a few days. But, why? Why do some cartoons have only 4 fingers? Like on Fairly Odd Parents, SpongeBob Squarepants, PowerPuff Girls, etc.
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[Rindi_chan]

People are lazy and cartoons have low budgets? If you only have three fingers, then that looks awkward, but if you have four, then you can skip drawing one, yet still have things look not-too-weird. I used to draw people with four fingers because it was easier. It took me a few years before I decided that it looked really odd and switched to five.

This is all speculation on my part, of course. I wouldn't know if there's some deeper meaning behind it all... although I'm inclined to doubt.

[BrokenButterfly]

Some times you mess up when drawing 5 fingers and it looks really messed up. Doing 4 leaves room for error, and still looks normal, sometimes people don't even notice that the cartoons are one finger short.

Well that's my opinion.

[irish-shcb-luver]

i agree with the person above me.

[infurno]

its esier,
uther than anime,
Danny Phantom and KND have 5 fingers
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[LunaticCrow]

The look is more pleasing, I think. It makes more sense, considering how stupid the pinky looks.
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[KeheiZero]

I guess it's just to make hands a bit easier. The pinkie and ring finger don't have much importance as your index and middle fingers. Same with toes really, they don't have much individual movement, or purpose, so there's no real point in animating them in high detail. (Unless you want to show off)

Useless Fact: In [i]The Simpsons[/i], the only character to have 5 fingers is God.
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"You know what? My squirrel instinct tells me he's even more of a bastard than I first thought." - Gene Hunt

[Cartoonz]

Not too sure. I draw my characters with 5 fingers, but I can't draw hands anyway, so when the hand is doing nothing, it's a mitten. (did anyone else notice that about my drawings?) It's probably part of the character design. But in truth, I don't really know. I bet, though, if you asked an animator why they drew characters with only 4 fingers, chances are, they might say, "I don't really know. O_." And just walk away.

[Cartoonz]

Not too sure. I draw my characters with 5 fingers, but I can't draw hands anyway, so when the hand is doing nothing, it's a mitten. (did anyone else notice that about my drawings?) It's probably part of the character design. But in truth, I don't really know. I bet, though, if you asked an animator why they drew characters with only 4 fingers, chances are, they might say, "I don't really know. O_." And just walk away.

[Invader_Zen]

Some cartoonists are lazy is all. No shame in that. Plus hands are REAAALLY hard to draw. Jhonen Vasquez does it, I do it, Butch Hartman does it, and the homeless guy over there does it. (Don't ask. I'm punchy. Can't sleep)
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