Why Do Cartoon Characters Only Have Four Fingers?

From Mickey Mouse to the Simpsons to the titular Bob from Bob’s Burgers, they’re all missing the same thing — a final finger to complete the human count of five. Cartoon anatomy is practically etched in stone, and one of the commandments is that thy fingers shall only be four. 

Why did this historical amputation occur? It turns out that the cartoon hand of common knowledge is the product of multiple reasons, all of which begged for one less finger.

First, your most immediate thoughts are correct. It was, in some part, due to laziness. Though I’d argue that no one who engages in the practice of frame-by-frame animation can be called lazy. Drawing one less finger per hand, already an obnoxious section of the body to portray, is just easier. When you’re talking about a single illustration, the isolated time-save probably isn’t worth it, but when you’re working in traditional animation, where each second traditionally encompasses 24 separate drawings? That digit (pun unavoidable) adds up.

It’s not all pure efficiency, though. Luckily enough, we’ve got a quote from Walt Disney himself explaining why it looks better in addition to speeding up production. Five slender fingers appear perfectly natural sprouting from a human palm, but when everything is exaggerated and rounded for animation’s sake? It gets crowded. Disney described a five-fingered Mickey’s hand as looking “like a bunch of bananas,” making it one of those lucky instances where cutting corners betters the end product.

There is, however, one country in which a four-fingered animated hand isn’t the standard. In fact, it’s actively frowned upon. That country is Japan, an animation powerhouse in its own right. Their dedication to a full-featured set of fingers isn’t another indication of a stronger work ethic, but because a four-fingered hand has both superstitious and societal meaning.