Pie-Eyed

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

During the 1920s and going into the 1930s, animated characters tended to have eyes or pupils which were black and circular, but shaped like a pie that's had one slice removed from it. This was widespread until around the time color became the standard for most cartoons in the early 1940s, by which time the Inkblot Cartoon Style had fallen out of favor, and Western Animation as a whole had undergone significant Art Evolution.

When it shows up in modern media, it's usually as an homage or throwback. Parodies of the Inkblot Cartoon Style will almost always employ this along with Rubber Hose Limbs and the like.

See also Black Bead Eyes. Not to be confused with a slang term for being drunk.

Modern Examples and Homages

Anime and Manga

Film

Music

Video Games

  • Appropriately enough, when Pac-Man is pictured in his mascot form (as having arms and legs) he usually has these eyes. It shows up on the arcade cabinet art, and in later games such as Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures and Pac-Man World.
  • MOTHER 1 clay models had these kind of eyes on Ninten and Ana. Loid and Teddy's aren't apparent because they wear Opaque Nerd Glasses and Cool Shades respectively. This is another rare modern usage that is not a throwback. However, the characters in the two sequels feature Black Bead Eyes instead.

Web Comics

Western Animation

Real Life

  • Cat clocks with moving eyes often are pie-eyed - sometimes referencing Felix the Cat, sometimes referencing other cat clocks.