Rubber Hose Limbs: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Guudance.jpg|link=Haré+Guu|frame]]
[[File:Guudance.jpg|link=Haré+Guu|frame]]


This is when a cartoon character moves without any visible elbows or knees, but his limbs aren't stiff, but rather bendy like rubber hoses. For examples, see pretty much any black-and-white cartoon. In cartoons made before [[The Golden Age of Animation|1930]] or so, this was an intentional style, started by [[Felix the Cat]] animator [[Otto Messmer]] and [[Bill Nolan]], which was meant to prevent the motion of the limbs in question from looking like they were drawn through a strobe light and flickering - the idea was that if you didn't draw joints, you could make absolutely sure that the limbs in one frame overlapped with where the frames were in the last frame. Higher frame rates, the development of [[The Twelve Principles of Animation|Squash And Stretch]], and an awareness of camera blur reduced the need for this as time went on, and cartoon characters all of a sudden had ''joints''. These days, this is a deliberate decision on the part of the animator, probably to ''creep you out'' ... but early on, it was just how things were done.
'''Rubber Hose Limbs''' is when a cartoon character moves without any visible elbows or knees, but his limbs aren't stiff, but rather bendy like rubber hoses. For examples, see pretty much any black-and-white cartoon. In cartoons made before [[The Golden Age of Animation|1930]] or so, this was an intentional style, started by [[Felix the Cat]] animator [[Otto Messmer]] and [[Bill Nolan]], which was meant to prevent the motion of the limbs in question from looking like they were drawn through a strobe light and flickering - the idea was that if you didn't draw joints, you could make absolutely sure that the limbs in one frame overlapped with where the frames were in the last frame. Higher frame rates, the development of [[The Twelve Principles of Animation|Squash And Stretch]], and an awareness of camera blur reduced the need for this as time went on, and cartoon characters all of a sudden had ''joints''. These days, this is a deliberate decision on the part of the animator, probably to ''creep you out'' ... but early on, it was just how things were done.


In [[Anime]], it's often used in conjunction with [[Super-Deformed]], possibly to accentuate the childish nature of the [[Art Shift]].
In [[Anime]], it's often used in conjunction with [[Super-Deformed]], possibly to accentuate the childish nature of the [[Art Shift]].
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{{examples}}
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] ==
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Guu in ''[[Haré+Guu]]'' usually has no elbows or hands.
* Guu in ''[[Haré+Guu]]'' usually has no elbows or hands.
* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' - Sakaki turns all noodly when she goes to pet the cat.
* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' - Sakaki turns all noodly when she goes to pet the cat.
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* [[Justified Trope]] with Luffy in ''[[One Piece]]'' - he actually ''is'' made of rubber.
* [[Justified Trope]] with Luffy in ''[[One Piece]]'' - he actually ''is'' made of rubber.
* Kuro from ''[[Kodomo no Jikan]]'' displays an extreme version of this during one of the show's endings.
* Kuro from ''[[Kodomo no Jikan]]'' displays an extreme version of this during one of the show's endings.
* Happens quite a bit in ''[[Yotsubato|Yotsuba&!]]''.
* Happens quite a bit in ''[[Yotsuba&!]]''.
* Fuu from ''[[Tamayura]]'' undergoes this when she becomes scared or excited.
* Fuu from ''[[Tamayura]]'' undergoes this when she becomes scared or excited.
* Leeron from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' occasionally has these, particularly in the more comical scenes. He even has rubber hose ''fingers''.
* Leeron from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' occasionally has these, particularly in the more comical scenes. He even has rubber hose ''fingers''.

Revision as of 18:03, 21 February 2023

Rubber Hose Limbs is when a cartoon character moves without any visible elbows or knees, but his limbs aren't stiff, but rather bendy like rubber hoses. For examples, see pretty much any black-and-white cartoon. In cartoons made before 1930 or so, this was an intentional style, started by Felix the Cat animator Otto Messmer and Bill Nolan, which was meant to prevent the motion of the limbs in question from looking like they were drawn through a strobe light and flickering - the idea was that if you didn't draw joints, you could make absolutely sure that the limbs in one frame overlapped with where the frames were in the last frame. Higher frame rates, the development of Squash And Stretch, and an awareness of camera blur reduced the need for this as time went on, and cartoon characters all of a sudden had joints. These days, this is a deliberate decision on the part of the animator, probably to creep you out ... but early on, it was just how things were done.

In Anime, it's often used in conjunction with Super-Deformed, possibly to accentuate the childish nature of the Art Shift.

Related to No Knees, though that's mostly a side effect of the Lazy Artist. Noodle People is the non-laziness-induced version of this.

Examples of Rubber Hose Limbs include:

Anime and Manga

Film

  • In The Mask, The Mask gets rubber hose limbs during the "El Pachuco" dance number.

Video Games

Web Comics

Web Original

  • In Homestar Runner, Bubs originally had jointed limbs, but they eventually became rubber hose limbs.

Western Animation

Real Life

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