Rubber Hose Limbs: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

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

[[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.

Line 14:

* Excel in ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'' does this whenever she gets excited, which is to say, [[Genki Girl|all the time]]. Actually this is very often seen in comedy anime.

** So does Poemi in the [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[Puni Puni Poemi]]''

* [[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.

* Happens quite a bit in ''[[Yotsubato|Yotsuba&!]]''.

Line 32:

== [[Web Original]] ==

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

* In ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', Bubs originally had jointed limbs, but they eventually became rubber hose limbs.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

Line 38:

* Olive Oyl from ''[[Popeye]]'' is like a walking pipe cleaner.

* [[Gumby]]'s legs, and those of his horse, Pokey. Justified here though as they're made of clay.

* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy ~~and~~ Mandy]]'' featured an episode that homaged [[Walt Disney]]'s famed cartoon ''[[The Skeleton Dance]]'' (Episode title: "Hill Billy"). Billy chants, "Hey Mandy, I'm from the rubberhose school of animation!"

* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy]]'' featured an episode that homaged [[Walt Disney]]'s famed cartoon ''[[The Skeleton Dance]]'' (Episode title: "Hill Billy"). Billy chants, "Hey Mandy, I'm from the rubberhose school of animation!"

* [[Mickey Mouse]], his predecessor, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, [[Felix the Cat]], [[Flip the Frog]] - basically any cartoon character created before 1935 will have these, as it was the standard style at the time. A major ~~exeption~~ is [[Betty Boop]], notable for being the first character with anything resembling proper anatomy. (She couldn't have been the original [[Ms. Fanservice]] otherwise.)

* [[Mickey Mouse]], his predecessor, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, [[Felix the Cat]], [[Flip the Frog]] - basically any cartoon character created before 1935 will have these, as it was the standard style at the time. A major exception is [[Betty Boop]], notable for being the first character with anything resembling proper anatomy. (She couldn't have been the original [[Ms. Fanservice]] otherwise.)

* [[SpongeBob SquarePants]] has these from time to time. Justified in that he's an invertebrate. The same thing applies to Squidward's tentacles.

* If this trope is seen anywhere these days it's when animators consciously [[Retraux|imitate the style of old cartoons]]. Examples include the opening of ''[[The Triplets of Belleville]]'' and the episode of ''[[Fairly ~~Oddparents~~]]'' where Timmy and his grandpa become '30s cartoon characters.

* If this trope is seen anywhere these days it's when animators consciously [[Retraux|imitate the style of old cartoons]]. Examples include the opening of ''[[The Triplets of Belleville]]'' and the episode of ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' where Timmy and his grandpa become '30s cartoon characters.

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]].''

* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' has several human characters, mostly the titular character of Flapjack, with this. You mean this? - http://media.photobucket.com/image/misadventures20of20flapjack/skoolrocks_/flapjack8.jpg?o=87

* Done intentionally in ''[[Horton Hears a Who!]]'', where all the citizens of Whoville have gangly, slippery arms - the mayor can bend his arm into a perfect spiral.

* This happens from time to time on Ren and Stimpy: https://web.archive.org/web/20121026212846/http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/1026196992012870098MimGbCjriU

* This happens from time to time on ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'': https://web.archive.org/web/20121026212846/http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/1026196992012870098MimGbCjriU

* The entire cast of ''[[Adventure Time]]''.

** Oddly enough, when Jake gets his shape-shifting powers taken away, his body suddenly has properly jointed limbs, though this is never an issue with powerless characters like Finn.