zendaddy621

Answer: This is done because according to animators, it's easier to draw hands with three fingers instead of four. This is a practice that dates back to the early days of animation; characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny. And Popeye were usually drawn with three fingers, thus setting the precedent still in use today.

zendaddy621

Answer: The answer is pretty complex and there's YouTube videos delving into the many reasons. It started in the 1920's and the idea behind Mickey Mouse, in 1928, having 4 fingers is the style he was drawn in, with rounded shapes, making 5 fingers too crowded. Walt Disney allegedly said with 5 fingers Mickey's hands would look like a "bunch of bananas." Additionally, there's a theory called the "uncanny valley", which basically states that humanoid objects that look almost, but not exactly, human tend to make people have uncanny feelings of eeriness (think of life-like dolls or why some CGI looks strange to us). For some reason, 4 finger characters make us recognize they're human-like, without that eerie feeling. There are several other theories and ideas behind the 4 fingers (such as many characters being anthropomorphized animals.) Although Japanese anime often have 5-fingered characters for cultural reasons (in fact some 4-fingered characters have been edited with 5 fingers when released in Japan), so it's not always based on saving time or money, but tradition. With the aid of computer generated animation and people breaking from tradition, the future of cartoons may include more and more 5-fingered characters being the norm.

Bishop73