But why are all these characters wearing gloves?
Cartoon Mickey – Source: spm
From our early childhood, we have been fascinated by the world of Disney and lead us to a wonderful world. Today, many parents are once again indulging in this magic alongside their young children. Sometimes we discover on another look some fine detail that would have escaped us until now. And what about these strange details that often challenge us without going into their interpretation. Why do all of our favorite characters wear gloves, even in the middle of summer?
To understand that, we have to go back further in time. More precisely in the 1920s when each scene was hand painted. To speed up the process, the designers used some tricks: so the characters were drawn without much detail, such as, for example, a large head with eyes, slender legs, long arms and four fingers on the hands. However, an unexpected problem occurred. Black and white films did not allow the audience to distinguish the hands and legs of the black-body character. So there had to be a bit of color contrast. Also, to distinguish the darker silhouette hands, the idea of incorporating white gloves was bright. So much so that the majority of famous Disney characters have taken advantage of it.
In May 1928, the first cartoon of Mickey Mouse was presented to the public. At that time, the character had completely black legs. Six months later, the animated short “Willie do Barco a Vapor” is released: it officially reveals the famous mouse who appears with white shoes on his feet. And in 1929, the public will see for the first time Mickey in white gloves.
“Mickey Mouse should have looked more human!” »
Mickey Mouse – Source: spm
Years later, Walt Disney himself said in his autobiography: We didn’t want Mickey Mouse to have mouse feet, he needed to look more human. That’s why we wear gloves. Since then, with the same intention, other avatars such as Bugs Bunny and Woodpeckers have inherited these gloves to come close to human appearance. Otherwise, they will likely have rabbit feet or bird wings.
Apart from this main reason, wearing white gloves had a clear impact on other factors. In particular, some problems were solved:
- The process of creating illustrations has become much more efficient, since time is not unnecessarily spent on other details.
- Designers managed to emphasize the legs of the characters even in black and white films, further emphasizing their gestures and body movements.
- Very quickly, the public no longer really sees “animals” that way. They were more like very likable “human” characters, we could even recognize them.
The strategy paid off so well, it was such a hit with the audience that even Disney competitors started donning gloves on their cartoon characters.
