If you pick apart Disney's most iconic characters' appearances, you'll probably find that there are a lot of features that stand out. Take Mickey Mouse, for example. He has his big ears that are so iconic, their mere silhouette is enough to let people know that "yeah, this is a Disney property."
In most cases, he has his red shorts on, too. And his big, yellow shoes.
In fact, apart from his ears, those gloves have got to be Mickey's most defining features. And he isn't alone in wearing them either.
There's even a joke in A Goofy Movie where Max's friend Bobby Zimmerusk asks, "Why do you think we’re always, like, wearing gloves?"
Across all the iconic classic cartoon properties, you'll see colorful characters with the same white gloves on their anthropomorphic hands. Take Bugs Bunny or Woody the Woodpecker, for example.
After all, many, if not all of these characters have been around for decades and decades (or in the case of Mickey Mouse, nearly a full century).
It's something you may not notice, or think on too much. But once you realize that a lot of these characters sport white gloves on their hands, it's bound to make you a bit curious.
According to John Canemaker, an animation historian and professor for NYU, many techniques were used to make the animation process as smooth and easy as possible, back in the days of hand-drawn cartoons, Vox reports.
A lot of characters of the time had long, black limbs and bodies that could stand out against a white background (since animation began before the era of technicolor).
Audiences would have a hard time seeing a character's black hands against their black bodies, which led animators to get a little more creative in that regard. Enter the white glove phenomenon.
You can see the influence that Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and other characters have, even today. Shows and games, like Cuphead, emulate that classic style, white gloves and all.
Think Sonic or Mario, for instance. Whether it be ease of animation, or a homage to the early days of the craft, the white gloves are probably going to stay just as iconic as ever.
