Monday, March 16, 2009

rube goldberg machine!

rube goldberg won the 1948 pulitzer prize for his political cartooning, but i know him for his cartoons of machines that perform very simple tasks thru round-about paths and unpredictable means.


if you ever played the game, mouse trap, then you know what i mean!

for some reason, rube goldberg machines seem to be featured quite often in opening sequences of films!! my favorite rube goldberg moments in film are pee wee herman's breakfast machine in pee wee's big adventure, the opening scene from back to the future with all the clocks and the machine feeding einstein - the dog, the gate-opening scene near the beginning of goonies, and the opening sequence of wallace and gromit film, the curse of the were-rabbit.

here's one of the better at-home rube goldberg machines i've seen - designed to smash a creme egg.


video found at domino-yes-maybe.

11 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I used to draw these when I was little. They were all elaborate ways to smash or slice or boil or otherwise maim an unfortunate soul who steps on a switch.

Deepanjan Ghosh said...

Didn't Tom design a hugely complicated mousetrap in one episode of Tom & Jerry? Did that have something to do with this guy?

Action Wolfe said...

I used to love the gay mousetrap as a child. he he.

I love these inventions but often they can only work once when you think about them, to reset them is harder then the task they accomplish. Oh the mirth!

xx Action Wolfe
www.actionwolfe.blogspot.com

Action Wolfe said...

*Game - not gay... Freudian slip much?

Anonymous said...

Rowland Emett was famous for actually making such machines.

You'll remember then from Ian Flemmings Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The Ontario Science Centre has a great collection of them that they bring out from time to time.

Anonymous said...

When I was in 6th grade I made a Rube Goldberg style diagram showing how to make the teacher explode when she rang the bell on her desk. The other students thought it was funny, but the teacher wasn't amused. That was a generation ago-a kid doing that today would probably have to spend the next five years in a juvenile home, therapy, or both!

fritopi said...

Haha, I tried to actually make one when I was younger that would make me cereal in the morning, but I ended up just spilling milk all over the carpet.

Frankie Perussault said...

Splendid! ...you made my day!!!

Anonymous said...

In England we have our own such hero, who's known as Heath Robinson. (You can't find much of his stuff on the web because (it seems) one of his heirs is seeking to profit from his designs and has been serving everyone with copyright notices. But you could try a Google.)

Prime examples of Goldberg/Heath Robinson gadgets are found in the opening minutes of most if not all the Wallace and Grommit films.

Tidley_wink said...

of all machines, these are my favorite!

and the opening to Pee Wee is the BOMB!!!! love it

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