Kev Craven Recreates Popular Cartoon Characters in the Rubber Hose Animation Style

Kev Craven is an artist who describes himself as a “1930s cartoonist and animator trapped in 2022” on his Instagram page. But he doesn’t let the fact that he’s living in the wrong era stop him from doing what he likes. Instead, he is trying to bring the rubber hose animation style from the early 20th century back in style today.

Craven does this by recreating popular cartoon characters in rubber hose style. So far, he gave this nostalgic treatment to Phineas and Pherb, Spongebob, and Johnny Bravo, among others, and allowed us to see how some of our favorite animated shows would look like if they were made 100 years ago.

Rubber hose animation is considered the first animation style to get standardized in the United States. Its main characteristic is “rubber hose limbs”, which refers to animated characters having simple limbs without any curves or details. The style went out of fashion midway through the 1930s in favor of styles that offered more realistic animation. 

“I’ve been committed to learning all these old animation principles for the past 10 years at least, just in my own time, and am thrilled that others are taking note of this long-lost art,” Craven told Bored Panda.