Fugdale’s Funhouse

Rube Goldberg Machines

Today the Fun House takes a close look at the ever-fascinating Rube Goldberg Machine. You know what they are…big complicated contraptions which help you accomplish a simple task. Take a look at several website links, tons of video clips and even a game or two which all have to do with Rube Goldberg Machines.

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, sculptor, author and inventor, Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) originated the Rube Goldberg Machine; a device, contraption, machine or series of chain reactions which exerts maximum effort to accomplish minimal results.

His inventions were amazing contraptions of rolling balls, arms, wheels, wires, and household objects of all varieties. He connected these items together in a sequence of interactions, which carefully utilized the physics of the various objects to create a complex chain reaction. These massive machines were all created to result in one simple task–such as buttering toast or squeezing an orange or answering a door.

Rube believed there were easy ways to do things and hard ways to do things and that a surprising number of people seem to prefer the hard way. His inventions demonstrate this. A Rube Goldberg Machine is any device which brings about, by complicated means, that which could have beeen accomplished simply. We’ve all seen elaborate displays of dominoes cascading over massive areas. A Golberg Machine has many similarities to the domino effect and the same principals appliy (as long as the end result of a domino display is to light a match or deliver a drink to someone or to spank the baby).

Rube Goldberg machines pop up everywhere in film and television. Many people from my generation remember the frequently played 1,2,3 segment from Sesame Street, which featured a red ball rolling down a long track. Although this device doesn’t really have more than a track and a ball, it does provide a lengthy journey for a ball which will either be ground up into powder or popped onto a little girl’s sundae depending on which version you remember (both of them are below).

Readers may also remember the popular Mouse Trap board game from Hasbro, which is a classic example of a Rube Goldberg Machine.

Hollywood directors have embraced the Rube Goldberg Machine in popular films. For instance, director Tim Burton, created a bright colorful RG Machine in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Of course, the edits in the film don’t allow the viewer to follow the action continuosly, but you get the general impression that the entire system works completely on its own. I can’t imagine anyone out there who hasn’t seen this classic sequence, where Pee-Wee makes himself breakfast with his personalized Rube Goldberg device, but here it is if you want to enjoy it again.

Today, you can find Rube Goldberg Machines all over television and the web and even in online casual video games.

Let’s put the article on pause for a few minutes and play one of those fun games right now. Today’s Game review features two wonderfully animated characters, you all know and love, Tom and Jerry.

Tom’s Trap-o-Matic - Catch Jerry

This fun little ‘design and execute’ puzzler stars popular cartoon characters Tom & Jerry. Help Tom create an elaborate mouse trap in order to capture Jerry. In order to do this you will have to fill the living room or kitchen (your choice) with various moving household contraptions. Line up your various assortment of launchers, rollers, hangers and cutters so they interact with each other in a Rube Goldberg Machine fashion and ultimately drop the cage on Jerry’s head while he’s eating cheese.

Each of the 40 some-odd devices covers a certain number of squares on the blueprint plans of the room. When you place an object, you can rotate it and watch the arrow extending from it to see how far it will cover. Then select more objects and place them next to the first. Once you have your machine all ready, set it in motion and watch the action take place.

This game is a fun device to play around with, where you can experiment with Rube Goldberg devices. The graphics are top notch and include cartoon interludes and introductions with the famous Cat and Mouse duo.

• Tom’s Trap-o-Matic
• Chain Reaction Puzzler
• Easy to learn
• Medium to master
• Select and Place gameplay
• Planning involved
• Good replay value
• Rube Goldberg Concept
• Superb graphics
• Fun Audio
• Experimental Fun
• Score 10

And now back to our article:

Even video games these days feature RG Machines. Clever players of games like Halo 2 have gone to great lengths to create RG Machines inside the game. Here are a few examples:

Animators have often used chain reaction sequences and RG Machines in their story boards. Here are a few fun videos featuring computer animated RG Machines. The first features game themes from popular Super NES titles like Donkey Kong, Zelda and Marble Madness and the second is an example of what happens when car advertisers invent their own RG Machines:

That about rounds up our little tour of Rube Goldberg and his inventive machines. Below I will leave you with several more RG Machine videos from around the web. Several derive from Japanese contests; one takes place in a forest using wood and rocks; one involves Star Wars; one takes place in an office environment and the rest are elaborately conceived in people’s homes or basements. Enjoy the fun!

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