For my animation I like the idea of using the Rube Goldberg machine. Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist and inventor who drew a series of popular cartoons which depicted complicated machines that would perform easy tasks in indirect, long-winded ways. Because of this, the ‘Rube Goldberg machine’ has become an expression.
This Rube Goldberg machine is used to pour milk and cereal into a bowl:
My favourite example of a Rube Goldberg machine in animation is in this clip from Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, where a machine gets Wallace out of bed, into his trousers, and sitting at the breakfast table with some toast.
A Rube Goldberg machine isn’t necessarily a domino effect, however it definitely can be used to describe one if the chain reaction is an indirect way of making something happen that could be achieved in a much simpler manner.
