RiffTrax: Drawing For Beginners: The Triangle (Full FREE Short)

You may be asking: "It's three lines, how complicated could it BE?!" Well, you're in for a rude awakening!
Subscribe for more: rifftrax.com/KZbin
Get RiffTrax: The Game: rifftrax.com/thegame
Watch full movies from RiffTrax: • Watch Free RiffTrax Mo...
Watch movies explained by RiffTrax: • Explained by RiffTrax!
See behind the scenes on Patreon: rifftrax.com/patreon
Stream 100s of riffs for a few bucks a month: rifftrax.com/friends
Try the new Roku App: rifftrax.com/roku
See RiffTrax Live in theaters: rifftrax.com/live
Follow @RiffTrax
Twitter: rifftrax.com/twitter
Facebook: rifftrax.com/facebook
Instagram: rifftrax.com/instagram
#RiffTrax

[@plinkitee]

"What's a Christmas tree without candles?" Not a fire hazard

[@andyjay729]

Was it an aluminum Christmas tree? Wouldn't be surprised with all those triangles.

[@spacedog12345]

I don't think that we're collectively ready as a society for triangles.

[@ElTurbinado]

no kidding, im still trying to figure out how to undo my darkened flap :((

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

I still refuse to accept Communist shapes like ovals and rhombi.

[@typacsk]

That was the lesson I took away from "Gravity Falls." That and "When there's no cops around, anything's legal!"

[@HylianFox3]

"And who's this? Why, it's Link grabbing the triangle and using it to enter Death Mountain!"

[@AlanQSmithee]

"Well, at least it's ink that's not being used to draw the Family Circus" Savage

[@RobotoSan]

I just know they're gonna ignore the tetrahedron, it's not for beginners.

[@limlaith]

I dunno, man - they clearly expect their audience to have already mastered circles and spit valves, so they've got a pretty renegade course designer. 🤣

[@sunshineholmes3487]

Pythagoras has just revoked his theorem in disgust.

[@brianoneil9662]

Hell is an unending classroom playing nothing but "educational shorts". Man, I hope Rifftrax are there too. All of em, not just Bill.

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

heaven has the riffs, hell has the shorts.

[@elafimilo8199]

Is it for the spit valve joke? I disagree; hell's too good for him.

[@HanMasho]

I can't even imagine celebrating Halloween without my trusty Halloween horn!

[@RichardX1]

"The Indians couldn't write." Um, actually, the Cherokee named Sequoyah developed a written language for his nation in 1821. They have a newspaper. Their newspaper has a website.

[@FlintIronstag23]

He did say the Indians couldn't write, past tense, not that they can't write now. Sequoyah developed his syllabary after seeing the advantages of written languages that Europeans had. Without seeing examples of writing, the Native American groups north of Mexico likely would not have developed writing on their own.

[@limlaith]

@@FlintIronstag23 Then how did the ones south of Mexico develop theirs? I guess before the Spanish settlers they were still walking on all fours and chewing their cud like all the other ruminants. Mexican Indians obviously still are to this day; I've seen 'em. What am I saying? There were no ruminants before Columbus, but Lord knows that nothing ever crosses the Rio Grande, not even ideas. Gee, I sure am glad that white people gave all them Injuns more than just diseases and liquor.

[@FlintIronstag23]

@@limlaith The invention of writing is a rare occurrence in human civilization. Spoken language is a universal trait in all human societies, but not writing. Mesoamerica (southern Mexico/Central America) is one of four places where writing is believed to have been invented independently. The others are Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. The Native tribes of the Plains weren't trading with the Mayans of Central America and being exposed to writing before the Europeans arrived. Indians lived for thousands of years in North America before European contact, and none of them developed writing. There's no reason to believe they would have invented writing if they had been left alone to continue their traditional lifestyles.

[@limlaith]

@@FlintIronstag23 I am too tired to argue sarcastically and you very clearly have greater patience than I have. That's not backhanded -- that's a legit compliment. Anyway, here is a question that is slightly off-topic: Do you suppose that art, that drawing or painting, preceded the advent of language? I am not thinking of pictograms or hieroglyphics. I am thinking of the cave paintings in Lascaux or Chauvet or Sulawesi. Did Paleolithic man paint in lieu of speech? Or are the cave paintings art for art's sake? Were our brains large enough and evolved enough that art and speech developed concurrently (give or take)?

[@FlintIronstag23]

@@limlaith I would say language was first and art probably a close second. I can't imagine the painters at Lascaux or Lubang Jeriji Saleh didn't talk to each other. They would need to explain to their successors how to find the raw materials to make pigments, how to mix the pigments into paint, and what kind of tools to use to apply the paint. Art does seem to be prerequisite for writing since the earliest forms of writing are pictograms/hieroglyphics. The leap from art to writing is a rare occurrence though. It appears to require a complex, stratified, and hierarchical social order to have a chance to be invented. That's why tribal societies have never been known to have invented writing independently.

[@skug9bob]

"You could add clouds, or seagulls." Or the fin of the giant shark threatening its passengers - that's a triangle too!

[@whistlingsage9817]

Hold up, I'm inferring from the narrator that in 1949, people were still familiar with candles on Christmas trees, and electric Christmas lights were a novelty? I always thought that electric Christmas tree lights had replaced candles much earlier than that. My dad remembered as a child having family Christmas trees with real candles on them, but he was born in 1925 and I just assumed it was a very early memory of his. In case anyone is wondering how Christmas tree candles safely worked (because I sure did), my dad told me 1) that they weren't safe, and 2) that lighting the Christmas tree was a huge deal. In the evening, the whole family would assemble around the tree in the parlor, and the adults would carefully light the candles. The candles were only kept lit for a minute or two. After they were all lit, everyone would pause and admire the tree. Adults stood by with buckets of water and sand on hand in case there was an accident. My dad told me that people back then were always aware of how big of a fire hazard the candles were, and took the the lighting of them very seriously. I don't remember what he said about putting the candles out, but that had to be pretty dicey too. I have always suspected that the danger made the event seem that much more special, but I'm not going to try it out to test that theory. P.S. They put up their trees on Christmas Eve back then, and took them down the day after Christmas. So they probably didn't have time to dry out, which might have made lighting them slightly less of an insane fire hazard then it sounds.

[@edwardburek1717]

Narrator: We will be starting with a clown's hat... Mike: We will then add eyeholes and a cross... no, wait, that's not a clown... Me: I beg to differ...

[@CyberKnight1]

The lighthouse picture had no triangles in it. Just a trapezoid and some rectangles. I demand a refund.

[@HylianFox3]

Don't say "trapezoid", the kids might actually learn something...

[@C.V317]

Remember, a rectangle is just two triangles humping

[@alanbear6505]

It had some lines too, but you still deserve that refund

[@OppositeofHATE7]

It's about the triangles you don't see

[@idunbeezasmart1]

Bill made a "Track of the Moon Beast" reference and now all I can think about is "The Band That Played 'California Lady'" playing "California Lady". Edit: I love this community!

[@jamesremington8056]

the fishlipped guy, the friendly looking woman and the eskimo approve.

[@Action_Slacks]

It’s too bad the drugs, booze, and womanizing affected their music. They may have gotten somewhere if The Eskimo hadn’t slipped into that alcohol-induced coma and The Fish-Lipped Guy hadn’t turned increasingly to booze, drugs, womanizing, and out-of-control gambling.

[@TheRogueWolf]

"Draw the friendly-looking backup singer using only triangles."

[@AGirlofYesterday]

🎶 California graaavy, add flavor to my meat 🎶

[@Eisenwulf666]

"California Laaady.."

[@Nightweaver1]

Hoo boy, I don't know if I'm ready for this kind of visual complexity, guys.

[@PhilBagels]

"Now draw a triangle that consists of one man and two women. These triangles often come in handy on New Year's Eve, and at parties."

[@caressa1393]

Reminds me of my days as a student in art college. " Professor , do you like my study of this Delacroix painting?" ... " Nah, looks like pizza"

[@Skinn-Tuh-Lor]

🎵Mary had a little lamb, it couldn’t draw triangles worth _BEEEEP_ 🎵 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@spoofbaby]

They have a fight! Triangle wins!

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

You know those drawing tutorials that are like "Draw two circles. Then draw the rest of the puppy," and its useless and seems impossible? This is the alternate universe version where they teach you things literally anyone can draw

[@HylianFox3]

Haha, I had a few of those "How to draw" books as a kid and got quickly discouraged. Sad to say it, but this crap is more my level...

[@favoritemustard3542]

@@HylianFox3 P4P ✔s out!

[@Gappasaurus]

2:49 “You keep your _own_ wig warm!” - Curly Howard

[@dadahyena]

"A big scoop of YOU-KNOW-WHAT" sums up a lot of films that Mike, Bill, and Kevin have had to endure!

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

BRAAAAAAAAP

[@mr.picklesgoodboy1874]

Been on this earth 33 years and now I can proudly say I know how to draw a triangle. Most memorable day of my life.

[@himwhoisnottobenamed5427]

Wait until you hit your 40’s. That’s when you _finally_ get to branch out into squares, rectangles and sometimes, parallelograms.

[@Gunwitch666]

"Onions....(sighs)" 🤣

[@stevecarpenter9991]

🤣👍

[@cujoedaman]

I like that the narrator nor the person drawing have ever seen an actual lighthouse.

[@rumblehat4357]

Looked like a lava lamp.

[@daffers2345]

Yeah, I was wondering what the heck that was ...

[@Yougotsblounchsked]

I hope whoever did the music for this short got an award for this amazing score

[@fathergetdown]

"They can double as stink lines in case Michael Stipe is in the boat" is maybe the funniest riff I've ever heard.

[@jeffashley5512]

Watch the happy trees talk or Bob will make sure you have a 'happy accident'. Lol

[@jamesremington8056]

as an art teacher, this video just craps on my soul.

[@user-bf6gi4kt4w]

They might be giants taught me a lot more about the triangle, man

[@BGNOLA]

The problem is you have to listen to They Might Be Giants.

[@daffers2345]

No ... no ... please, now it's going to be in my head for a week XD

[@suchiuomizu]

@@daffers2345 Just take a trip to Istanbul (not Constantinople).

[@GrizDrummer25]

I laughed way too hard at "Mary had a little lamb, who couldn't draw triangles for ****" xD

[@dbsommers1]

All my life I never understood what the big deal was about triangles. Now I know THE TRUTH!

[@hareofsteel]

Ha, 1:20. Nice Johnny Longbone reference. Track of The Moon Beast.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Oh, I'm not allowed to draw pointy things...court order.

[@cacu3989]

😂😂😂

[@RichMcLaughlin]

Ugh Bill, the spit valve line, that got me good

[@thomaspalazzolo5902]

I heard that this short hates Person Man. They had a fight, triangle wins.

[@planescaped]

I thought it said "Drowning for Beginners: The Triangle" and was hoping it was a series on how best to drown in famous bodies of water...

[@DarkfireTaimatsu]

As soon as I heard "wigwam", I knew this was going to get a bit wince-inducing in a hurry...

[@BGNOLA]

Oh people will be wincing over your crap in 70 years too.

[@davincent98]

There weren't enough bungholes to bring up teepees

[@christopherwall2121]

"Also, kinda disturbing that he referred to them in the past tense."

[@BGNOLA]

@@christopherwall2121 I think he was referring to their use of pictographs in the past tense.

[@christopherwall2121]

@@BGNOLA I think you're giving 50s Man more credit than he's due.

[@TerrenceNowicki]

When Kevin said "onions" and then sighed my brain automatically continued the line with "cigarette butts... hair."

[@JayVBear45]

I bet Mr. Drawing Hands was just a hoot on Casual Racist Fridays. "Indians couldn't write..." Completely ignoring the Iroquois who developed a written language in 1810 over 100 years before Mr. Drawing Hands drew his first triangle in this film.

[@HylianFox3]

Not to mention that pictograms are a form of writing. It's like saying the Chinese can't write since hanzi aren't letters.

[@Jessesgirl2013]

The RiffTrax comments sections are consistently the finest on KZbin. Good work everyone!

[@maxtew6521]

I agree. Good vibes uncharacteristic of YT comments are almost universal on these. You do your part in it, too - so way to go!

[@meowistforlife]

Narrator: We will be starting with a clown’s hat Riffer: we will then add some eyeholes and a cross..wait

[@peterd.9522]

😂😂

[@songmarysmith]

What is this?! "Draw the rest of the fucking owl" material?!🦉🦉

[@chrisc6857]

"Start by drawing an upward pointing triangle. Now draw another triangle the same size, right next to the first one. Finally draw a third identical triangle balanced on the top points of the first two. Congratulations! You've drawn the Tri-force!" "Start by drawing a triangle. Add a top hat, a single eye in the middle, a bowtie under the eye, and lines for legs and feet. You've drawn Bill Cipher! Now pray this doesn't draw his attention to you!"

[@sgtmajor5700]

Triangles? I don't know. Squares were pretty daunting.

[@daffers2345]

Let us not even traverse into the realm of the trapezoid.

[@wstine79]

Just taking a break playing Rifftrax the Game on the SWITCH to check out this hilarious short.

[@user-os7ec4dm8x]

I'm just taking a break from watching this hilarious short to play Rifftrax the Game on PLAYSTATION!

[@satanofficial3902]

"Could have used a little more triangle. I got to have more triangle. I have a fever and the only prescription is more triangle." ---Albert Einstein

[@satanofficial3902]

"Once you go full triangle, you never go back." ---Albert Einstein

[@satanofficial3902]

"Triangle to live. Live to triangle." ---Albert Einstein

[@enfieldjohn101]

I'm old enough to remember actually having to watch 'educational' films like this on a reel to reel film projector in grade school. The best part was if the audio tape, which was on a separate little reel, got out of sync with the video reel. Then if there were people in the film, they looked like they were in a badly dubbed kung fu movie or something. :)

[@elizabethhouse9454]

Yes! Me too

[@ListieShadows]

I must say, these weren't Strong Bad's best "Skills Of An Artist" videos~.

[@patjacksonpodium]

I said CONSUMATE V's!!! CONSUMATE!!!

[@dynamicsketch]

First draw an "S." And then a more different "S." The "S" is for sucks.

[@kathleenmorrison2908]

This reminds me of when my art teacher gave up and had us do these follow along drawings where she drew on the projector sheet and we had to copy with Sharpie on our paper. I got yelled at for adding Tarzan in the background of our parrot drawing. I was eight.

[@davidlundquist1979]

"Uh oh. Two independent thought alarms in one day. Willy, remove all the colored chalk from the classrooms." Reminds me of a time in second grade I got in trouble for running in PE class instead of doing the power walking we were supposed to be doing, even though no one had clarified what, exactly, the dividing line between running and power walking WAS.

[@AtheistPirate]

They can introduce several varieties of triangles -- each more boring than the last -- and provide step-by-step instructions for drawings that not even the most loving parents would put on the fridge, but they STILL won't tell us if corn is grass!

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

Wigwams and clown hats. I don't think I can take any more of this crazy excitement.

[@panoruryu]

For people who are not Gen Z and younger: yes, they still draw the cool S in middle school.

[@livelifeincolour]

I'd love to know when that "S" started... I love that it gets passed down through generations.

[@insertclevername4123]

@@livelifeincolour Me, too. It's one of the weirdest cultural phenomenons that I can think of, since everyone seems to have done it but I've never seen any actually convincing argument about where it started and how it got passed down other than "my friends/siblings did it, so I did it, too."

[@C.V317]

@@insertclevername4123 you mean the Stussy? Pretty sure it’s one of the older still-used symbols in graffiti, there’s images of it dating from the 50s and 60s.

[@Merylstreep1949]

And a three sided box drawn freehand And the Van Halen logo

[@howiegruwitz3173]

@@livelifeincolour It's was the Nike swoosh for less athletic kids

[@locnar1]

Halloween horn may become a new tradition to annoy the neighbors.

[@jasonjimerson7046]

So this is the inspiration for that one artist character on Seinfeld who was obsessed with triangles.

[@nickfarmer2452]

"It didn't take long to do that. We did that in a jiffy. In a picture like this you might add clouds, or marine life such as seals."

[@speedystriper]

I am a bit of an oil painter myself. Looking forward to this one. Hee hee

[@willlastnameguy8329]

How do you paint oil?

[@Hermititis]

@@willlastnameguy8329 , messily

[@chriswest6988]

@@willlastnameguy8329 start with a triangle...

[@teedup8995]

@@chriswest6988 Lol!

[@inhumanmusic1411]

Stay tuned for our next film: "Drawing for beginners. The Tesseract"...

[@daffers2345]

I was hoping for a truncated icosahedron.

[@gsigs]

But is grass triangles?

[@teedup8995]

No, but you can smoke it in tipis.

[@aaronmehaffey6251]

Large, small, tall and thin... ...(sigh) onions... I LOST it 🤣

[@Merylstreep1949]

Many drawings start with a triangle and ironically many relationships also begin AND end with one as well

[@cacu3989]

Hiyooooh!!

[@jadenova]

6:45 Run before he summons Mr. B Natural!

[@annaolson4828]

Now we're going to draw a wigwam! *draws a tipi*

[@Gappasaurus]

1:20 On behalf of Johnny Longbone, thank you sincerely for that callback, Kevin 😊

[@Merylstreep1949]

A big scoop of you know what Totally sums up this video BTW, award for the saddest looking ice cream cone since ice cream was invented

[@ethanwelles]

What a cliffhanger!!! I was about to be severly disappointed there was still no illuminati joke when the video was nearly over. Also, the "wigwam" cringe (that's a TIPI you dolts!!)

[@SadPandalorian]

Shhh, you're two tents 😉

[@limlaith]

@@SadPandalorian Curse you - you beat me to it!! 😋

[@Hillary92126]

1:15 ‘onions’ 😂 classic Johnny Longbone reference!

[@maxtew6521]

I've seen this a few times, but watching it today at work, the bit at 3:59 where Mike said "Also...kinda disturbing ya referred to them in the past tense" (speaking of 'Indians') had me actually crying real tears I was laughing so damned uncontrollably.

[@AuntieVonn]

Woohoo! You made my Wednesday complete… with triangles 🤓

[@donkrouskop4753]

I've noticed that Kevin has to be bleeped more than any other riffer. Must be the natural result of doing this longer than anyone else involved.

[@ArtemyMusha]

I see that boat drawing and my brain tells me it's arriving too late to save a drowning witch.

[@paulhammons7077]

Good work men. Apparently we have top men working on this.

[@TheRogueWolf]

Man, Disney _really_ phoned it in on this "How to Draw Bill Cipher" guide.

[@OneSockFellOff]

How obtuse!!

[@markiangooley]

I found it acutely painful.

[@OneSockFellOff]

@@markiangooley Right?! I'm never gonna try angles again

[@davincent98]

Isosceles

[@Merylstreep1949]

The lighthouse segment inspired a young Roger Daltry to go on to write the classic I Can See For Miles

[@daffers2345]

Oh, and here I thought it inspired a young Robert Eggers :B

[@DouglasJohnson.]

I've learned SO MUCH! Thank you RiffTrax!

[@adamellis6785]

5:29 - "And there was. And it was no good."

[@andrewforbes1433]

My favorite part of Christmas is putting the candles on my roughly shingled cone.

[@bryanturner1715]

This video reminded me I really need to take down the Christmas tree.

[@thexsoar]

Sure, sure, tree, horn, clown hat, ice cream cone... but will we ever learn if CORN IS GRASS?

[@maxtew6521]

I Googled it. Do you want me to tell you the truth and unshroud this timeless mystery?

[@Hunteriffic86]

There were two educational advisors for this video, which goes to show that even in 1949 Fine Arts degrees weren't worth the paper they were printed on

[@elphieofkiamoko]

"Wait, this isn't a clown." I beg to differ. That's the most ridiculous clown of all.

[@tskmaster3837]

I expected triangles, got casual racism for free. Oh 50s, you never changed.

[@random22026]

This was a short from the 1940s--ahead of its time. 😫

[@sleepyhollow783]

Don't mind admitting that was darn good 🔺 triangle drawer. Equally distant each time at the sides. It would take me working with a team while shaking hands with danger to get one so nice...💩

[@typacsk]

"Now a couple of eyeholes and a cross-- wait, this isn't a clown!" Pretty sure it still is ;)

[@AGirlofYesterday]

I actually learned something here: the Egyptians did triangles better 5,000 years ago.

[@adamwampler2135]

Where I come from, that house is called a teepee. A wigwam is rounded with a sort of skeletal structure. A teepee is a tent held up by posts!

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

I can't help but wonder if Harry Nilsson ever saw this

[@random22026]

Or Zappa:: Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch

[@astrocitizen]

0:45 -- Ironically, Gene's son John would be a GOAT at drawing.

[@WCtheComedian]

The ‘Red Zone Cuba’ of short films

[@paulg6268]

0:41 "Mary had a little lamb................"

[@SkolneyVikings]

What acute film

[@qqq1701]

I'm doing something wrong. All my triangles skew off to a sixth dimensional access. I guess I didn't pay attention :(

[@thebamboozlerette1824]

Dude has a steady hand tho, I’ll give him that.

[@MerkinMuffly]

Almost as good as how to sharpen a pencil series

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

Watching the graphite getting sharper excites me....

[@penguin44ca]

I guess drugs are like this?

[@brandonosgood4162]

5:29 And God said, “Let there be crap.”

[@shwahgamer]

I was under the impression that a triangle was easy to draw. This short quickly proved me wrong. 😂

[@setharnold9764]

I'll grant that it really delivered on the triangles.

[@screamingcactus1753]

I was not expecting casual racism in a tutorial on how to draw triangles, but this was the fifties so I guess I really shouldn't be surprised