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Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate 
The plastic shells come in a variety of sizes ranging from diameters of to over . The inner disks come in a variety of colors including pink, blue, yellow, red and green. Googly eyes are used for a variety of arts and crafts projects including
They were prominently used in the Weepul promotional toys, invented in the 1970s by Tom Blundell, an executive of the toy company BIPO, who stuck googly eyes to a small pom-pom out of boredom. The inventor claimed that 400 million were sold between 1971 and 2012. Similar toys have appeared since then, like the "Wuppies", a toy which was popular in the Netherlands in the 1980s, and the "Pirilampo Mágico" ("Magic Firefly"), a popular toy sold annually in Portugal since 1987 as a fundraising product for CERCI, a co-op specialized in helping the mentally disabled. Recent iterations of this toy have replaced its googly eyes and pom-pom appearance for one made fully in plastic.
Beginning in the 2000s, a trend called "eyebombing" emerged of sticking googly eyes to objects in the urban environment. The inspiration for the movement has been claimed by French artist Do Benracassa, in his 1980s project "''Ça Vous Regarde''". It was then developed by two unnamed Danish artists, and a group called the Googly Eyes Foundation emerged to spread the phenomenon.
The
Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate eyeball
An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system.
In higher organisms, the eye ...
s. Googly eyes traditionally are composed of a white plastic or card backing covered by a clear, hard-plastic shell, encapsulating a black plastic disc. The combination of a black circle over a white disk mimics the appearance of the sclera
The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective outer layer of the eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber.
In the development of t ...
and pupil
The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black becau ...
of the eye to humorous effect. The inner black disk is allowed to move freely within the larger clear plastic shell, which makes the eyes appear to move when the googly eyes are tilted or shaken.
The plastic shells come in a variety of sizes ranging from diameters of to over . The inner disks come in a variety of colors including pink, blue, yellow, red and green. Googly eyes are used for a variety of arts and crafts projects including pipe cleaner
A pipe cleaner, otherwise referred to as a chenille stem or furry wire is a type of brush originally intended for removing moisture and residue from smoking pipes. They can also be used for any application that calls for cleaning out small bo ...
animals, sock puppets, pranks, and other creations. Googly eyes may also be attached to inanimate objects in order to give the objects a "silly" or "cute" appearance. This use often personifies the objects for a humorous effect, or to make an object less threatening and more appealing.
History
The name "googly eyes" may refer back to the early 20th century comic stripBarney Google and Snuffy Smith
''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, for Instance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appeari ...
, in which Barney Google had characteristically exaggerated eyes that inspired a hit 1923 song "Barney Google (with the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes)".
They were prominently used in the Weepul promotional toys, invented in the 1970s by Tom Blundell, an executive of the toy company BIPO, who stuck googly eyes to a small pom-pom out of boredom. The inventor claimed that 400 million were sold between 1971 and 2012. Similar toys have appeared since then, like the "Wuppies", a toy which was popular in the Netherlands in the 1980s, and the "Pirilampo Mágico" ("Magic Firefly"), a popular toy sold annually in Portugal since 1987 as a fundraising product for CERCI, a co-op specialized in helping the mentally disabled. Recent iterations of this toy have replaced its googly eyes and pom-pom appearance for one made fully in plastic.
Beginning in the 2000s, a trend called "eyebombing" emerged of sticking googly eyes to objects in the urban environment. The inspiration for the movement has been claimed by French artist Do Benracassa, in his 1980s project "''Ça Vous Regarde''". It was then developed by two unnamed Danish artists, and a group called the Googly Eyes Foundation emerged to spread the phenomenon.
The Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
recognises a pair of googly eyes measuring in diameter made in 2019 as the largest ever.
In 2024, a satirical protest seeking to add googly eyes to help ease riders due to the unreliability of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
would lead to several trains having googly eye stickers affixed to them.
In popular culture
On ''Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'', Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster is a blue List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating catchphrases, such as "Me want cookie!" As ...
has googly eyes.
In a 2008 ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' sketch, host Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...
portrays a gardener who is afraid of plants. He puts googly eyes on the plants to make them less intimidating.
Googly eyes are featured in the 2022 film ''Everything Everywhere All at Once
''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American Independent film, independent Absurdist fiction, absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniels (directors), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with Russo brot ...
'' and its promotional materials.
See also
* Gonk * Googly-eyed doll * OOglies *Pareidolia
Pareidolia (; ) is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus (physiology), stimulus, usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Pareidolia is a specific bu ...
, tendency to see faces in inanimate objects
* Squirmles
* Weepul
References
External links
*{{Commons category-inline Craft materials Novelty items Eyes in culture