Videos That Make Rube Goldberg Proud from the Great Beyond

Rube Goldberg died on this day (December 7) in 1970, and his legacy is that of cartoons he drew in the early part of the 20th Century starring a character known as Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, depicting inventions that would go through a convoluted series of machines and contraptions to perform simple tasks.  In the age of YouTube, Rube Goldberg-type contraptions have lent themselves nicely to great video content.  People are going through great pains to create these machines for incredible videos, and what they get for their labor is many times a bona fide video hit.  So, here's a compilation.  Enjoy!

Videos That Give Us A Healthy Dose of Fantastic Rube Goldberg

This post is inspired by three recent Rube Goldberg videos.  The first one I'll touch on is this masterpiece from 2D Photography, which created an amazing "How Did They Do That?," which is gorgeously shot and executed, and oh by the way, not nearly their only foray into Goldberg.

This one is called "Isaac Newton vs. Rube Goldberg:"

Technion Israel, just in time for Hanukkah, wanted to find a way to light a Menorah using a Goldberg, in this truly awesome video:

And recently, Red Bull pulled off a Rube Goldberg relay using athletes and scoring a mega-hit with "The Athlete Machine."  It's not their only visit with Rube, but it is one of their most successful:

Two years ago, the clever band OK Go released a Rube Goldberg alternative video to their hit, "This Too Shall Pass" which is a great song and fantastic sight to see:

2D Photography are masters at this Goldberg stuff.  This is another great one basically traveling through a warehouse of photography equipment and accessories.  And you gotta love a video that finds a way to put Mario in it in a shrewd way:

Honda did a brilliant ad called "The Cog" for the Accord using pieces of the car that led to a whole:

Even in the early days of YouTube, Goldberg was making his mark with this "Office Space Contraption:"

And there is a video where you really don't need to know what is being said to appreciate this "Japanese Rube Goldberg Contest:"

Someone even built a Rube Goldberg in Minecraft:

Red Bull again, with the "Human-Powered Freerunning Machine:"

Little Pythagoras shows a kid describing his Rube Goldberg and going through a few failures before reaching success:

There are, of course, a million of these on YouTube.  I'll end it with another one from 2D Photography called "Date Night Rube:"