Named after American cartoonist Reuben Garret Lucius Goldberg. A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine which performs many absurd, unnecessary and ridiculous functions to produce a result, like a combination of complex machines used to operate a handkerchief. The Rube Goldberg machine has been heavily borrowed by nearly all famous animators and cartoonists, including the original MAD comics and Looney Tunes. The name Rube Goldberg is synonymous with overcomplicated ideas, and has even been aptly used to describe legislation and retirement policies in the US.