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Talking animals are a common element in mythology and folk tales,
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
, and modern
comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
and animated cartoons. Fictional talking animals often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities (such as bipedal walking, wearing clothes, and living in houses). Whether they are realistic animals or fantastical ones, talking animals serve a wide range of uses in literature, from teaching morality to providing social commentary. Realistic talking animals are often found in fables, religious texts, indigenous texts, wilderness coming of age stories, naturalist fiction, animal autobiography, animal satire, and in works featuring pets and domesticated animals. Conversely, fantastical and more anthropomorphic animals are often found in the fairy tale, science fiction, and fantasy genres.


Utility of talking animals in fiction

The use of talking animals enables storytellers to combine the basic characteristics of the animal with human behavior, to apply metaphor, and to entertain children as well as adults. Animals are used in a variety of ways in fictional works including to illustrate morality lessons for children, to instill wonder in young readers, and as a tool for inserting social commentary.Mathis, Janelle B. "Animal Stories." Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Eds. Bernice E. Cullinan and Diane Goetz Person. London, UK: Continuum, 2005. Web. In addition talking animals can be utilized for satirical purposes, for humorous purposes like in the case of
Frog and Toad ''Frog and Toad'' is a series of easy-reader Children's literature, children's books, written and illustrated by American author Arnold Lobel. Each book contains five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant, short stories chronicling the ex ...
, and to decentralize and deemphasize the human experience. Talking animals can also be used to create analogies or allegories. For example, in Narnia, Aslan the Lion can be seen as an allegory for Christ. Finally, some fictional works with talking animals challenge the human-animal divide and identify children as the members of society who take on the responsibility of being ecological/environmental changemakers.


Realistic/non-fictional animals

In textual representations the creature retains its original form, other than being able to speak. Sometimes it may only speak as a narrator for the reader's convenience. The rabbits in '' Watership Down'' who, except for the ability to discuss their actions, behave exactly as normal rabbits, also come under this category, as do characters from animated films like '' Happy Feet'' and '' The Lion King''.


Fables

The tradition of using talking animals in stories dates as far back as 550 BCE with the Greek '' Aesop’s Fables''. The ''
Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' ( IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, , "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.
'', a collection of Indian animal fables, is another early example. Both use talking animals for didactic purposes. More recent fables like Sarah Trimmer’s ''History of the Robins'' (1786) use talking animals to instruct children on how to behave in society as well as how to maintain the social order. They also reiterate the superiority of humans to animals which is why humans are responsible for caring for animals.


Animals in religious texts

The talking creature concept is featured within much traditional literature'','' and several mythologies, including
Greek, Chinese and Indian mythologies. A notable example from the Judaeo-Christian tradition is the talking serpent from the
Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
, which tempts
Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...
to eat the forbidden fruit of the
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil In Christianity and Judaism, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (, ; ) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3, along with the tree of life. Alternatively, some scholars have argued that the tre ...
. In the Qur’ān, animals are seen as gifts from God and thus are meant to serve humans.Eisenstein, Herbert. "Animal Life." ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān''. Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007. Web. Aside from a few animals being able to speak, they are never anthropomorphized, personified, or given names. There are only a handful of times that animals speak in the Qur’ān and most of these occurrences happen in relation to Solomon. For example, it is a hoopoe (a bird native to Africa, Asia, and Europe) that tells King Solomon of Queen Sheba’s idolatrous ways.


Native American/indigenous texts

In Native American mythology, animals are integral to human survival and thus a part of the Native American family/community. Distinctions between humans and animals are more fluid. In these stories animals represent the ability to adapt and serve as mentors and guides. For example, in Louise Erdrich’s book ''Chickadee'' the protagonist is saved by a Chickadee, who instructs him in finding food and water, after he escapes a kidnapping. Other examples of Native American works with talking animal stories include ''How I Became a Ghost'', ''Keepers of the Earth'', and ''The Orphan and the Polar Bear'', just to name a few.


Wilderness coming-of-age stories

In the Disney franchises of '' The Jungle Book'' and '' Tarzan'', Mowgli along with Shanti and Ranjan can talk to the animals (such as a sloth bear, an elephant, a black panther, a tiger and a python) in the jungles of India, and Tarzan along with Jane and her father can talk to the animals: gorillas and elephants in African jungle. Out of the animals, Sabor the leopard does not speak. In the French feral child
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
'' Pyrénée'', Pyrénée can talk to the forest animals in the French mountains of Pyrenees. In '' Go, Diego, Go!'' and '' Dora the Explorer'', Dora and her cousin Diego can talk to the animals in the rainforest. In ''Tommy and the Wishing Stone'' (1915) by Thornton W. Burgess, Tommy, who lives on a farm with his parents, resents his chores. He sees a mouse and envies it for not having chores, and imagines that it lives a carefree life. He wishes he was a mouse too, and suddenly, he IS a real mouse. For the rest of the first chapter, Tommy learns firsthand the challenges of being a real mouse living in the wild. He can converse with other mice in human language, but is otherwise just as a real mouse. In dreams, Tommy is thrust into life as 12 wild animals in turn: a mouse, a squirrel, a rabbit, a fox, a goose, a toad, a muskrat, a grouse, a mink, a raccoon, a beaver, and a bear. He learns how difficult and dangerous it is to live as these wild animals, and comes to respect and sympathize with them. Some editions split the book into three volumes: ''Tommy and the Wishing Stone'', ''Tommy’s Wishes Come True'', and ''Tommy’s Change of Heart''.


Naturalist animal fiction

Animal fictions with more conservation-oriented themes allow young readers to engage with challenging messages at a safe distance. For example, '' Charlotte’s Web'' introduces the concept of death when Charlotte dies and Wilbur is charged with taking care of her offspring. Similarly, naturalist animal fictions also provide a vehicle with which to provide commentary on the humane treatment of animals, animal rights, and the conservation of animals. A good example of this would be the Doctor Doolittle series. Finally, in this digital age where modern childhood generally has very little contact and exposure to animals in the natural environment, naturalist animal fictions allow authors to portray natural animal behavior. For instance ''
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...
'', both the 1928 novel and the Disney film, realistically portrays the life cycle of deers. The hunting dogs in the film adaptation do not talk.


Animal autobiography

Fictional works told from an animal’s perspective, like the horse in '' Black Beauty'', encourage readers to empathize with animals. Furthermore, more generally they challenge the human-animal divide. Other examples of animal autobiographies include '' The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse'' (1783), ''The Biography of a Spaniel'' (1806), '' The Adventures of a Donkey'' (1815), ''The Curious Adventures of a Field Cricket'' (1881), and ''Thy Servant, a Dog'' (1930).


Animal satire

For some authors talking animals, rather than human characters, allowed them to publish their satirical commentary by protecting them from censure. Chaucer’s '' Canterbury Tales'' and Orwell’s ''
Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...
'' are some of the most famous examples of this.


Contemporary fiction

Contemporary novels such as Alexis Wright's '' The Swan Book,'' Colin McAdam's ''A Beautiful Truth'', Erin Hortle's ''The Octopus and I'' and Laura Jean McKay's '' The Animals in That Country'' show animal voices alongside human characters. These novels portray animals as equally deserving of a place in the narrative.


Fantastical creatures

In the industries of illustration,
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
ing, and
animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
, professionals refer to these types of creature characters as talking animals, funny animals, or anthropomorphic characters.


Fairy tales

Many
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
s include talking creatures that prove to be shapeshifted people, or even
ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
s. The fairy tales '' How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon'' and '' Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf'' have the hero aided by a fox and a wolf respectively, but in the similar tale '' The Golden Bird'', the talking fox is freed from a spell to become the heroine's brother, and in '' The Bird 'Grip''', the fox leaves the hero after explaining that it was the dead man whose debts the hero had paid. Whether shape-shifted or merely having the magical ability to speak, the talking creature is perhaps the most common trait of
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
s. The motif is certainly present in many more tales than fairies.


Science fiction

A good example of the science fiction genre is the
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
'' Anima: Age of the Robots'' which uses anthropomorphism to portray an alternate world as modern as ours, but inhabited by creature-lookalikes. The intelligent robots that they have made do rebel and threaten the creatures. This serves as a warning to mankind's thoughtless pursuit of technological advancement.


Toy stories

Animated toys in fictional works are popular for expressing human developmental and existential concerns. In toy literature, there are a few common motifs talking toys are used to convey. For example, talking toys can embody human anxiety about what it means to be “real” as well as reflect struggles of power when they are at the disposal of humans. Another common motif is the religious allusion to divine creation when humans create toys that come alive. Some examples of talking toy animals include the animals in '' Winnie the Pooh'', the wooden toy dog in ''Poor Cecco'', the Skin Horse and Velveteen rabbit in ''
The Velveteen Rabbit ''The Velveteen Rabbit'' (or ''How Toys Become Real'') is a British children's book written by Margery Williams (also known as Margery Williams Bianco) and illustrated by William Nicholson (artist), William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of ...
'', and the Slinky Dog toy and Tyrannosaurus Rex toy in Disney’s ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
''.


Fantasy

Anthropomorphism of animals is common in the fantasy genre. For example, in L. Frank Baum's ''
Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a fantasy world introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Countr ...
'', creatures (such as the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger) talk. The chicken Billina gains the ability to talk when she is swept away by a storm to land near Oz, as do other animals, and Toto, as explained in a retcon, always had the ability since arriving in Oz, but never used it. In
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
's '' Chronicles of Narnia'', the world of Narnia is ruled by a talking lion by the name of Aslan, and many minor characters are talking woodland animals, both of which interact with both the humans of Narnia, and the children who act as the protagonists of the books. The popularity of talking animals in Western fantasy has fluctuated over time, with a new wave of animal stories appearing in the 1970s, but they became less common in subsequent decades. In the '' Sailor Moon'' franchise, the protagonist Usagi Tsukino and her friends awaken their powers as Sailor Guardians thanks to talking cats Luna and
Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
, who also serve as mentoring figures and advisors to them.In the Pokémon franchise. Meowth of Team Rocket is considered a unique Pokémon in that he can understand and use human language, even serving as a translator for his fellow Pokémon, where they can only usually call out their own names verbally.


American comics

Funny animal comics feature non-human protagonists displaying anthropomorphic traits for humorous purposes. The term "funny animals" has been used since at least the early 1870s, with an American Bookseller descrbing a book titled ''Pretty Picture and Pretty Rhymes'' which featured anthropomorphic animals. The authors of ''Animal Comics; Multispecies Storyworlds in Graphic Narratives'' (2017) described the style as "rampant" in comic strips in the first half of the 20th century. Nicholas Labarre in ''Understanding Genres in Comics'' (2020) stated that Fawcett Publications preempted the style when they began publishing ''Funny Animals'' in December 1942 while the first dedicated funny animal comic books were likely Disney and Warner-based comics, such as
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
'' Four Color'' series, which started with '' Donald Duck''.


See also

*
Anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
* Furry fandom * Talking Animal * Uplift (science fiction)


References


Sources

* *


Further reading

* Blount, M. ''Animal Land: The Creatures of Children's Fiction''. William Morrow & Company, 1975. 336 p. * Cosslett, T
''Talking animals in British children's fiction, 1786-1914''
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006. 205 p. , * Elick, C
Talking Animals in Children's Fiction: A Critical Study
McFarland, 2015. 258 p. , * * Morgenstern, J

''The Lion and the Unicorn''. 2000. 24.1. pp. 110–127.
''Speaking for animals: Animal Autobiographical Writing''
Ed. by Margo DeMello. New York: Routledge, 2012. — 274 p. , * ''Talking Animals Or Humans in Fur?: A Study of Anthropomorphic Animals in Illustrated Children's Literature''. Victoria University of Wellington, 1998. 86 p. * Teupe, L
''The Function of Animals in Fairy Tales and Fables''
GRIN Verlag, 2014. 12 p. , . * Ziolkowski, J. M. ''Talking animals: Medieval Latin beast poetry, 750-115''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.


External links

* {{comics Fantasy creatures - Folklore