Funny animal
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
Please fix the article if you are familiar with it.
Funny animal is a cartooning term for a type of comics and animated cartoons in which the main characters are humanoid or talking animals. An animal character in such a cartoon may also be called a funny animal.
As a rule, funny animals are usually stylized cartoon characters, in keeping with the origin of the term. Realistic renderings of werewolves or other human/animal hybrids are generally excluded from this category.
While most funny animal stories are light-hearted and humorous, the genre is not exclusively comedic. Dark or serious stories featuring anthropomorphic animals are also sometimes grouped under the "funny animals" category. These stories may intersect with any other genre or group of genre, including historical stories, science fiction, Westerns, slapstick comedy, children's entertainment, and satire.
[edit] Are funny animals the same as furry characters?
The use of the word "furry" for anthropomorphic animal characters begin in the 1980s and was becoming common on the Internet by 1990, when the newsgroup alt.fan.furry was created for "fans of funny animals, ala Steve Gallacci's book." However, some cartoonists and other artists prefer the original term, either because they feel it better describes their work or because they dislike being associated with the furry fandom.
Opinions vary on whether "funny animal" and "furry" signify different types of characters and artwork. Generally, the categories are not thought to be mutually inclusive or exclusive. That is, some (but not all) furries are funny animals, and vice versa.
However, there are some more extreme perspectives on the topic. Some insist that "funny animal" is simply a euphemism for "furry," with no distinction between the two; others believe that the two types of animal character are completely distinct. In the latter case, mainstream cartoon characters such as Garfield, Hobbes of Calvin and Hobbes, the Looney Tunes cast, and Mickey Mouse would be considered funny animals, not furries. Some also believe that "furry" signifies only sexual characters, artwork, and stories, or those dealing with dark, mature topics.
| Some of this page is derived from Wikipedia. The original article was at Funny animal. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WikiFur, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
