The Anthropomorphic Scale

Literature for children started changing in the 18^th Century. Animals became more personified, to the point of people giving human emotions to them and relating animal pains to human pain¹. Animals became more and more human, where in this modern society there are many different variants of human-animal hybrids. I will be exploring them in books and films to discover the different junctions between animal and human on the scale of anthropomorphism.

Fig 1, my interpretation of the different stages of anthropomorphism, 2015

On one end of the scale, there are animals who are not given a voice and are treated as animals. Examples of this are Jaws², Beethoven³ and Free Willy⁴.

Further up are animals that are not given a voice, but have personifications. Examples are Maximus from Tangled⁵, Nana from Peter Pan⁶ and Abu from Aladdin⁷. Maximus has a human personality, making him grumpy and able to make human decisions. Nana has a human role in the family, looking after the children and wearing a bonnet. Abu has a waistcoat and a hat, and has the ability of human thought and emotions in decision making.

Here, voices are now given to the animals. They are still in a human society and act like the animals they are, but have a special connection with the viewer so we can understand them. Examples are Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron⁸, Homeward Bound⁹, Watership Down¹⁰, The Plague Dogs¹¹ and The Animals of Farthing Wood¹².

Beatrix Potter tales fit in here, as they are in a human society but are clearly more humanised, with the clothes, emotions and voices of humans, expressed in tales like The Tale of Benjamin Bunny¹³. Another book that also fits here is Fantastic Mr Fox¹⁴ where the clothed animals have their own civilisation, but it’s within the human world as known by Mr Fox’s trips out to the farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean. They are also a lot more human in proportion compared to Beatrix Potter’s characters.

Now we find animals to have an animal culture around them, composed differently to the world we live in. They have their own cities, cars and homes filled with ephemera in a very human manner. They are also much more human in proportions; the way they stand and walk and talk is much more civilised. This is shown in Wind in the Willows¹⁵ and Angelina Ballerina¹⁶.

This next stage is where it gets a lot more human in proportion. Things like Blacksad¹⁷ and Khajiit and Argonians from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim¹⁸ contain much more human proportioned animal characters, where the characters look like they are just human bodies with animal heads and tails. They are also more sexualised, especially the female characters.

The final animal hybrid in this scale are things that are mostly human, but have animal embellishments. Examples include Thumbelina¹⁹, Ariel from The Little Mermaid²⁰ and Tinkerbell²¹.

Then we finally have fully fledged humans, who may exert more animalistic behaviour, but are completely human.

References:

     (1)    Tess Cosslett, (2006) pg. 14

     (2)    Jaws, (1975)

     (3)    Beethoven, (1992)

     (4)    Free Willy, (1993)

     (5)    Tangled, (2010)

     (6)    Peter Pan, (1953) 

     (7)    Aladdin, (1992)

     (8)    Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, (2002)

     (9)    Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, (1993)

     (10)Richard Adams, (1972)

     (11)Richard Adams, (1977)

     (12)Colin Dann, (1979)

     (13)Beatrix Potter, (1904)

     (14)Roald Dahl, (1970)

     (15)Kenneth Grahame, (1908)

     (16)Katharine Holabird, (1983)

     (17)Juan Díaz Canales, (2005)

     (18)Bethesda Game Studios, (2011)

Bibliography:

Aladdin, 1992. [Film] Ron Clements and John Musker, Dir. United States: Walt Disney Pictures.

Beatrix Potter, 1990. Tale Of Benjamin Bunny, The. Edition. London: Frederick Warne & Co

Beethoven, 1992. [Film] Brian Levant, Dir. United States: Universal Pictures.

Colin Dann, 2014. The Animals of Farthing Wood. Edition. Egmont UK.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The (standard version). 2011. Xbox 360 [Game]. Bethesda Game Studios: Maryland.

Free Willy, 1993. [Film] Simon Wincer, Dir. United States: Warner Bros. Family Entertainment.

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, 1993. [Film] Duwayne Dunham, Dir. United States: Walt Disney Pictures.

Jaws, 1975. [Film] Steven Spielberg, Dir. United States: Universal Pictures.

Juan Diaz Canales, 2012. Blacksad: A Silent Hell. First Edition Edition. Dark Horse Originals.

Katharine Holabird, 2007. Angelina's Birthday (Angelina Ballerina). Edition. Viking/Puffin.

Kenneth Grahame, 2001. Wind in the Willows, The-Story Time Classics. Edition. Viking Juvenile.

Peter Pan, 1953. [Film] Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske, Dir.  United States: Walt Disney Productions.

Richard Adams, 1972. Watership Down. 2nd Edition. London: Rex Collings.

Richard Adams, 1977. Plague Dogs. Edition. London: Allen Lane.

Roald Dahl, 1970. Fantastic Mr Fox. Edition. London: George Allen and Unwin.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, 2002. [Film] Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, Dir. United States: Dreamworks Pictures.

Tangled, 2010. [Film] Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, Dir. United States: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Tess Cosslett, 2006. Talking Animals in British Children's Fiction 1786-1914 (The Nineteenth Century Series) (The Nineteenth Century Series). Edition. Ashgate Pub Co.