In 1970, Roald Dahl penned Fantastic Mr. Fox.

In 1970, The Disney Company released it’s first post-Walt animated feature, The Aristocats.

In 1971, Robert C. O’Brian penned Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. A novel for children with strong Green leanings that utilized the precedent opened by Kimba The White Lion. Here the author makes heroes of animals and villains of scientists, even going so far as to name the villains after a real world government institution. And like Tezuka, O’Brian not only got away with it, he won awards for it.

In 1972, Richard Adams penned Watership Down. It is one of the most referenced examples in Furry Fandom among those who attempt to explain the Furry interest. It achieved a new extreme in allegorical literature through its extensive development of a unique culture for an animal species, requiring a glossary of unique words peculiar to rabbit language and extensive glimpses into the culture, religion and sociology of the rabbits.

To this day Furry Fandom stands in awe of this book, and most serious Furry authors measure their work against it, few daring even to aspire to such literary achievement and popular acclaim.

In 1972, Fritz The Cat hit the big screen, exposing the world’s first major adult Cartoon Animal star to a much wider audience, opening doors to a new adult oriented animation industry. However, though it took a Funny Animal to knock down the walls that kept animation in the kiddie corner, Funny Animals would not play a large role in the adult animation to be produced in the 70’s and 80’s. And, perhaps because of this, nothing that followed would equal the success of Fritz The Cat, which is still the most successful independent animated film of all time.

Also in 1972, the art rock band Genesis released an album called Foxtrot. On the cover of Foxtrot was an anthropomorphic fox. Given the penchant of many progressive rock bands to display influences from early children’s literature, this was not surprising. What dropped jaws was that Peter Gabriel walked out on stage and performed as a female anthropomorphic fox wearing a red dress. Furry tunes by Genesis include White Mountain, All In A Mouse’s Night, and Squonk.

In 1973, another art rock band, Jethro Tull, inserted a six minute narrative into their album A Passion Play called The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles. Incorporated into the stage performance of the album was a film of the band members dressed in anthropomorphic costumes, humorously acting out the story. A song omitted from the album that would appear on their next release would become one of the most popular Furry tunes of all time, Bungle In The Jungle. Other animal songs omitted from "A Passion Play" appear on a collection of unreleased works called "Nightcap," including Law of the Bungle and Look At The Animals.

In 1973, Disney released an anthropomorphic parody of Robin Hood. By the 80's, Disney's Robin Hood had become one of the most frequently cited influences among Furry fans trying to explain The Furry Interest and what got them into it.

If there was anything new about Disney’s Robin Hood, it was the fact that the hero and heroine were anthropomorphic foxes.  Previously animals like foxes were rarely portrayed in a positive light.  Thus, Disney’s Robin Hood may have indoctrinated many modern day Furry creators to the idea of completely divorcing anthropomorphic animal characters from their relative roles in nature and granting them the personal choice of whether to be heroes or villains. Thus predatory animals like foxes, which translate beautifully to anthropomorphics, could now be looked on as admirable.

Another possibly significant aspect of Disney's Robin Hood may have been the influence and style of Don Bluth. Bluth added a fluidity of motion, as well as more human proportions to anthropomorphic characters than had ever been seen before. Thus his animal characters became more human, giving them a greater ability to mesmerize viewers with their beauty.

In 1973, Marvel comics inadvertently developed a new kind of Funny Animal when Howard The Duck, a character created as a gag, took off and became an unexpected star of The Marvel Universe.

In this way, Marvel Comics became custodian of one of the first Funny Animal characters in comics to attract a more mature audience without an X rating.  Unfortunately it would seem that the Marvel company has never known what to do with this oddity.  And the character’s creator expresses the opinion that Marvel generally fumbled the ball and prevented Howard The Duck from exploring its full potential.

Never the less, between Fritz The Cat and Howard the Duck, the slap stick Funny Animal of old was completely obliterated in favor of Funny Animals that could now be as serious, mortal and sexy as their creators desired.

In 1973, E.B. White concluded his trilogy of Furry novels with The Trumpet Of The Swan.

In 1973, Alan Aldridge and William Plomer created an art book called The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper Feast, which greatly expanded on the 1802 poem by William Roscoe. Intend on creating an animated movie based on the book, the authors enlisted the help of Deep Purple’s Roger Glover to create the soundtrack. Glover then brought in quite a number of notable personalities associated with Deep Purple and related projects to create the soundtrack album, which was released in 1974. Unfortunately, the movie was never to be. Only the short video below was produced, with Heavy Metal legend Ronnie James Dio voicing the frog. Without an accompanying movie, the soundtrack became regarded as a concept album and was subsequently produced for stage as a Rock Opera.

In 1974, Dungeons & Dragons became the first commercially published Role Playing Game. RPG’s opened the door for fans to create their own Furry characters and share them for fun, rather than having to publish them for profit.

In 1974, Roger Corman and Charles Swenson attempted to cash in on the X-Rated success of Fritz The Cat with Dirty Duck. If Fritz The Cat was construed as a high point in the history of animation, or Furry for that matter, Dirty Duck was regarded as a serious low. It can be assumed that the producers had no real interest in Anthropomorphic Animals, but they felt they needed one in the title roll to ride on Fritz The Cat’s coat tails. There is otherwise not a single non-human in the whole cast.

What the film really appeals to is the counter culture art scene. Very psychedelic, raunchy and not a trace of cuteness. But in 1974 the Vietnam War ended, and this would cause the counter culture to abruptly fizzle out. Life became more secure and affluent. Indulgence would be the watchword of the late 70’s, not art.

This also marked the end of an era for Furry. The end of its rebellious adolescence, during which it had dared much and established precedents for all manner of Furry entertainment to be created. But with the art conscious years of pop culture gone, would anyone want to pursue the potential of any of those precedents?

Thus began the next phase of Furry’s development - the quest for identity.

In the late 70’s an explosive renaissance of fantasy began to be seen, much of it having Furry implications. 

A new generation was taking over.  The world was no longer something to be saved.  It was something to be escaped from through fantasy and science fiction.  And once marketers stopped thinking of fantasy as something strictly for small children, the stage was set for a new era in which fantasy would remain a serious part of many peoples’ lives as they matured into adulthood and beyond. 

In 1976, Fantasy Games Unlimited published Bunnies & Burrows, an RPG based on Watership Down.

In 1977, Disney released The Rescuers, based on Margery Sharp’s Miss Bianca series.

In 1977, the first Star Wars movie opened. Aside from the wookie, Chubaka, there would be myriad other anthropomorphic creations of the non-furbearing variety that opened the door on a whole new generation of sci-fi Furries.

In 1977, K-9 made his first appearance on Doctor Who. Normally there is a very visible line between Furry anthropomorphics and robotic anthropomorphics. But K-9 is an anomaly - a Robotic Anthropomorphic Animal. Still, an Anthropomorphic Animal in any variation is subject to the same probability of popularity. K-9’s popularity proved that Anthropomorphic Animals don’t need overly large eyes and cuddly soft fur to generate their appeal. K-9 would spin-off his own show and has a new show anticipated in the near future.

In 1977, Pink Floyd’s album Animals demonstrated the extended impact of "Animal Farm" on politically conscious popular culture.

In 1977, Piers Anthony began his Xanth series, kicking off a boom in the fantasy novel market, which Anthony would dominate through sheer prolific output. His magical worlds providing a whole new take on the Mythical Beasts and Fabulous Monsters that are of great interest to a large segment of the fandom.

In 1977, a line of animal puppets called The Furry Folk Puppets began production , and is still in business.

In 1978, Jethro Tull released a Furry concept album called Heavy Horses.  Each of the songs on the album is either about an animal or has an animal hidden somewhere in the lyrics.  While the opening song, “The Mouse Police Never Sleeps,” refers to the anthropomorphic characters in the song as “Little Furry Folk.”

The trailer for the 1973 re-release of Disney’s “Cinderella” also makes reference to Cinderella’s “Furry Friends.”  While the character in the 1976 Genesis song “Squonk” is refered to as "My Furry Friend." 

The terms “Furry Folk” and "Furry Friends" were not new. They were a long established part of the English language, indicating not just that a creature happens to have fur, but that it is part of that collective society of animals refered to in Old Homestead Tales back in 1930. These terms don't surface much in the 40's, 50's & 60's. But suddenly in the 70's we start to hear them again.

Those in the arts working with Furry characters needed to call them something. And if you weren't into comics, you probably weren't familiar with the term Funny Animals. If you weren't working in animation, you'd never think to call them Cartoon Animals. But for me, around this very point in history, where the term Furry just naturally fell into place was with the novels.

When trying to explain the nature of the genre I was writing in, I needed a simple term to evoke the common element that linked Bambi, Watership Down and Jonathan Livingston Seagull into their own unique genre. And "Furry" was the term I came up with. They were Furry novels. They had a certain quality, a Furriness if you will, due to the unique perspective of intelligent talking animals.

In 1978, Warren Zevon hit the charts with the popular Furry standard, Werewolves Of London.

In 1978, the saga of The Puppy’s Great Adventures began on ABC's After School Special.

In 1978, Elfquest began publication. This ambitious independent comic book series featured an element of Furry spirituality, and some imaginative new takes on Fairy Tale elements. But most significantly, it was geared towards adults, and like Xanth and Star Wars, greatly contributed to the change in cultural opinions regarding Fairy Tale like stories.

Fairy Tales weren’t just for kids anymore. And, as explained earlier, one of the most dominant elements of the Fairy Tale universe is the Talking/Anthropomorphic Animal. Thus it was those who embraced Tolkien’s wizards and fairies who laid C. S. Lewis’s fascination with Anthropomorphic Animals open for vindication in this new era of fantasy.

In 1978, Watership Down hit the big screen, once again leaving theater goers with their jaws dropped. Suddenly the bunnies weren't cute and funny. They had claws. They could bleed and die. And the audience would relate to it.

Though Watership Down sold itself well and sent many emerging Furry authors scurrying for their pens, it did not inspire a trend. There was no mad tearing rush to produce something like Watership Down. It was considered just an aspect of a wider general fantasy world, and the emphasis in the next few years would be experimentation to see what other kinds of movies the adult fantasy crowd would buy.

The 1980's

In 1980, Art Spiegelman began serialization of his comic Maus. Like Orwell’s Animal Farm, Spiegelman used animal characters of different species to represent historical social classes in this interpretation of Jews living under the oppression of the Nazis - the Jews represented as mice and the Nazis represented as cats.

The comic was widely acclaimed and awarded. It also became another widely referenced example among those attempting to explain The Furry Interest.

In 1980, Piers Anthony began the Apprentice Adept series, which dealt with such controversial subject matter as a human marrying a morphing unicorn.

In 1981, Disney released The Fox And The Hound. Possibly the most seriously portrayed of all the Disney animal films, reflecting an era that was coming to expect more from animation than the traditional song and comedy formula.

In 1981, Osamu Tezuka produced the first Unico movie. Here he repeated the formula of Kimba, creating a character for children, but surrounding him with heart rending concepts and spectacular animation. The two Unico movies were picked up by The Disney Channel and ran in rotation with their collection of animated classics throughout the 80's.

In 1982, Don Bluth released The Secret Of NIMH, his first venture after his split from Disney. This was to be an idealistic venture, designed to show what was possible with animation when not hamstrung by the then current policies at Disney.

To say this venture was impressive would be an understatement. But it was not a box office success. The crowd it seemed to click with best were Furries - fans of Anthropomorphic Animals of adult age waiting for something in their interest to be geared for their age group. And soon to be Furries - people who were so impressed by The Secret Of NIMH that it awakened the interest in them.

In 1982, the producers of the Watership Down movie followed up with The Plague Dogs, another Richard Adams novel. The less action oriented movie sank without creating much of a blip on the radar. It has strong Green leanings and is rather inaccessible to children. It's premise is actually similar to The Secret Of NIMH, without all the cuteness and comic relief. Actually, it's possibly the second most disturbing Furry movie I've yet seen.

In 1982, Rankin-Bass brought out The Flight Of Dragons and The Last Unicorn. These were well received by Furry and general fantasy fans alike. And they remain today the best examples of what adult fantasy fans of that era wanted. But, sadly, they failed to start a trend in that direction.

In 1982, Cat People was remade as an erotic horror film, allowing for direct exploration of the sexual concept in a more sexually liberated age.

In 1982, Josh Quagmire created Cutey Bunny, a Furry parody of the anime character Cutey Honey. In another cue taken from anime, Cutey Bunny is a furless Furry, endowed with a sexiness never before seen in a Funny Animal outside of erotic comix. And, in another twist that defied all previous reasoning, the first non-X-rated furless Furry was African American.

In 1982, The Shirt Tails moved from greeting cards to television.

In 1983, PBS broadcast a English translation of The Cunning Little Vixen.

In 1983, Hanna-Barbera introduced the Monchichis TV series, based on the popular Japanese toy line.

In 1983, The Care Bears arrived.

In 1983, Alan Dean Foster began his Spellsinger series, which features a supporting cast of Anthropomorphic Animal characters who walk upright and wear clothes. 

In 1983, the third Star Wars movie, Return Of The Jedi, introduced The Ewoks. This gave the Star Wars saga more than a passing connection to the Furry interest, especially as The Ewoks went on to become popular in their own right, spinning off their own movies, TV show, comics, records, and a plethora of toys.

In 1983, The Chipmunks returned to television with another updated character design. This time bringing with them a female counter group, The Chipettes.

In 1983, Hasbro brought out it's My Little Pony toy line, one of the most successful toy runs of the era. It spun offa TV series, several TV specials and a feature length movie. And, though put on hiatus for several years, the toy line was successfully revived and continues to be a best seller to this day.

In 1983, the first issue of Steve Gallacci’s Albedo was published. It would be the first time Funny Animals were seen in totally serious Science Fiction.

In 1984, Dr. Seuss penned The Butter Battle Book, a Furry story that attempted to explain the philosophy of nuclear war to children.

In 1984, Paul McCartney, eager to sell his idea for a Rupert movie, created an animated music video as a demonstration. The song and video were both a hit, but it did not generate immediate results towards the realization of his dream.

In 1984, DIC produced The Get Along Gang.  This show represented a serious advance towards the "Slice Of Life" anthropomorphic comics that would become popular in the next decade. Unlike the slapstick worlds created for characters like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, the world The Get Along Gang live in is basically a real world human setting, with the single incongruity of all the characters being Anthropomorphic Animals. But this incongruity makes the characters interesting enough to sell a story that would otherwise be considered too ordinary to even require cartooning. It is the object of Furry Fandom laid bare to function on it's own merit. And the demonstration that this could work was a major inspiration to the Furry comics creators of the next two decades.

In 1984, DIC introduced Heathcliff and The Cadillac Cats.

Cleo of the Catillac Cats was one of the first TV Furries to have visible sexuality, coupled with a sometimes streetwise attitude to her relationship with main character Riff Raff, who was himself a bit of a Fritz. In certain episodes this could result in an eye opening new freedom of thinly veiled sexual banter and sight gags, which generally went over the heads of the kids, but caught the attention of the adult aged Furries watching. This resulted in Cleo becoming one of the first favorite drawing subjects of the emerging Furry fan art movement.

Cleo wore no clothing other than her leg warmers. Today there is a sphere of thought that this constitutes nudity. But that notion did not exist in 1984. It has not been until very recently that any animal character covered in fur could be thought of as nude. But then, anthropomorphic animals had rarely had such human looking bodies before.

In contrast, The Get Along Gang, produced by the same company in the same year, never allows the characters to be shown unclothed, indicating a possible difference of concept or targeted age group. Since Heathcliff was an established comic strip character, it's possible Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats was not entirely targeted at children, but was rather an all ages show, representing a middle stage between Rocky & Bullwinkle and the Cartoon Network all ages shows of recent years.

In 1984, Eastman and Laird produced the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book. The popularity of this title and its appeal to older age groups caused independent comic makers to take Funny Animals more seriously. Suddenly Funny Animals were regularly being pitched to young adults.

In 1984, Ozamu Tezuka released Bagi, The Monster Of Mighty Nature. This was possibly the first appearance of a seriously portrayed half human anthropomorphic character in a film with a firm science fiction concept.  Bagi, the character, is pretty much a prototype for the style of mature anthropomorphic characters the new adult oriented Furry Community would develop and promote. 

In 1984, the first issue of Usagi Yojimbo was released. Another Furry series geared towards higher age groups which garnered considerable respect and won awards.

In 1985, The Ewoks got their own animated TV series.

In 1985, Critters, the first major Furry anthology series began. It would be an important influence on the uniting of the fandom into a recognized market. Something that fans without internet access could see and gain awareness through that they were not alone in the interest. Though it seems important to note that a quick scan of an old Critters issue turns up repeated use of the term Funny Animals. No use of the term Furry, indicating that Critters and it's contemporary anthropomorphic titles were very much focused on comics, not an over all fandom for the whole of the Anthropomorphic Animal Continuum.

In 1985, Tad Williams penned Tailchaser’s Song, the first offering to challenge Richard Adams’ place as the undisputed master of Furry Fiction.

Williams, while repeating Richard Adams’ formula of creating a culture and language for his cats, demonstrated a background in types of fantasy that are more popular with the sci-fi fantasy novel crowd. But most significantly, he proved that Richard Adams and Richard Bach were not a fluke, and that serious Furry Fiction for adults was bate for the best seller list.

In 1985, Ladyhawke, a live action Furry classic.

In 1985, Dream Hunter REM was animated in Japan, featuring REM's cute dog and kitty companions who transform into her mighty Furry spirit guardians. 

In 1986, Disney released The Great Mouse Detective.

In 1986, DIC introduced the Popples TV series, based on yet another line of popular toys.

In 1986, Reed Waller introduced Omaha The Cat Dancer. Having been inspired by Robert Crumb, Waller wanted to create a more serious, soap opera like, adult Funny Animal comic. And in doing so, he firmly established the slice of life format that would dominate Furry comics in the near future.

Though Waller did not recognize Furry as his idiom. Like Robert Crumb and Steve Gallacci before him, he saw what he was doing as a modern extension of the Funny Animal idiom, going so far as to plaster "A Funny Animal Novel" across the front cover.

In 1986 Brian Jacques began his Redwall series, one of the longest running Furry novel series, which continues to this day. Redwall is an outstanding icon of modern Furry culture. Those who have read it speak of it with a kind of reverence. Those who have not read it wonder what the big deal is. Unfortunately, I fall into the latter category. The most I can gather is that it’s a series that greatly resembles the formula of “The Lord Of The Rings,” every story dealing with wars, battles and quests in a medieval Furry setting. And, given the hype that surrounds "Lord Of The Rings," I can see why this would get a lot of attention.

In 1987, Ninja High School began. Princess Asrial first appears in the story as an alien anthropomorphic skunk who is transformed into a human when she visits Earth.  While on Earth life is one long succession of Anime clichés, but when the storyline moves to Asrial’s planet the entire cast becomes Furry.

In 1987, Ranma ½, an animated sit-com about martial artists who turn into animals when they get wet, began on Japanese television.

In 1988, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" tied the idea of "Toon Town" together in the minds of the modern audience, bringing them up to speed on what the Animal fans of the 40's had been very familiar with - this idea of toons living in another land or dimension with its own unique laws of physics and behavior that make's perfect sense when you're in it and feel a part of it, but which you leave behind in the theater when you return to the real world.

This did much to reawaken the interest in Furry and animation in general as something more significant than a kids thing. The result was the Disney renaissance. And though the 80’s styled cartoons which had been solely aimed at kids were on their way out, Furry was still evolving and ready to take on the 90’s with new, more sophisticated styles specifically geared to attract older audiences.

In 1988, Disney released Oliver & Company.

In 1988, Dominion Tank Police was first animated in Japan, featuring The Puma Sisters. 

In 1989 Disney introduced Chip N Dale’s Rescue Rangers. But it was the character Gadget that stole the show. Another furless Furry, Gadget proved to have unexpected appeal to adult aged Furry fans, inspiring tons of fan fiction and an erotic art site called “Playmouse.”

In 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid.

In 1989, Akif Pirinçci began the Felidae novel series. Crime novels featuring talking cats.

The 1990's

In 1990, Samurai Pizza Cats became the last major Furry TV cartoon of the 80’s explosion, as well as the first of a new wave of anime titles to be adapted for the American market. 

As the 80’s drew to a close, the first attempts to market manga in America took place.  These attempts failed miserably, but a growing awareness of anime in America started a niche fan base, identical to the Furry Fan base at that time - small, unrecognized and hardly visible.

Moving into the 90’s, the two movements grew together.  Both Furry and Manga were considered part of an arsenal of styles available to independent comic artists.  And soon artists who specialized in one or the other would find themselves working at the same companies, and sometimes on the same titles.

Comic stores soon began to think of Manga and Furry as part of the same art movement, and it was rare to see them separated into different sections.  Throughout most of the 90’s this proved a very pleasant and productive partnership.

In 1990, Nadia, The Secret Of Blue Water was first animated in Japan, featuring the mascot King The Lion. 

In 1990, WB introduced Tiny Toon Adventures.

In 1990, Disney released The Rescuers Down Under.

In 1991, Piers Anthony began The Mode series, which dealt with a talking horse with the power to traverse time and space.

In 1991, Disney released Beauty & The Beast.

In 1991, Sega introduced Sonic The Hedgehog, the first Furry superstar of the video game world.

In 1991, Furrlough began publication, replacing Critters as the main Furry anthology series. It is still being published to this day. And though the use of Fur in it’s title may have helped boost the popularity of the term Furry, to this day Furrlough bills itself as a Funny Animal anthology.

In 1991, Fred Perry began Gold Digger. a manga styled comic featuring a werecheetah that became a staple of both the Anime and Furry fandoms.

In 1992, Disney released Aladdin, which makes this list for having a monkey and a tiger in supporting roles.

In 1992 Shanda The Panda was first published. Though having some issues that are age restricted, the series is comprised mainly of Slice Of Life or soap opera type storylines. It is the longest running and best example of the Furry Slice Of Life series that deals with the problems of real life in an anthropomorphic context.

In 1992, Yu Yu Hakusho began on Japanese TV. One of the main characters is a spirit fox.

In 1992, Ko Century Beastketteers was animated in Japan, featuring Anthropomorphic Animals with mecha totems. 

In 1992, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, a sci-fi comedy in which the brain of a dying cat is transplanted into the body of an android, first appeared in Japanese animation. 

In 1992, Tenchi Muyo was first animated in Japan, featuring the popular mascot Ryo-okki. 

In 1992, Sailor Moon was first animated in Japan, featuring the popular mascots Luna and Artimus.

In 1993, WB introduced Animaniacs. From which the character of Minerva Mink would become a popular star in the fandom.

In 1993, the native Furry art of Japan, called Kemono, resulted in the video game series Star Fox. As with Minerva Mink and Gadget Hackwrench, the fandom would single the character Krystal out as a major star - the subject of fan art and fan fiction beyond counting.

In 1993, Biker Mice From Mars came to television.

In 1993, Hanna-Barbara created Swat Kats, which, along with Biker Mice From Mars, to some extent show that comics weren't the only venue where the concept of Anthropomorphic Animals was being re-evaluated as something for teens and young adults, rather than just small kids.

In 1993, Antarctic Press publiched the first issues of Katmandu, a Furry comic with Native American influences that sometines went a bit far for the non-age restricted readership it was pitched at.

In 1993. Antarctic Press began Genus, a Furry anthology series that catered to the hentai side of Furry Fandom. Anime's hentai sub genre already had several titles available and was one of its favored selling points to attract adult interest. Therefore, it was no surprise that they tried the same thing with Furry. And many of the erotic concepts that would appear in such age restricted comics are a direct result of Furry's association with anime.

In 1994 Disney released The Lion King. Like Bambi, this all Talking Animal movie proved so powerful that it instilled The Furry Interest in many a viewer.

In 1994, Tonde Buurin (Super Pig) began on Japanese TV. A super hero parody about a girl who transforms into a super powered anthropomorphic pig. 

In 1994, Magic Knight Rayearth was first animated in Japan, featuring the popular mascot Mokona. 

In 1994, the Felidae movie was produced. Film Noir for talking cats. It is one of the most serious Furry movies ever made, and by far the most disturbing. Not X-rated, but even less for kids than Fritz The Cat.

In 1995, Slayers was first animated in Japan, providing a number of anthropomorphic characters in the supporting cast, including Jillas The Fox and Filia The Dragon Girl.

In 1995, Saint Tail was first animated in Japan, featuring the mascot Ruby the Hedgehog. 

In 1995, Nickelodeon introduced the Little Bear series.

In 1995, Disney released Pocahontas, which also manages to have talking animals in the supporting roles. Even in an adaptation of historical events, talking animals seem to be synonymous with Disney feature animation.

In 1995, Antarctic Press published Tank Vixens, a comic for mature readers intended as a spoof of Anime and Furry clichés.

In 1996, anime unleashed the last major Furry phenomenon on the world to date.  It was called Pokemon.  The incredibly popular video and card game, coupled with the TV show, took the world by storm and still has yet to completely run its course.

In 1996, Eric W. Schwartz began the web comic Sabrina Online.

In 1997, The WB network brought out Road Rovers, which quickly became a favorite with the fandom at the time.

In 1997, Franklin debuted on Nickelodeon. One of the more popular and long running anthropomorphic kid shows of the 90's, it recalls the innocence of the 80's TV cartoons.

In 1998, Disney released Mulan, with a talking dragon in the supporting cast.

In 1999, Di Gi Charat was first seen on Japanese TV, with its bizarre little aliens who dress and talk like animals. 

In 1999, Cartoon Network introduced Courage The Cowardly Dog.

In 1999, Isabel Marks began the web comic Namir Deiter.

In 1999, Susan Rankan, aka Susan Deer, began the web comic A Doemain Of Our Own.

In 1999, Disney released Tarzan. This being the first adaptation of Tarzan from a Talking Animal perspective.

The 2000's

In 2000, Disney released Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, and The Emperor's New Groove

In 2001, PBS introduced Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat. One of the most significant Talking Animal shows to come out of television in recent times.

In 2001, Nintendo gave us the Animal Crossing video game.

In 2001, The Carspeckens began the Faux Pas comic strip on the internet. They also invented Sweet Treats, a Furry cookbook series, as well as selling general anthropomorphic and wildlife art.

In 2002, Jonathan Ian Mathers began Neurotically Yours, introducing Foamy The Squirrel as the first Furry star to come out of Internet Flash Animation.

In 2002, Disney released Lilo & Stitch, introducing their first ALF Furry character.

In 2003, the BBC animated The Cunning Little Vixen, employing Geoff Dunbar, who also worked on Paul McCartney’s Rupert project.

In 2003, Disney released Brother Bear.

In 2003, Jerry Gallen published Org’s Odyssey, A Tale Of Post Human Earth, kicking off a trilogy of anthropomorphic novels taking place in a world called Anthropia.

In 2004, a prime time CGI show for adults called Father Of The Pride featured an all Anthropomorphic Animal cast. The show quickly failed for several reasons, one of the more interesting of which seems to have been protest from a parents’ group against using Anthropomorphic Animals in a show for adults, effectively telling adult aged fans they weren’t allowed to have Anthropomorphic Animals.

In 2004, Disney released Home On The Range.

In 2004, Lisa Cotton, aka Hollyann, began the web comic Mountain Poutine.

In 2004, Perri Rhoades began serializing Spectral Shadows on the net.

In 2005, Dreamworks produced Madagascar.

In 2005, The Pinky Show began on the internet. A flash animation show using talking cats and bunnies to explain politics to adults.

In 2005, Disney released Chicken Little.

In 2006, Disney released The Wild.

In 2006, Dreamworks produced Over The Hedge.

In 2008, Dreamworks produced Kung Fu Panda.

In 2008, Disney released Bolt.

In 2008, Jerry Gallen serialized an updated version of Org’s Odyssey on the net under the new title Saga Terra Odysseus. Author’s description: “Odysseus is the first installment of my Saga Terra series, about a world, Terra, populated by anthropomorphs, where two nations, Asgard and Niflheim, have engaged in several wars across several millenniums, and another war is about to break out upon the islands of Britannia, with a hero, Org Odysseus Otterland, being fated to bring peace to his land.”

In 2009, Disney released The Princess And The Frog.

In Conclusion

That brings us up to date, and to the part of the document where I’m supposed to write some kind of summery or draw some kind of conclusion about all this.

In a sense, it seems pretentious to be so over analytical about something so simple that has been a fixture of human culture since forever. Humans will be humans, and it’s only human to love animals. We adore them for their cuteness and the things they indirectly teach us about ourselves. Why then should it be any kind of surprise that the long history of human culture is littered with animal art and stories, or that you should learn a large segment of the human population are fans of such things?

The fans themselves only over analyze it because outsiders insist on seeing something sinister or depraved in it, and therefore Furry fans have to be able to explain themselves. Otherwise it’s just an interest or hobby like any other - only really interesting to those who share it. But as long as we’ve come this far, I’ll try to explain what I see in all this.

One thing I have learned from researching this material is how big the misconceptions are in regard to just who constitutes The Furry Fandom. With only a handful of exceptions, just about every Disney animated feature made the list. While the number of comic strips and comic books these characters have starred in through the decades is beyond counting. Which reveals to me a picture of millions of people all over the world of all ages enjoying this material, honoring it with awards and recognition for its artistic merit. And all of these people who enjoy this material being justified in calling themselves Furries, if they choose to do so.

Another thing I’ve seen are the similarities that so many detractors of the fandom refuse to look at, insisting that the name something is called makes all the difference, as if Furry couldn’t have existed before the late 70’s, because we hadn’t started calling it by that name yet. As if the fans who gathered under that name hadn’t already been fans, probably for the length of their entire lives, some of them at that time being old enough to have enjoyed the interest since the 40’s, regardless of what it was called, or if it was called anything at all.

Was Felix Salten what we would today call a Furry? Absolutely. Walt Disney? No doubt about it. C. S. Lewis? It would appear so. These were the people of their times who caught the enthusiasm for Anthropomorphic Animals and worked their tails off on risky ventures when they could easily have found more secure types of work to create. But they had the passion for that type of character, just as every artist in the modern fandom does.

But, were they the only ones? Or are they just the ones we commonly know about because they hit it big? It seems inconceivable to me that, back in the 40’s, when Funny Animals were at their highest peak in history, that there wouldn’t have been a huge fandom of young people, drawing their fingers off, trying to learn that craft, either for fun, or in some hope of having a future in that art form.

The links that tie the current day fandom to the relative fandoms of old are obscured by time, but you can see in the history a thread passed from generation to generation, artists inspiring other artists to try new things with the idea, causing it to snowball through the years, until it finally got so big that it demanded notice and recognition as a specific idea in the arts.

This stuff has been selling since the 1800’s to children and adults alike. That in itself is evidence of an unacknowledged fandom existing, and waiting ever impatiently to see where the idea would go next. The only change that occurred at the point where the fandom is commonly claimed to have started was the advent of the internet, allowing the fans who had long existed to finally have means of communication.

If I were to put a video here of an artist drawing a Furry character with no commentary, you wouldn’t be able to tell if it was a Disney animator, a comic book creator or a Furry artist drawing it. All practice the same skill, and all would look perfectly identical. Only society seeks to make some distinction for the sake of some useless prejudice, which has no basis in fact.

Furry, like cartoons and art in general, does not create society. It is a product of society, a reflection of it, something that grew up with us as we matured as a society down through the ages. So, if you see something different in the Furry art of today and the Furry art of yesteryear, you will find the reason for that in society itself. It’s not an indication that the art form has changed, or that the artists themselves are any different. It’s just that there are so many things one can get away with these days that previously would not have been allowed.

In times when human society was innocent, Furry was also very innocent. In times when society went through periods of relaxed morality, Furry became risqué to whatever extent society demanded. In times of war Furry became patriotic. In times of excess Furry reflected our prosperity. In times of poverty, Furry sought to sustain us. And in times of intolerance, Furry sought to enlighten us.

We are at a point these days where anything can be done, and the things in greatest demand are the things that push the envelop. And Furry, as always, is right there with society, helping to break down the walls of restraint. And whatever the next generation demands, Furry will be right there, reflecting back who they are, for better or worse.

Through time and memorial Furry has and will continue to show us who we are through the thoughts and visions of those we can never be - those Furry characters who so easily become our conscience, heart, inspiration and sense of humor.

All this portends an artistic idea of extreme relevance, as worthy of respect and adoration as any other field of the arts. It suggests that when one says one is proud to be a Furry, one has a heck of a lot to take pride in. Especially if one has created something worthy of taking a place in this prestigious history.