In 1943, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry penned The Little Prince, a novel that combines talking animals, science fiction and idealistic philosophy. Often overlooked for its relevance to the Furry interest, "The Little Prince" is significant in that it represents an evolution from the veiled allegorical criticisms of human society found in "Bambi." It willfully uses talking animals to express the idea that humans have got the values of life all wrong.

In 1944, Olaf Stapledon wrote Sirius, a science fiction fable about a dog granted intelligence through scientific experimentation.

In 1945, E. B. White penned Stuart Little, an interesting concept about a family of humans adopting a mouse. White would go on to pen Charlotte's Web in 1952, a book that, like Bambi, is sometimes denounced as animal rights propaganda, though its intended effect seems to be more an allegory of the inevitability of mortality. White then concluded his trilogy of Furry novels with The Trumpet Of The Swan in 1973.

In 1945, George Orwell penned Animal Farm, one of the first allegorical animal novels to be recognized as a work specifically for adult readers. Like "Bambi," "Animal Farm" is often sighted as a political reference. It is, to begin with, an allegory of historical events, which it portrays in a manner that is not flattering to humanity. And it has resulted in an increased tendency to refer to the victims of oppressed governments allegorically as animals.

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

Throughout the 1940’s and 50’s, Furries appeared in a number of unusual tales created for the then new children’s record market.  The Furry-Tales on these rare 78 RPM records usually involve some kind of practical moral, continuing the tradition of Aesop’s Fables.

Furry-Tales proved to be a medium in which more enlightened authors could instill in children moral lessons that were not acceptable in general society at the time.  One such example is Herman Ermine In Rabbit Town.  Here the author is obviously delivering a message to encourage racial tolerance, sneaking through the back door of 1940’s taboos by creating a story involving white rabbits and black rabbits.

The early years of television brought about a tragedy for classic animation and Funny Animal fans. As many of the early animation studios went out of business, their cartoons were sold to television. In preparing these cartoons for broadcast on black & white TV, the negatives were doctored and tinted, resulting in a large portion of our animation history being unavailable in its original state, if not irretrievably lost. Read here the fate of Paramount’s cartoons and see also the amount of Funny Animal characters from just one studio that you’ve probably never heard of.

Many classic Funny Animal characters became symbols of Americana.  And when America went to war in the 40’s, Funny Animals went to war as well, along with all the other cartoon characters of the era, often adorning the sides of airplanes and bombs.  Thus it should be obvious that they were not only adored by adults, they were considered part of what made America special.  See here an entire squadron flying under the banner of Felix The Cat.

It was only during a 40 year period, between the mid 50’s and the mid 90’s that Funny Animals or anthropomorphic characters were widely considered to be just for kids.

The cause for this period of decline is unclear.  I can only conjecture that, while Funny Animals flourished during World War 2 as a part of patriotic Americana, they did not mesh with the less patriotic and more fearful era of The Cold War and The Vietnam War.

There may have been greater pressure on people to give up light hearted things during those years, and to have a deeper obsession with reality and practicality.  Thus, even though some Furry cartoons continued to include adult oriented gags, they did not retain the appeal to adults that Funny Animals had enjoyed during the first half of the century. 

What had greater appeal to older fantasy audiences during that period were Marvel Comics with their serious, soap opera-like involved and continuing plots.  Again, this reflects an era of disturbed readers whose needs could not be filled by the absolute fantasy of Funny Animals.  They needed strong heroes they could identify with to give them a feeling of empowerment, and they needed stories relevant to the problems they faced in real life.

Yet, even the super hero genre has a tendency towards anthropomorphism, and thus a connection to Furry Fandom.  The most popular character to come out of Marvel Comics is Spiderman.  Unlike earlier superheroes, such as Batman, Spiderman’s animal nature goes a lot deeper than the aesthetics of his costume.  The premise leans more heavily on science fiction, and thus more deeply dwells on the idea of a human who acquires animal attributes.

In the 50’s, the main venue of cartoons shifted from theatrical shorts to TV programs. The first TV cartoon was Crusader Rabbit (1950) which dramatically illustrated how different TV cartoons were going to be from theatrical shorts.

TV cartoons had to be churned out much faster and on much lower budgets. But this didn’t really hurt them in terms of appeal. After all, most toons functioned very well in comic strips where they didn’t move at all. And, still being in the tail end of the golden age of radio, it was no trick to create a fully engrossing soundtrack. Actually, many radio actors would go into cartoon voiceovers at the end of the radio era. And it is still tradition today in TV cartoons to have very well produced soundtracks and voice characterizations cover for the most limited of animation.

The bulk of what went on in terms of experimentation with TV cartoons between Crusader Rabbit and the late 50’s is rather obscure. My guess is this wasn’t seen as the most practical means of providing children’s entertainment in a black & white medium. Instead, the era gave rise to something new - sock puppet shows like Kukla, Fran & Ollie and Howdy Doody. Most of which could boast at least one or two Furry characters. Shari Lewis being the most significant of these in terms of over all Furriness, as she was the only one to focus specifically on animal characterizations. While Captain Kangaroo also boasted some endearing Furry characters in prominent roles.

Both Shari Lewis And Captain Kangaroo went on to become institutions of children’s entertainment, popular throughout the rest of their lives. While other such shows that did not make prominent use of Furry character appeal proved to quickly become dated and unable to maintain popularity throughout the generations.

At the end of the 1950’s, Hanna-Barbera entered and revolutionized the TV cartoon business with a long string of enduringly popular Furry characters. From 1958 throughout the 60’s they introduced such characters as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quickdraw McGraw, Ruff & Ready, Top Cat, Pixie & Dixie & Mr. Jinx, Magilla Gorilla, Peter Potamus, Atom Ant, Secret Squirrel, Super Snooper, Yakky Doodle, Snaglepuss, Wally Gator, Touché Turtle, Lippy The Lion, Punkin' Puss, Ricochet Rabbit, The Banana Splits, The Hillbilly Bears, Scooby Doo, and Cattanooga Cats.

In 1959, Margery Sharp published the first book in The Miss Bianca series, which was a nice series of novels that no one seems to write much about these days. Though you can read lots about the Disney movies that resulted from it.

Though Funny Animals in animation and comic books were now getting boxed into the kiddy corner, that didn’t stop a live action talking horse called Mr. Ed from becoming the star of an all ages sit-com in 1961.

Some time earlier, in 1958, Ross Bagdasarian had created The Chipmunks as a novelty for Liberty Records, little knowing that his creation would become one of the longest lived institutions in Furry character history, sans the classic Disney and Warner era characters.

In 1961, The Chipmunks made the jump from records to television, and they have since made regular comebacks, repopularizing themselves for subsequent generations, both as cartoons and as a recording act.

Also in 1961, the radio institution of Amos & Andy, running since the 1920’s and still on the air at this point, had failed to make the transition to television, due to the problem of the black radio characters having been voiced by white actors. Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll still wanted to do something in television with their ethnic voice characterizations. So animation was the next logical thing to try. And how best to sneak past the rising disapproval of ethnic characterizations than to voice Furry characters. Hence Amos & Andy became Furries in the series Calvin and the Colonel.

Other Furry cartoons of note during the 1960’s include Rocky and Bullwinkle (1959), Deputy Dawg (1959), Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse (1960), Tennessee Tuxedo (1963), Linus the Lionhearted (1964), Underdog (1964), Batfink (1967), and The Pink Panther (1969).

The 60’s also saw the first explosion of anime in America.  Anime came riding in on the popularity of a childishly corny, but intensely loveable little robot called Astro Boy. But Astro Boy’s creator, Osamu Tezuka, a life long fan of American comics and animation, was quick to turn his attention to Funny Animals. His “Kimba The White Lion,” repeated the success of Astro Boy and was Japan’s first color television cartoon. (More about Kimba later)

However, Tezuka also had a background in science fiction.  And he viewed the Funny Animal genre far more seriously than anyone in the American TV networks could understand at the time.  He was constantly concerned with plot, continuity, art, and above all, projecting messages of world importance.

To this end, Tezuka produced another series featuring animal characters called Amazing 3. (Wonder 3 in Japan)  “Amazing 3” tells the story of three aliens who come to Earth and disguise themselves as a horse, a bunny and a duck.  Their mission is to evaluate if humanity is a threat to galactic peace.  And should they determine that humanity is too violent and corrupt to be allowed to survive, they have with them a bomb that will destroy the planet.

“Amazing 3” is legendary in Furry Fandom - legendary because very few have actually seen it.  All master prints of the original American dubs have been lost, leaving only a handful of episodes preserved on primitive video tape recorders available to collectors. 

In the late 60’s, underground counter culture comic books began poking fun at old established icons by using them in adult oriented satire comics, which often featured nudity and bad language.  One of the icons they made prominent use of was Funny Animals, and one of the most popular titles in counter culture comics was “Fritz The Cat” by Robert Crumb.

Just as the works of Felix Salten, George Orwell, Richard Adams and Richard Bach form the main justification for a genre of adult oriented intellectual Furry literature, the counter culture underground Funny Animal comics of the late 60’s and early 70’s established a precedent for an adult sexually oriented Furry comics movement some 20 years later.  They proved that Funny Animals could not only appeal to children, intellectuals and sci-fi fans.  They could also appeal to sexually liberated mature audiences.

In 1970, Richard Bach penned Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  This intensely popular best seller fully explores the ideas of theological allegory that are hinted at in “Bambi,” doing so without the childish tendencies of “The Little Prince.” There is no question in this book that the author is speaking directly to adults and attempting to broaden their philosophy by expanding on New Age interpretation of religious ideals and metaphysical theories.

At this point, one might ask, why are animal stories like "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and "Animal Farm" so effective in communicating ideas to adults that they would not sit still for in any other form?  How is it possible that serious adults, so far removed from the fairytales of their youth, see so much of themselves in animal characters?

Perhaps it is because the animal story can not be seen as so directly critical of one’s personal life, as it would if the characters were human.  Or perhaps there is such an air of strangeness to imagining these ideas being spoken by animals that it fascinates the reader into unlocking a normally closed mind.  More likely the reader is fascinated to find himself seeing life through the eyes of some other creature whom he knows he should feel no empathy for, and yet somehow finding the experience quite vivid and emotional.

Regardless of such speculation, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" is historically important to the Furry interest, as it is a successful philosophical and religious work that effectively brought the ancient idea of the Furry fable into the realms of modern ideology.

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.

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 art rock bands to display influences from early children’s literature, this was not surprising. What was shocking was that Peter Gabriel walked out on stage and performed dressed as a female anthropomorphic fox. 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, Marvel comics suffered it’s own close encounter with 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 R 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.

Furry literature of a more juvenile nature also continued to flourish in the decades following World War 2, progressively experimenting with drawing aspects of popular adult genres into children’s literature.  Examples: The Chronicles Of Narnia (Sword & Sorcery) The Miss Bianca Series (Spy Fiction) Mrs. Frisby & The Rats Of NIMH (Science Fiction.)

                    

This sort of thing baffles most literary critics as they attempt to rationalize Furry as a genre.  Furries seem capable of easily crossing into any other genre, and it’s a mystery to some how one genre can effectively include all other genres within itself.  The elusive solution is that no matter what genre Furry actors tackle, the very presence of talking animals takes that genre into an alternate reality where even a historical drama based on fact becomes Furry fantasy. The need to explain new types of fandoms of such an expansive nature has spawned a new word, metagenre.

                         

Yet, though Furries have never had a problem being accepted in any kind of feature aimed specifically at children, they have enjoyed limited success appealing to other audiences.  The idea of Funny Animals remains a forbiddon concept in many mature and conservative minds.

The most sure fire way to get practical adults to sit up and take notice of Furry, or any other kind of comics, alternative literature or animation is to give it a World War 2 theme.  Such as the Japanese manga comic “Barefoot Gen” or the Furry comic Maus.  These not only get respect from adults, they win awards.  Unfortunately this still fails to get the message across to most adults that the ability of comics, cartoons and Funny Animals to tell serious stories is not a one time fluke.  It’s something that has been proven many times over the course of the 20th century.

In the post Vietnam War years of the 70’s the counter culture fell, and there was a general decline in artistic output all around.  Children’s entertainment in general suffered a period of cheap, poorly produced comics and cartoons that rarely held up to what had been accomplished in previous decades.  And the idea of fantasy for adults was rarely even suggested.

For a period of about 3 or 4 years the world struggled to rationalize its post war/post counter culture identity.  Thus the mid 70’s are remembered best for benign disco and sit-coms.  This was the death of cosmic philosophies, fear of government and a desperate need to change the world.  With all that gone, the youth of the upcoming generation found itself in need of new obsessions.

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.  The opening song, “The Mouse Police Never Sleeps,” refers to the anthropomorphic characters in the song as “Little Furry Folk.”

“Furry Folk” was not a new term. Collective animal societies in children’s literature had been referred to as “Furry Folk” as far back as the 1920’s.  But this Jethro Tull song, as well as a line of animal puppets which began production around the same time, called The Furry Folk Puppets, demonstrate that the term “Furry” was gaining popularity in the 70’s.

The trailer for the 1973 re-release of Disney’s “Cinderella” also makes reference to Cinderella’s “Furry Friends.”  Genesis also uses the term “Furry” in their song “Squonk.”  These and other examples show that the term “Furry” was around in the 70’s and gaining popularity as a master term for fantasy animal characters.  It was never officially coined, but just naturally seemed to work it's way into the vocabulary as a descriptive term.

In the late 70’s an explosive renaissance of fantasy began to be seen, much of it having Furry implications.  The first “Star Wars” movie was produced, “Elfquest” began publication, Piers Anthony began his Xanth series, Role Playing Games were invented, and Furry characters began returning to children’s cartoons in perfusion, displacing the super heroes that had dominated Saturday morning TV for nearly a decade.

The new generation was finding its niche.  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 1984, DIC produced one of the most overlooked milestones in anthropomorphic cartoons, The Get Along Gang. 

Based on a collection of anthropomorphic characters created for the American Greetings company, The Get Along Gang was one of the first shows to demonstrate a world of half animal humans, similar to the worlds that later were established for adult comics like Shanda The Panda. 

This was not the first time an anthropomorphic cartoon world had been created. It was actually quite common to do this back during the 30’s and 40’s. But The Get Along Gang was different in that it was not a completely slapstick series where it is easy to get lost in the laughter and forget to ask questions like, “Is there a logical premise for this world of animal people?” “Is this some other planet where this kind of mixed life form is natural?” Or, “Was this once a purely human species that was corrupted by animal experimentation or genetic warfare?”

Another such show that begged the viewer to ask questions that the producers of the show never answered was My Little Pony. This serialized adventure show seemed to tease its more thoughtful viewers with a number of tricky concepts that would have elevated the show beyond its targeted age group if they were explored. 

One thing I always wondered about was the idea of the character Megan traveling back and forth between the real world and Ponyland, finding the pony society changed every time she returned and the entire cast of ponies completely replaced.  People of practical mind would say, “Aww, that just meant that Hasbro brought out a new line of toys.” But a science fiction writer like myself could not help seeing it as two parallel time zones moving at different speeds, causing Megan to witness the birth and death of multiple generations of ponies.  Also, the fact that pony society was pretty much all female invited considerable curiosity about their mating practices. 

This was the main difference between the Funny Animal explosion of the 30’s & 40’s and the Funny Animal explosion of the 80’s.  The new shows could be portrayed with much more seriousness and drama.  In that less hysterical atmosphere it was possible for people to stop and contemplate the concepts.  And as the original viewers of those shows grew older, their memories of the shows and their personal feelings for the characters grew up with them.  This has resulted in a flood of adult oriented fan fiction which explore and expand upon the concepts they came up with to fill in those things that were never explained. 

Like the cartoons and comics of the 30’s and 40’s, the Saturday morning cartoons in the 80’s offered far too many Furry titles to document here.  Some of the more significant titles included, Shirt Tails, The Puppy’s Great Adventures, Monchichis, the animated Ewoks series, Popples, Care Bears, and so on. 

Another such cartoon that had significant impact on Furry fans was Chip N Dale’s Rescue Rangers, mainly because of the character Gadget, who was seen by many Furry fans as embodying a previously unexplored level of attractiveness in anthropomorphics.  This would later inspire many adult Furry fans to have a particular fondness for anthropomorphic female mice, resulting in the creation of an erotic art site called “Playmouse.”

Another character of significance was Cleo of The Cadillac Cats. Whereas Gadget was simply cute, Cleo had a visible sexuality, while wearing no clothing other than her leg warmers. Today there is a sphere of thought that this constitutes nudity. But that notion did not exist back then. 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. And it would not be long before numerous fans were noticing the potential sexuality of Furry characters and experimenting with more adult oriented Furry story, comic and art content.

Simultaneous to the Saturday morning Furry explosion of the 80’s, the world of comics was enjoying a previously unheard of explosion of independent publishing companies, most of which had their sights fixed on an age group higher than the Saturday morning cartoon crowd.  Yet the allure of Funny Animals was not lost on these independent publishers who soon began churning out titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Albedo, Usagi Yojimbo, Cutey Bunny, Critters and Omaha The Cat Dancer.

These ranged from titles that were eventually adapted for younger audiences to titles that were entirely age restricted.  They tend to reflect a lot of interests relative to older people.   “Cutey Bunny” in particular pays almost continual homage to nostalgia icons that one would have been expected to be at least in one’s 20’s to even know about, if not in one's 40's.   “Usagi Yojimbo” reflects the earliest form of anime fandom in America, which was only accessible at the time to people who could understand Japanese or had the patience to read subtitles.  “Albedo” seriously attempted to reach out to a mature science fiction audience.   “Omaha The Cat Dancer” firmly re-established the potential of Funny Animals in sexually oriented underground comics.  While “Ninja Turtles” shocked everyone by becoming a major popular phenomenon.

But, for those who desired Furry entertainment of an intellectually mature nature, the best place to be in the 80’s was the fantasy novel market. 

One of the first successful fantasy authors of this new era to make prominent use of Furry characters and concepts was Piers Anthony, who at one time had at least three series going simultaneously that featured all manner of talking animals and human animal hybrids.

The Xanth series, begun in 1978 and running to the present day, dealt with a magical world that was populated by all manner of fanciful animal/human combinations. The Apprentice Adept, begun in 1980, dealt with such controversial subject matter as a human marrying a morphing unicorn. The Mode series, begun in 1991, dealt with a talking horse with the power to traverse time and space.

Alan Dean Foster then followed suit in 1983 with his Spellsinger series, which was more specifically focused on half animal anthropomorphic characters who walked upright and wore clothes. 

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 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.

These offerings of freeform fantasy were the genre of Lewis Carroll and L. Frank Baum grown up.  It was the Furry interest returning to its roots in novels to re-establish itself.  And to this day the fantasy novel market is the one place where intellectually mature stories about talking animals and mythical beasts flourish.  More Furry novels.

At this point I have not given much attention to live action Furry films in my chronology, though there are a number of them. One that defies omission is Ladyhawke. (1985) Most live action Furry movies are either childish, comical or in the Gothic horror genre. Seldom do you find one that stands out as a unique Furry classic, but this is definitely one of them.

The plethora of Furry characters created in the 80’s indoctrinated a whole new generation to the attractiveness of Furry fantasy, as well as its potential to appeal to adults.  It was around this time that certain individuals on the internet and at comics conventions began attempting to unite the fandom for this genre.

Those on the net who have written chronologies of significant events in the history of Furry Fandom often cite Kimba The White Lion (1965) and Disney’s Robin Hood (1973) as being the pivotal events that got them into Furry Fandom, rarely if ever acknowledging more than a century of previous experimentation and development in the Furry arts.  This reflects the age groups that dominate the online Furry Community.  Few are old enough to have experienced much of the Furry entertainment that existed before Kimba. 

Furry fans as old as myself and older exist in great abundance throughout the world, but older people are often computer illiterate and don't travel in circles that would bring them into contact with the online Furry Community.  Thus, most chronologies to be found on the net are incomplete and subject to the personal experience of the individual writers.  However, the titles they cite often do reflect important advances in the Furry interest.

For myself, I can say that Kimba The White Lion had significant impact on me in my youth and is one of the major reasons I have had an obsessive interest in Furry stories for most of my 45 years.

Kimba is significant in that he was the first anthropomorphic cartoon animal to set forward a personal morality contrary to the human norm and preach it to millions of children.  “Eating animals is wrong,” Kimba said time after time.  Treating animals differently because of species was also wrong in Kimba’s theology.  Humans placing themselves above animals was wrong.  And so forth and so on.

Unlike Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Kimba was not passive about sharing his ideology.  Kimba got up in your face and preached his moral edicts with a roar and extended claws to silence anyone who challenged his endeavors to prove that all creatures, human and animal alike, could live together in peace without killing each other.  He even went so far as to insist that the predator animals eat veggie burgers.

Truly I’ve felt guilty all my life for my diet because of that show.  If my parents would have supported my efforts to do so I’d probably have grown up a vegetarian.  But, even if I couldn’t live up to that particular ideal of Kimba’s, other things he preached have stayed with me and influence me to this day.  Note the comment on my personal stats page, “Justice must always be served and the weak must always be defended.”  That’s part of the impression Kimba left on me.  Actually, in terms of impact on children, Kimba just plain beats the stuffing out of “The Lion King.”

When I was a child watching this, I took it very seriously.  I never thought of Kimba as being in the same context as more toonish animals like Bugs Bunny.  I looked on it as a demonstration of how you evaluate the righteousness of your own actions and justifications by looking at them from the perspective of those who suffer because of your lifestyle.

It was not until the other day when I was showing some episodes of Kimba to a friend who was curious about the “Lion King” controversy that I realized just how toonish and funny that show was.  Watching an adult aged person who had never seen the show before doubling over in hysterics at things I had never before realized were gags was quite a revelation.  It seems that the show is a laugh fest for adults, but it can be a life altering experience for children who are so overwhelmed by its condemnation of their everyday activities that they completely miss the humor.

The question that now runs through my mind is how many other children my age watched this show, hanging on Kimba’s every word as gospel, and thus developed an uncommon sympathy for animal characters.

As far as Disney’s Robin Hood is concerned, it may well have been for many people an eye opening experience in the art of anthropomorphics.  But it was hardly the first such anthropomorphic film, nor the first time anthropomorphic characters had been drawn with extreme cuteness and sex appeal. 

If there was anything unique about Disney’s Robin Hood, it was the fact that the hero and heroine were anthropomorphic foxes, and Furry fans seem to have an unusual soft spot for 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 half human animal characters from their relative roles in nature and granting them the personal choice of whether to be heroes or villains.

Others cite The Secret Of NIMH (1982) as the significant event that got them into the fandom.  Though this was only one of a number of attempts during that time period to create animated Furry fantasy films with previously unheard of adult appeal.  Others included Watership Down (1978), The Plague Dogs (1982), The Flight Of Dragons (1982) and The Last Unicorn (1982). 

What set The Secret Of NIMH apart from those other films was that it did not attempt to distance itself from Disney style cuteness in its effort to reach out to a more mature audience. 

While the other films wowed audiences with their fascinating stories, The Secret Of NIMH wowed audiences not only with a fascinating, inspiring and socially relevant story, its visual effects and the expressive appearance of its characters threatened to elevate animation to a whole new level that would have been irresistible to adult fantasy fans. 

One has to wonder how either the book or the movie was allowed to be published.  The NIMH story is absolutely unique in Children’s literature in that its entire concept revolves around open criticism of actual activities going on at a real US Government institution, The National Institute Of Mental Health.  And if you think in terms of the stem cel research that is probably going on there at this moment, causing all kinds of debates about how it’s immoral because it might raise the intelligence level of animals, “The Secret Of NIMH” should be by far the most controversial animated film ever made.

But if the government was in any way offended by the book or the film, they were smart to stay quiet about it.  From what I’ve seen most fans seem incognizant of the fact that there really is a NIMH, or that, if you live in Maryland as I do, it's disturbingly accessible to the rosebush in your backyard. 

All anyone seems to see is an outstanding display of animation craftsmanship and a cast of exceptionally endearing characters. Here a fan interviews Don Bluth Studios about NIMH. Note that he asks about everything but the relationship to the real world institution.

For some reason, the great advance in animation for adults promised by "The Secret Of NIMH" never materialized.  In fact, there was a general disrespect and misunderstanding of the film.  Certain theaters didn’t even bother to put the title on their marquees.  Instead they billed it simply as “Kiddy Film."

Yet, for those like myself who saw it and understood the potential it represented, “The Secret Of NIMH” was a privately heralded event, both as an elevation of animation itself and of the Furry interest. 

It was perhaps because of the poor reception for this film that Don Bluth gave up his lofty ideals and basically became the other Disney after that.  All subsequent attempts at adult oriented animation in America were poorly produced and had little impact. 

Meanwhile, over in Japan, Osamu Tezuka, who had originally given us Kimba, carried on the torch of elevating both the Furry interest and animation for adults.  American audiences to this day have not seen most of his efforts.  But the end result was that Japan got the mature animation industry that so many American fantasy fans longed for.  While America tenaciously held on to its tradition of the kid friendly family oriented animated musical Furry tale. 

One of the most significant of Tezuka’s Furry ventures was Bagi, The Monster Of Mighty Nature. (1984)  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. 

Another of Tezuka’s Furry creations which actually made it to America was Unico. (1981)  Unico is a curious mix of "Kimba The White Lion" and "The Secret Of NIMH."  It retains an extreme element of cuteness and innocence that most people would say is beyond the tolerance of anyone but a child to enjoy.  Yet the stories in the Unico series are so dramatic, emotional, suspenseful and executed without homage to the Disney formula that the films stand out as elevations of both animation and the Furry interest.

In 1990, Samurai Pizza Cats became the last major Funny Animal title of the 80’s explosion.  Beyond that point, children’s television, as well as just about all segments of popular culture, would fall into a self proclaimed state of Grunge, in which any type of cuteness was seen as offensive.  Thus fans of cute art forms were driven underground.

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 fandom, identical to Furry Fandom 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.

The title which best exemplified the relationship between the Anime and Furry genres in the 90’s was Fred Perry’s Gold Digger.  Though obviously a Furry title, both "Gold Digger" and it’s creator were staples of the Anime/Manga scene in America at that time.  Thus, much of the popularity of "Gold Digger" was credited to the Anime scene, and the Furry scene ended up not getting much credit for what was one of its more respectable titles during that period.

Another title which showed the relationship between the American Manga and Furry scenes was Ninja High School.  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.

Meanwhile, from the Japanese end of the spectrum, a number of the Anime titles that were gaining an underground following in America had serious Furry implications.  There was Ranma ½, an animated sit-com about martial artists who turn into animals when they get wet.  There was Yu Yu Hakusho, in which one of the main characters is a spirit fox.  There was Tonde Buurin (Super Pig) a super hero parody about a girl who transforms into a super powered anthropomorphic pig.  There was Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, a sci-fi comedy in which the brain of a dying cat is transplanted into the body of an android.  There was Di Gi Charat with its bizarre little aliens who dress and talk like animals.  There was Dominion Tank Police with The Puma Sisters.  There was Dream Hunter REM with her cute dog and kitty companions who transform into her mighty Furry spirit guardians.  There was Ko Century Beastketteers about anthropomorphic animals with mecha totems.  And Slayers provided a number of anthropomorphic characters in the supporting cast, including Jillas The Fox and Filia The Dragon Girl.

Also, almost every Anime title of that era had an obligatory Furry mascot who frequently stole the show.  From Tenchi Muyo came Ryo-okki.  From Magic Knight Rayearth came Mokona.  From Saint Tail came Ruby the Hedgehog.  From Nadia came King The Lion.  And from Sailor Moon came Luna and Artimus.

Throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, the mainstream adult fantasy market had grown to ridiculous proportions.  Both Anime and Furries were known to exist in the general fantasy and sci-fi circles that developed, but they tended to be disrespected, misunderstood, underrated and ignored by those groups. 

Thus, in the mid 90’s, came the great push to force into the spotlight both Anime and Furry materials that would appeal to the mature fantasy market’s well known attraction to sex and violence.  The result of this was that the first thing many people saw of Anime and Furries was explicit, child restricted material. 

Though great effort went into the non-explicit Furry anthology series Furrlough, and though “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Albedo” and “Usagi Yojimbo” had provided precedent for the development of a legitimate Furry comics market for readers of all ages, it was sexually oriented titles like Tank Vixens, Shanda The Panda, Katmandu and Genus that most visibly represented the adult Furry comic book market in the 90's.  While simultaneously, the American Anime distributors actively worked to keep titles like Sailor Moon from being accepted, in favor of titles that included extreme sex and violence.

This has resulted in something of a prejudice, causing many to think that the whole point of the Furry and Anime interests is sexy eye candy and bloody violence.  And it remains difficult for most of the uninitiated to grasp how any kind of cartoon story can appeal to adults on the basis of cerebral or dramatic content. 

After Sailor Moon hit it big in America, Anime gained exposure rapidly, while simultaneously comic publishers started losing interest in Furry.  And Furry Fandom had no other consistent venue of professional products of a mature nature.  Thus The Furry Community found itself in a struggle for survival, and it fled to the internet as a means for the fans to supply each other's needs. 

However, in spite of the split, to this day many venders at Anime cons consider anthropomorphic comics to be part of the normal sphere of interest for a significant number of Manga enthusiasts.  While a significant number of today’s Furry artists display obvious Anime/Manga influences.  Though now somewhat estranged, the two art movements remain siblings.

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.

Interestingly, the Beanie Babies craze swept the world around the same time.  To parents at that time it must have seemed as if their kids had all gone Furry.

Since then, one of the most notable venues of Furry entertainment has been video games, with titles such as Pokemon, Sonic The Hedgehog and Star Fox maintaining popularity.  And the feature film market has enjoyed great success with such titles as Madagascar, The Wild, and Over The Hedge.

Furry characters seem ideally suited to the new 3 dimensional animation formats, and this bodes well for a future full of Furry fun to come.

Meanwhile, the age old tradition of the Furry comic strip continues in a wide variety of free comics that are available on line.

Furry On The Internet

Below you will find links to some of my personal favorite Furry comics and stories on the net. Please note that much of what is created for the net is adult of nature. Adult of nature does not always equate to explicit content. Much of this stuff is down right innocent and charming. But some may include adult language, controversial subject matter, or Furry nudity (which I personally think is an oxymoron.) I will not include here anything that I consider to be more graphic than my own series.

This is a new section of this page that I'm just starting. More links to come. Suggestions welcome.