Unfamiliar Territory

We’ve talked previously of the problems facing perceptions of anthropomorphic characters. Our main focus was how some consider them too cute to be taken seriously or cannot get past the initial association of anthropomorphic animals with children and children’s media.

However, there is one other perception of anthropomorphic animals that actually escaped my mind until it was recently brought up:

Some folks just have no idea what anthro animals should look like.

I’m not talking about writers being unable to consistently describe animal characters of various levels of anthropomorphism, though that certainly causes its own problems. The main issue, once again, lies in perception. I think it’s difficult to really make a blanket statement of what this exactly is, but I will try with an example.

When I talk to a friend about an awesome story centering on a suave, sophisticated cat that drives about town and stumbles into a world of villainy and violence, he pictures this:

I'll bet he eats Fancy Feast.

  

Meanwhile, while I’m talking about this, I have THIS picture in my mind’s eye:

He probably does too, though more literally.

  

Not quite the same thing, is it? It certainly gives a very different ‘feel’ to the story depending upon which of these you’re picturing and which one speaks more to the kinds of characters that you enjoy.

It wasn’t until somebody, after reading a story of mine, said to me that they were picturing normal dogs in human clothing that I realized this mental separation existed. Not everybody grew up with Disney or Don Bluth films to color their perception of talking animals, and I think some of us fans of anthropomorphic literature forget that. I remember reading a friend’s work in which he actually wanted the reader to picture more realistic animals wielding guns and swords rather than cartoony creatures that we would see cavorting with the likes of Mickey Mouse. He felt one type of visual lent itself better to dark and serious story-telling than the other.

That is why I think that anthropomorphic literature, perhaps more than most, benefits a great deal from having art of some kind. Not only is good anthro art a pleasure to look at for fans of the genre, but it also helps readers to picture characters that they may have no other mental frame of reference for. It gives readers a place to start and helps make the story less about understanding WHAT you’re reading about and more about understanding WHO you’re reading about. It’s sort of like those readers that like to see a movie version of a book before reading so that they can picture the actors and scenery better during the story.

It hurts to admit it, but sometimes it doesn’t matter how wonderful your descriptions are. If a person can’t picture some fantastical creature that you’re describing and billing as your protagonist, they’re going to struggle.

Also, when I say that anthropomorphic literature really benefits from art, I don’t necessarily mean that they need to have illustrations throughout the book. Sometimes a simple, well-done picture on the cover can do all that it needs to help readers to picture the creatures on the pages. One of the current books I’m reading is very much like that. It describes animals in a unique and strange way, giving normal-ish animals very different colorations and adornments. Thanks to the cover image, though, I’ve already got a picture in my mind of these animals, their ‘clothing’, and the type of characters I’ll be reading about!

Of course, even with that, it doesn't stop me from picturing things other than how the author exactly describes them…

... Eh, close enough.

Until next time, happy reading, all!

-Chammy

Currently reading:

The Forges of Dawn by E.M. Kinsey

Happy National Library Week!

Libraries are amazingly important to us, aren’t they?

Not only are they often the grand halls of reading that serve as havens for the book lovers among us, but they are also community centers, places of education and employment, and simply good places to come in to and relax in a quiet, and usually welcoming, atmosphere.

I don’t remember really paying all that much attention to libraries until about halfway through grade school. It was at about that time that my father started dropping me off at the library to work on my homework away from the distraction of home. While it was certainly great for helping me to focus, my favorite days quickly became the days where I had barely any homework and would have hours to peruse the stacks. I would spend most of my time at the magazine and comic racks, flipping through anything that looked cool. I remember when a librarian first told me that I could actually take something from one of those racks and just sit down and read as much as I wanted… It just had never occurred to me that you could just take a book without checking it out or paying for it and read it right there in the building! This would normally be the point where I would dazzle you all with my advanced reading of classic literature at such a young age, but really all I did initially was grab a stack of MAD magazines and read them cover to cover.

It wasn’t until a little later that I really go into browsing through the shelves for actual books but, once I did, I was rather hooked. I remember the first anthropomorphic-themed book that I ever checked out from my school library: The Wind in the Willows.

Back then, I wasn’t at all concerned about animal characters or what they meant. I didn’t even make any kind of conscious decision about liking them above any other kinds of characters. All I cared about was reading something fun, and reading about a little mole in a smoking jacket with his crazy friends sounded very fun to me indeed. I also remember feeling very accomplished, picking that book out and reading it all on my own with no teacher or parent giving it to me as some kind of assignment. My idyllic childhood memory of the book was a massive tome that had so many pages that I never knew when the end would come, but I have no idea where that memory comes from, as the book isn’t even as long as a Redwall novel.

After reading and loving The Wind in the Willows, I was determined to read more books just like it to see if they would be equally as fun. I don’t remember everything that I read, but I know that I read a ton of books about mice and cats, as they tended to appear on the covers of a lot of books. I’m pretty sure I even read one or two books that didn’t have anything to do with animals, but I picked them up anyways because there was some feline on the cover and, darn it, that was just a book that I had to read through!

It was a wonderful period of literary discovery and adventure, where I would scan the shelves eagerly for books that I hadn’t yet read or heard about. I just wanted to see new things and go on adventures with all of the characters trapped in the pages of their stories! And those adventures would never have been possible without my library or the librarians who helped me to find books that I might like. I remember one of my favorite librarians was some 20-30ish guy with puffy hair and a moustache whom I must have asked for book recommendations from at least a dozen times. I don’t know if he ever got tired of me, but I do know that I owe my first reading of Redwall and Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain to him, and I’m forever thankful.

So, here’s a tip of the hat to you, libraries. Without you, I’m certain that we readers and lovers of stories would be a far smaller bunch.

Also, today is the last day to vote in the Ursa Major Awards! Make your voice heard and vote for the best of this year’s Anthropomorphic Media! Voting only takes a valid e-mail and a few minutes.

Until next time, happy reading, all!

-Chammy

Currently Reading:

The Forges of Dawn by E.M. Kinsey