Carnivore Confusion: Difference between revisions

* The issue is mostly avoided in ''[[Bolt]]'' in which the three main characters (a dog, a cat and a hamster) are essentially treated as omnivores who eat only human food. [[Justified]] in that Bolt and Rhino have no experience outside human care while Mittens {{spoiler|has been abandoned by her owners after being declawed and can no longer hunt effectively.}}

* Referred to at least twice in ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]''; the giant anthropomorphic bugs talk about their dietary habits in a song, and the other bugs are also distrustful of Ms. Spider. She acknowledges this to be in their nature, and then there is this exchange:

'''Ms. Spider:''' Excuse... }}

* ''Lambert The Sheepish Lion'': A Disney short where a stork accidently delivers a lion to a family of sheep. It's never questioned how Lambert survives without eating the other sheep. In one scene he saves his foster mother from an evil, hungry wolf.

* As an excellent example of the "[[Predators Are Mean]]" subtrope, the otherwise [[Tastes Like Diabetes|sweet and cutesy-wootsy]] ''[[Once Upon a Forest]]'' has a [[Nightmare Fuel]] ready scene in which the anthropomorphic-to-the-extreme (except for size) heroes are menaced by a [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|terrifying, non-anthro owl]]. Um, hm...

** At least in the PC game, the owl spoke. It was [[Nightmare Fuel|pretty creepy]].

'''Owl:''' You'll figure it out... }}

* The movie ''[[Madagascar]]'' addresses this directly. Alex, the main character, is a lion raised in captivity, who is used to being fed steaks, and is blissfully unaware that his friends are his natural prey. After being stranded in the titular island, and cut off from his beloved steaks, he slowly goes mad with hunger and reverts to his animal instincts. Now his best friends [[Meat-O-Vision|look like steak to him]], and he exiles himself to the other side of the island. At the end, the situation is resolved by Alex becoming a [[No Cartoon Fish|fish eater]]. Meanwhile, Madagascar's native predators, the fossa, are depicted as dim-witted, [[Hulk Speak|Hulk-speaking]] brutes.

** Things get a little more awkward in the non-Bluth sequels with the introduction of Chomper, the ''friendly'' Sharptooth. The first few films where he shows up, it is made very clear that he could not possibly live with the main characters long term because of his dietary needs. However in the spin off television show, this has been ''[[Handwaved]]'' with him just surviving on insects, to justify upgrading him to main character status.

* The scene where Mrs. Brisby, a mouse, must seek advice from the Great Owl in ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'' is very up-front about this. The owl's home is littered with the skulls of mice the owl had eaten and the entire scene has an ominous air. Mrs. Brisby spends the entire experience scared out of her mind:

'''Jeremy:''' Uh...only after dark! }}

** In the ''book'' sequel, ''Rasco And The Rats Of Nimh'', the Owl nearly kills Timothy Frisby by snatching him up to eat until he realizes that Timothy is Mrs. Frisby's son. Timothy is really, really hurt badly.

*** Not really, there are plenty of vegan cake recipes out there. Some of them are pretty good.

* In ''[[John Dies at the End]]'', the two main characters are able to see ghosts. While explaining the source of this ability and its ramifications to a client and prospective love interest, John mentions a hamburger that mooed when he ate it. His business partner and longtime friend, [[Narrator|David]], silently recalls how it didn't moo, but ''scream'':

** On a related note, Deadhead from the Wild Cards novels channels the memories of any creature whose flesh he eats. When fed a hamburger, he started to moo...

* Subverted in the children's book-turned-anime ''Stormy Night'' (Arashi no yoru ni). The story features an unlikely friendship between a wolf and a mountain goat, and the wolf being a carnivore is actually one of the main points of the story. (He is always fighting down the urge to eat the goat, while the goat is painfully aware of this). In the anime the wolf gives up goat meat, but keeps on preying on (sapient) animals such as mice; the goat is not happy about this, but accepts it as inevitable, knowing full well that his best friend would starve to death if he stopped eating meat entirely. {{spoiler|In the book they die together.}}

* One sketch on ''[[The Young Ones]]'' had a couple of rat puppets chatting in the background. Spotting them, and apparently not understanding their language, Rick smacks one with Neil's guitar, killing it. A quick scene of the surviving rat ''eating'' the dead one follows, in which it Hand Waves this trope, remarking: "It's what he would have wanted".

* On ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' the Bluths' Frozen Banana stand has as its mascot Mr. Banana Grabber, a giant talking banana that steals and eats regular-sized, non-talking bananas. The implications are not lost on Michael.

* In a rather silly [[Did Not Do the Research]] case, [[Animal Planet]]'s ''Weird, True and Freaky'' featured [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuhXKvxz4-U a story on chimpanzee "cannibalism."] Anyone familiar with chimps knows that the males tend to kidnap and eat the infants of rival troops. Shocking, yes, but that's ''not'' what the story is about. It's about chimpanzees, apes, hunting for monkey meat. And the narrator says it's cannibalism. That's just about as cannibalistic as a polar bear eating a seal! It also reaches [[Unfortunate Implications]], as many people in Africa regularly eat bushmeat (see the real life examples below)

* Web-based pet sims often have this problem. For example, carnivorous Neopets can and do eat other Neopets (a specific example is the abandon with which lupes eat chias), despite all of them being sentient. Like ''Pokémon'', there used to be "normal" animals such as fish and cows to give milk but, except for some outdated materials such as items of encyclopedia pages, this practice is being phased out.

* ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' has anthropomorphic pigs, cows, and goats, among others...and a freezer area full of rotting beef. And a place called ''the Slaughterhouse''. And Pey'j, a pig, seems to be the subject of several jokes about ''being eaten''.

'''Jade:''' Cut it out. You're making me hungry! }}

** Since you handily collect species information about every animal in the game, it's worth noting that Pey'j is "Sus sapiens" (wise pig), parallel to "Homo sapiens" (wise man). So it's reasonable to guess that regular animals and their anthropomorphic analogs are completely different species and that it's fine to eat the non-intelligent kinds.

* ''[[Spore]]'' pretty much averts this entirely -- as a Carnivore or Omnivore creature, you can socialize with the same creatures you are capable of killing and eating. The same holds true in the Tribal stage, and any other tribes don't seem to mind if you're slaughtering other sapient creatures and consuming them. (Not averted so much if you're playing Tribal as a straight carnivore and offer a gift basket of meat to a tribe of herbivores...)

* ''[[Animal Crossing]]'', being ''Animal Crossing'', totally avoids this. At least, for 364 days of the year. The sole exception is the "Harvest Festival", wherein everyone in town gathers at the wishing well for a great big Thanksgiving-esque dinner with no turkey. The only food there seems to be stuffing, vegetables, and the like...with the exception of one big, empty platter. As it turns out, the "guest of honor", a turkey named Franklin, has been in hiding ever since he got a letter from the mayor.

** While Franklin is never actually eaten (it's ''Animal Crossing'', after all,) the implications of the whole thing make this grade-A, prime-cut [[Nightmare Fuel]].

** The rest of the year, there are several different foods available for the villagers to discuss in their mix-'n'-match randomized dialogue, and the game goes to ''very'' careful extents to make sure to specify that every food that could possibly contain meat is either a "vegetarian" version or made with [[No Cartoon Fish|fish]]. Examples include salmon ravioli and vegetarian meatloaf. At least, in ''Wild World'' and ''City Folk''. The first game wasn't so careful. Giant cow talking about hamburgers, anyone?