Funny Animal: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"[[The Elephant Man|I am not an animal]]! Hear me? I'm not an animal. Well... okay, maybe I am kind of an animal, I'm a [[Morally Ambiguous Ducktorate|duck]]. And [[Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal|I don't wear pants]]. But I talk and live in a house, so you know what I had in mind."''|'''[[Duckman]]'''}}

{{quote|''"[[The Elephant Man|I am not an animal]]! Hear me? I'm not an animal. Well... okay, maybe I am kind of an animal, I'm a [[Morally-Ambiguous Ducktorate|duck]]. And [[Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal|I don't wear pants]]. But I talk and live in a house, so you know what I had in mind."''|'''[[Duckman]]'''}}

They're animals who think, talk and act mostly like human beings. Unlike the [[Speech-Impaired Animal]] or [[Talking Animal]] (whose priorities and motivations are still that of an animal despite their ability to speak), the Funny Animal has almost all the mannerisms of a human being. Sometimes, only his appearance distinguishes him from the hairless primates who draw him. Indeed, one of the main incentives in using such characters are that they are more distinctive, and hence easier to draw as recognizable individuals, than ordinary humans. Or maybe it's just because [[Furries Are Easier to Draw]].

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A good comparison, from the ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' cartoons: Scooby-Doo is a [[Speech-Impaired Animal]]. Scrappy-Doo, who might as well be a midget in a dog suit, is a Funny Animal. (This jarring difference is one reason why Scrappy-Doo's character seems to be [[The Scrappy|universally loathed]].)

The main distinguishing trait of many [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] is that in most situations, they can be replaced by a human and the plot would be mostly identical. Unlike [[Petting Zoo People]], which have animal heads and tails on humanoid bodies, [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] have [http://cuteanimalart.blogspot.com/2009/10/alfred-mainzer-company-and-dressed.html a body that is generally shaped like that of their respective species]. [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] are [[Four Legs Good Two Legs Better|bipedal even if their species is not naturally so]], and most [[Funny Animal]] birds have [[Feather Fingers]], whether their wings look completely like wings or look (to varying degrees) like arms. Some [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] [[Anthropomorphic Zig Zag|can shift]] between using [[Running On All Fours|two legs and four]].

The main distinguishing trait of many [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] is that in most situations, they can be replaced by a human and the plot would be mostly identical. Unlike [[Petting Zoo People]], which have animal heads and tails on humanoid bodies, [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] have [http://cuteanimalart.blogspot.com/2009/10/alfred-mainzer-company-and-dressed.html a body that is generally shaped like that of their respective species]. [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] are [[Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better|bipedal even if their species is not naturally so]], and most [[Funny Animal]] birds have [[Feather Fingers]], whether their wings look completely like wings or look (to varying degrees) like arms. Some [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] [[Anthropomorphic Zig-Zag|can shift]] between using [[Running On All Fours|two legs and four]].

Practically any cartoon series from the [[Golden Age of Animation]], or video games aimed at children younger than 13 have at least one such character.

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* Klaus on ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]''. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] by the fact that he ''used'' to be human, but had his mind inserted into the body of a goldfish.

* One-off antagonist Zeb (A zebra) from the original ''[[My Little Pony]]'' cartoon. Rather jarring given that most of the cast are also equines, but are not anthropomorphized to the extent Zeb is.

* Every character in ''[[Alfred J Kwak]]'', barring [[Lions and Tigers And Humans Oh My|a rather beastlike human]].

* Every character in ''[[Alfred J Kwak]]'', barring [[Lions and Tigers And Humans, Oh My!|a rather beastlike human]].

* Strangely [[Popeye the Sailor]] encountered one of these in "The Hungry Goat". The short overall felt like more of a [[Tex Avery]] cartoon than a Popeye cartoon.

** Funny animals are featured prominently in "Popeye The Sailor" and "I Eats My Spinach". [[Justified Trope|Justified,]] as Fleischer Studios was known to use these in the [[Betty Boop]] cartoons, where the Popeye series branched out of.

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[[Category:Turn-On Tropes]]

[[Category:Funny Animal]]

[[Category:Trope]]