CHARACTER ESSAY - ANTHROPOMORPHISM

This session, we focused on Anthropomorphism.

"anthropomorphism/ˌanθrəpəˈmɔːfɪz(ə)m/ nounthe attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object." ~ Google definition

We went through a few key terms relating to the topic, including

• ANIMISM - The belief that non-humans may possess a soul / spirit. Children usually hold onto the concept of animism until puberty.
• ANTHROPOCENTRISM - The belief that humans are the most significant beings in the universe
• PAREDOLIA - Seeing familiar objects, like faces, in random & meaningless data.
• APOPHENIA - Seeing general patterns in random & meaningless data
• ANIMATION - Endow lifeless things with life, or living things with a different kind of life

With anthropomorphism, it's mostly assigned to animals or inanimate objects. Cave paintings from ~20,000 years ago were filled with hundreds of animals, but only featured one human.

Just like our ancestors, animators are fond of animal characters since there's more confidence presenting one to an audience and having them engage with it, over a human character.

"It's easier to humanise animals than it is to humanise humans" ~ Chuck Jones

"... On the whole, animals substitute humans" ~ Sergei Eisenstein, talking about animal characters

"If cartoons... [can't] venture beyond the realm of a live action film, what was the point?" ~ Leonard Maltin 

"I look for characters that cannot be done in live action. That's what animation's all about." ~ Chuck Jones 

What these all refer to is the common trope of giving animals human qualities in animation, which leads to end products which couldn't be done in any live action medium.

We spoke about the Animal / Human Divide, which is essentially the differences between the animal kingdom and human society, and their specific applications in animation. Animal / Nature's side involves animalisation, which involves an animal's natural instincts, and have irreconcilable differences. On the other side of the coin is Human / Cultural, which replaces animalisation with anthropomorphism. There's an element of totemism, a belief that humans have some kind of kinship with other beings. This side of the divide also has culture, as opposed to the more savage landscape of the animal kingdom.

Pure Animal and Animal Appropriation are the two main ways humanity sees animals, depending on which ones they see. Pure Animals are wild, natural, and unknowable. Completely unpredictable, like a tiger or panther. Animal Appropriation involves a few different ideas; pets, symbols (e.g. myths, stories, religion), and to substitute humans (known as quasi-humans, they wear clothes, express emotions, talk, etc.)

Disney's Zootopia is an example of a film that demonstrates both sides of both arguments aforementioned. A main plotpoint of the film involves domesticated, anthropomorphised animals suddenly turning "savage"; their way of saying they've reverted back to being a pure animal. Instead of bipedal walking and civil behaviour, they suddenly inherit every attribute of the animal they actually are.

(Zootopia - dir. Byron Howard and Richard Moore)

An example of an animal having humanity forced upon it is The Bear That Wasn't. The Chuck Jones cartoon depicts an intelligent bear who finds himself in a newly built factory. After mingling with the employees, he's then mistaken for a worker by the foreman. Every higher-up in the company all have the same reaction to the bear claiming he's a bear: "You are not a bear. You are a silly man in a fur coat who needs a shave." Whenever the bear is seen with a cigarette and hardhat, that's when he's seen as a human. 

(The Bear That Wasn't - dir. Chuck Jones)

There's also the idea of the Bestial Ambivelance cycle. In the looping cycle, there's

• PURE ANIMAL - Behaviour like the real animal
• ASPIRATIONAL HUMAN - Demonstrates positive human qualities
• HYBRID HUMANIMAL - Parallels are drawn between the human and animal worlds
• CRITICAL HUMAN - Critiques humans, down to their attitudes, behaviours and society

An example of characters who go through the majority of the cycle are the pigs from Animal Farm. Starting as pure animals, they are just... pigs. They then move onto critical humans, who dislike how their farmer treats them. They ultimately become Humanimals; the pigs act like the very farmers who abused them.

(Animal Farm - dir. John Halas and Joy Batchelor)