# Favorite non-anthropomorphic cartoon animal **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487 "2018-05-20T01:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/61 "2018-05-21T23:50:08Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Santa’s Little Helper and Snowball II from _The Simpsons_ are both very much non-anthropomorphic. I’d have to go with SLH too. I’m allergic to cats, so Snowball II is a no-go. I’d be hard pressed to think of other non-anthropomorphic cartoon animals. Bandit from _Jonny Quest_? ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/62 "2018-05-22T00:04:15Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > [Worker and Parasite](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2_dhUv_CrI) Oooh, good answer! Eastern Europe’s favorite cat-and-mouse team! Not only are they not human-like, they’re also not very animal-like either. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/63 "2018-05-22T00:09:17Z")
Daisy, the dog from the\* Blondie\* comic strip, is a marginal case. For the most part she acts like a normal dog, but she often shows the same facial expressions as the human characters. When Dagwood looks surprised, Daisy also looks surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/64 "2018-05-22T00:13:07Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I thought he was a reindeer. > > She’s also wrong about them. Odie is entirely non-verbal (although he can communicate well enough with Garfield that he can speak for him), and Scooby, despite his speech impediment, has a pretty solid vocabulary. Are you talking about the comic strip or the cartoon? In the cartoon, Odie can say “Tada!”, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”, “Huh?” and “Uh-uh”. Also, which Scooby Doo series are you referencing? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/65 "2018-05-22T00:31:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Snowy (Milou) from _Tintin_, Dogmatix (Idéfix) from _Asterix_, Josef from _Heidi, Girl of the Alps_, Belle from _Belle and Sebastian_ Snowy’s an interesting one. Certainly, the early strips fit, but once he’s being depicted with thought bubbles where he displays a fully-human level of understanding about the events around him, I’d argue that he’s being anthropmorphized, even if the human characters around him don’t regard him as anything other than a normal dog. On the other hand, I can see the case that he’s not “really” thinking in human terms, but that his doggy thoughts are being translated for our convenience. I also kind of want to include _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ here, which had several “animal” characters that weren’t anthropomorphized… but they were fantasy animals. The episode from the perspective of Momo the flying lemur did a really good job of using an animal as the viewpoint protagonist without making him too human, even if “flying lemurs” aren’t a real animal. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/66 "2018-05-22T01:18:42Z")
> [@Trisha\_Gaurav](#): > > Are you talking about the comic strip or the cartoon? In the cartoon, Odie can say “Tada!”, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”, “Huh?” and “Uh-uh”. The comic, which is the only thing that’s canon. 😛 > [@](#): > > Also, which Scooby Doo series are you referencing? All of them. He doesn’t speak clearly, and he doesn’t speak much, but both in what he does say, and how he responds to the other characters, his vocabulary is of a kind with the rest of the gang. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/67 "2018-05-22T01:38:01Z")
Maximus the horse from Tangled. Yes, super smart, but still totally non-anthropomorphic. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/68 "2018-05-22T01:42:46Z")
> [@](#): > > That’d only be a problem if the animal was the main character. There’s no reason that you couldn’t have an endearing animal character that just runs around doing realistic animal stuff while the humans all do the human stuff. I think Frisket from Reboot is probably too smart. Been a very long time since I watched that show. Also depends on your definition of animated. Was Bandit in Jonny Quest completely animal-like - I simply can’t remember. I watched the Real Adventures, myself, but I know I’ve seen a few eps of the original. Cringer/Battlecat from the 2002 He-Man? > [@](#): > > No, they are anthropomorphic, because they have the vocabulary of a baby. Real dogs don’t have any vocabulary at all. Agree. > [@](#): > > I also kind of want to include Avatar: The Last Airbender here, which had several “animal” characters that weren’t anthropomorphized… but they were fantasy animals. The episode from the perspective of Momo the flying lemur did a really good job of using an animal as the viewpoint protagonist without making him too human, even if “flying lemurs” aren’t a real animal. Ooh, very good one. Especially Appa. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/69 "2018-05-22T12:23:51Z")
It’s all in the eyes. Humans are the only animals that show the white of their eyes all the time. :eek: When we want to make humans look alien for movies and tv, we make their eyes all black. If the cartoon/comic has an animal that shows the white all the time it’s anthropomorphic. This includes Roadrunner, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/70 "2018-05-22T12:26:26Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > It’s all in the eyes. > > Humans are the only animals that show the white of their eyes all the time. :eek: > When we want to make humans look alien for movies and tv, we make their eyes all black. If the cartoon/comic has an animal that shows the white all the time it’s anthropomorphic. This includes Roadrunner, BTW. I don’t know, one of the white horses at Denver Equestrians is always showing his blue eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/71 "2018-05-22T13:17:17Z")
> [@Trisha\_Gaurav](#): > > I don’t know, one of the white horses at Denver Equestrians is always showing his blue eyes. Also, have you seen how Perry acts in Phineas and Ferb when he’s undercover? I can’t say all animals that show the white of their eyes are anthropomorphic. That cover is not only non-anthropomorphic, it is far dumber than a dog or a cat. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/72 "2018-05-22T13:49:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Maximus the horse from Tangled. Yes, super smart, but still totally non-anthropomorphic. He was in charge of the guards at the end, literally their superior officer. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/73 "2018-05-22T15:21:48Z")
The whites of Dixie’s eyes : [bob smith | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/155285423@N02/) Doxie’s can be seen about 4 rows down. Both were sick at the time of the picture. What does that tell ya? Got to go. Doxie is telling me he wants in. There’s a bark for that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/74 "2018-05-22T17:47:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > He was in charge of the guards at the end, literally their superior officer. Yes, but he couldn’t talk, had no characteristics other than smarts that horses dont have. Sure, he’s a little magical, but that universe has magic. I still say he is in no way anthropomorphic. ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/75 "2018-05-22T20:28:00Z")
I wonder, would lipstick qualify as anthropomorphic? That would be surprising because I never considered Dragon from Shrek anthropomorphic. I don’t think any of the characters considered her anthropomorphic- they all treated her like a normal, albeit fantastic animal. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/76 "2018-05-22T20:53:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, but he couldn’t talk, had no characteristics other than smarts that horses dont have. Sure, he’s a little magical, but that universe has magic. I still say he is in no way anthropomorphic. I think he has far too much understanding of complex human speech to qualify - that understanding is a human (anthropomorphic) trait. Not to mention the nudging/teasing over attraction, moral qualms over theft, etc. He also a dog in a horse suit in a fair number of scenes, but I’ll grant that’s not anthropomorphic. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/77 "2018-05-22T23:17:19Z")
Figaro in **Pinocchio**. ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/78 "2018-05-23T00:54:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, but he couldn’t talk, had no characteristics other than smarts that horses dont have. Sure, he’s a little magical, but that universe has magic. I still say he is in no way anthropomorphic. His hoof gestures reminded me of Donkey from Shrek. For those of you who are not well-versed in horse behavior, here is some info about their language: Pawing at the ground means “Come here” Nodding means “Yes” Throwing head means “That’s enough” Maximus and Donkey, on the other hand, had very human body language. Cartoon Equus body language: Shaking someone’s hand with hoof means “Truce" or “Friends” Moving hoof forward means “There it/he/she is” Moving hoof sideways means “It/he/she is over there” ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/79 "2018-05-23T01:05:38Z")
> [@Trisha\_Gaurav](#): > > His hoof gestures reminded me of Donkey from Shrek. > > For those of you who are not well-versed in horse behavior, here is some info about their language: > Pawing at the ground means “Come here” > Nodding means “Yes” > Throwing head means “That’s enough” > > Maximus and Donkey, on the other hand, had very human body language. > > Cartoon Equus body language: > Shaking someone’s hand with hoof means “Truce" or “Friends” > Moving hoof forward means “There it/he/she is” > Moving hoof sideways means “It/he/she is over there” Huh… come to think of it, all the bipedal animal characters have human-like gestures too. But the characters in Tangled obviously considered Maximus anthropomorphic. Rapunzel even said “Who’s that?” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487/80 "2018-05-23T01:16:41Z")
Pumbaa and Timon from the Lion King. I’m a little conflicted about the animals of the Madagascar franchise. They act in human ways, but around human beings, they’re clearly no more than animals. I really like them, though - I love the "New Yorker"ness of the main four characters and the chimps, and the penguins are on their own level of funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-anthropomorphic-cartoon-animal/814487.md?page=5)