I’m sure that most, if not all of you know that one of the
primary functions of a main character in a story, whether it’s a book, movie or
video game, is to be relatable to the audience. If a character is relatable, it
helps the audience be connected with and immersed in the story. When we relate
to the characters, we see some aspect of ourselves within them, and as a result
get some sort of satisfaction out of them achieving their goals or overcoming
their hardships. Of course, that’s an extremely watered-down version, but with
even this little bit of knowledge its easy to see why animal characters tend
not to work so well and why the entertainment offerings they are involved with
tend not to succeed.
We’ve all seen or read a story that has an abundance of
animals in the roles of the main and supporting characters. From cartoons to
children’s books and even summer comedies, there are more than a few handfuls
of stories that involve primarily animals. Almost 100% of the time, these
animals are at least somewhat personified, that is, they’re given human
characteristics. If it weren’t for this simple fact, almost all stories (there
are probably a few exceptions) that involve excessive use of animals would fail
outright and utterly. If they weren’t given human traits and didn’t suffer
through pseudo-human trials and hardships, then these animal characters would
serve no purpose in a story other than being cute and cuddly. Because at its
heart a story needs some form of audience connection, the personification of
these animals is a necessity.
Even so, personification can only get these creatures so
far. No matter how anthropomorphic an animal character is the audience still subconsciously
knows that the character isn’t human, and is therefore less relatable. It is this
fact alone that is responsible for the lack of success that an animal-driven
story has when trying to convey any story that is mildly serious or
substantial. They may evoke or imply themes that are more mature and serious,
but for the most part, what’s on the surface is fairly simplistic and dull.
This is why animal-driven stories are usually reserved for
children’s TV shows and cartoons, books, and movies. In these genres, the
characters are usually less relatable anyway. Animal characters excel in
particular in cartoons, however, because at their nature they are meant to
deliver comic mischief and humor, rather than anything substantial (not to put
them down). One might argue that characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and
Bugs Bunny are just as relatable as any standard human character. Indeed, they
are fairly relatable, but in part I believe this is due to their longevity.
Anyway, at the heart of their respective cartoons, these characters never
really dealt with any serious or complicated stories, we as an audience just
simply watched their cartoonish antics and adventures. In fact, these
characters are in situations that are so outlandish that by comparison these
characters seem more human than others. We’ve simply come to associate with those
characters because of the long history and their place in popular culture.
Characters such as these present a special case of animal
characters, and I’d like to continue on that further in the next article.
Thanks for reading!
