Anthropomorphic Cat Art

What is anthropomorphic cat art exactly?

All of those crazy cartoon cats can be described as anthropomorphic because they all have human characteristics to some degree or other. They are never depicted as being 100% cat.

An animal character is considered to be anthropomorphic if it has been given human mannerisms, the power of speech, human emotions, rational thought, human facial expressions etc. Many animals have been humanized in this way, but perhaps none more so than the domestic cat.

One of the most well known examples of anthropomorphic cat art is the work of Louis Wain . Louis' cats walked upright, sometimes wore Edwardian clothes, and expressed themselves as humans do by frowning, grinning or smiling.

These cats of the 1890's smoked, gambled, played sports, read books and rode bicycles! Kittens behave badly at school, play fight with wooden swords, help mother with the housework and sit at the table to eat with knives and forks. Louis Wain's anthropomorphic kittens and cats were far more human than cat.

Anthropomorphic Cat Art at the Movies.

In 1919 the world got its first glimpse of a lovable feline character that had human traits aplenty. Pacing up and down on two legs to ponder over problems, using human reasoning to get himself out of scrapes, and living by a set of, often questionable, human morals. That anthro - kitty was Felix the Cat

Since Felix the Cat there have been countless anthropomorphic cat movie stars, from Tom and Jerry to Sylvester. Each and every one more a human within a cat's skin than an actual cat. Animated movie cats are a prime example of anthropomorphic cat art.

Humanized cats remain very popular today. Garfield is a modern anthropomorphic cat with attitude on two legs, the other two being used as human arms that wield chain saws or make un-cat like rude gestures!

Many comics feature cats that philosophize, drive cars, drink beer, save the world and have relationships with human humans! Some of these publications are of a, limited edition, cult nature, some are published purely online. In some, the characters are human looking but have cat attributes, in others the characters are of cat appearance but act and think like people.

Anthropomorphic Cats of Yesteryear.

The concept of animals that have human abilities goes back centuries. Folk tales and fairy tales tell of all kinds of creatures that speak, live in houses and do things that in reality, animals cannot do.

Puss in Boots, the tale of an anthro-cat who turned out to be a far more valuable inheritance than his master first thought, was first published in 1697. Many other ancient stories recount the exploits of anthropomorphic cats. A German folk tale tells of a feline who persuades an apprentice boy to be her virtual slave for seven years.

Many of these children's tales were illustrated with woodcuts when first published giving some very old examples of anthropomorphic cat art.

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