I’ve discussed the issue of cartoon anthropomorphism with Disney, but it seems to be even more complicated with Warner Bros. Their most famous character, Bugs Bunny, has some clear anthropomorphic traits. He speaks English (with a New York accent, at that), is clearly intelligent, and stands upright like a human. On the other hand, he lives in a rabbit hole and has to watch out for predators and hunters. When Elmer Fudd hunts Bugs, there’s no indication that he’s doing anything illegal in trying to kill an intelligent being. Bugs is human in many ways, but he’s presumably still treated as an animal by society. As such, the Looney Tunes world is pretty harsh for its funny animals, very kill-or-be-killed. Not that anyone ever DOES get killed, or at least not permanently, just temporarily inconvenienced. A shot from Elmer’s gun can blow Daffy Duck’s bill clear to the back of his head, but never results in any lasting damage.
What exactly does Elmer load that gun with, anyway? In addition to the cartoonish nature of the violence, the characters have a tendency to speak directly to the audience, suggesting that it’s all an act. Nonetheless, it’s still kind of dark when you really think about it.
Speaking of which, Beth and I were discussing how, since the Looney Tunes characters often tend to be rather mean and unpredictable (comes with being loony, I suppose), it makes them somewhat less viable as meetable characters at amusement parks, which they are at Six Flags.
Then again, it’s not like all the Disney characters are always that nice either. I mean, we met Chip and Dale while at Walt Disney World, and they can be pretty jerky.
Okay, I suppose that’s all I have to say about the subject for now, so:
Of course Chip and Dale would be jerks. They got highly magnified and can’t climb trees anymore.
And now they have to eat ten times as many nuts.
Back in the 70s there was a lengthy dissection of these matters in the letters column of “Howard the Duck”.