The furry fandom is a cultural phenomenon, an obscure subculture dedicated to those who share a common interest for anthropomorphic animals with human personalities and characteristics.
According to Fred Patten, writer and fandom historian: “There is no single specific date or event that can lay claim to being the birth of furry fandom. However, there is general agreement that it was around late 1983 or early 1984 that furry fans coalesced out of science fiction fandom and comics fandom and began an independent identity.” (1997)
The term furry fandom was being used in fan comics and art as early as 1983 but became the standard term for the culture throughout the mid 90s.
Over the years the furry fandom has continued to grow, even more rapidly now due to the internet and increase of anthropomorphic characters in popular culture.
What is popular culture? “What ‘counts’ as popular culture depends to some extent on whether you are interested in what meanings are produced by or for ‘the people’, and whether you take these meanings as evidence of ‘what the public wants’ or ‘what the public gets’.” (Hartley, J. 2004)
In popular culture, furries are often recognised by their ‘fursuits’ (custom made costumes to depict ones furry character). However according to studies by IARP (2016), the majority of furries do not own a fursuit.
Although not all furries own a fursuit, the majority of the furry fandom have what is known as a ‘fursona’ (a furry persona or alter ego). Fursonas usually represent the person and their personality or they can be a representation of how that person wishes they were. A persons fursona can be an escape or way to feel more confident in themselves, whether online or in person at a convention.
Anthropomorphic animal characters and designs in popular media have been a formative influence on the furry fandom, and as their designs have evolved so have the designs done by people within the fandom. “Many furries also
enter the fandom due to the popular culture media they are familiar with.” (Maase, JW. 2015. pg 30)
Here are 7 examples of popular media that have influenced the furry fandom:
1. The early influences and beginning of a culture
Furries have existed for longer than you can imagine. Although the terms furry and furry fandom were not created and collectively used until the 80s and 90s, some of the earliest influences were considered to be Kimba the White Lion (1965), Watership down (1978), Robin hood (1973) and more.
These animations led to an increasing interest in anthropomorphic characters and art. Many fan comics featuring anthropomorphic characters started to appear and influence from them resulted in the creation of the furry fandom itself and the first furry convention ‘ConFurence” in 1989.
Footage from the first furry convention ‘ConFurence’ (1989)
2. Balto
Heading off into the 90s when anthropomorphic animals and animation in general really boomed within media, One that really stood out and influenced the furry fandom was Balto. Balto is a 1995 film about an outcasted half wolf dog that risks his life to lead a sled team across alaska to bring medicine for a deadly diphtheria epidemic.
This movie became a fan favorite among furries and lead to an increase of wolf/ wolf-dog fursonas, there were even fursuits made of the characters from Balto.
3. Looney Tunes and Space Jam
The Looney Tunes were a massive influence to furries especially in the early years, well into the 90s and onward. One Looney Tunes film really stood out and made an impact on the furry community, which was Space Jam.
Space Jam was a Hybrid live action/animated film from 1996 that featured Looney Tunes characters as well as basketball player Michael Jordan.
The film became hugely popular and the most influential character from the film was Lola Bunny, a female bunny character introduced in this film. She later became a regular character among the Looney Tunes and was very popular in the furry fandom, even having fursuits made of her and many people referencing her when making their own fursonas and characters.
4. The Lion King
The Lion King (also referred to as TLK among fans) became a worldwide phenomena among furries. The Lion King was so hugely popular that you could easily ask a group of furries what their favourite movie is and at least one will mention The Lion King. The Lion King sprouted a massive amount of new artists and art being created in the fandom, a lot of roleplaying, an increase of lion fursonas and even games such as FeralHeart (2011).
To this day, The Lion King is the most popular animated Disney film according to IGN (2018) and IMDB (2018) with an 8.5 star rating. The Lion King resulted in an influx of members to the fandom and is still influential even now within the fandom and the art created in it.
5. Spyro, Crash, Ratchet and other video game characters
Video games are a big influence on the furry fandom, they brought more interest to the fandom through media other than movies, writing and art. There were a lot of popular games with anthropomorphic characters throughout the late 90s – early 2000s when console gaming started to boom.
The main influences being (and not limited to): Spyro the Dragon (1998), Crash Bandicoot (1996), Ratchet and Clank (2002), Sly Cooper (2002), Jak and Daxter (2001), and Conkers Bad Fur Day (2001).
Most of which are still memorable today, with some even getting recent HD remasters (Spyro and Crash) making them popular once more.
6. Pokemon
Another video game franchise that helped shape the furry fandom was none other than Pokemon, A worldwide phenomenon of a game, as well as tv series. Pokemon has been massively popular since its release in the mid 90s, Pokemon itself has a massive fandom and community even more so than furries, so it comes at no surprise that with its insane popularity and animal like ‘monsters’ it is a major influence in the furry community.
There are countless fans of Pokemon within the furry fandom and there are even multiple people with Pokemon fursonas and fursuits. Many people find the furry fandom through popular media such as Pokemon so Pokemon furries are bound to exist, and they do!
With new content from Pokemon coming out constantly whether it be a new game, new merchandise or episodes. There is always endless content for furries and new people getting interested in the fandom.
7. Zootopia
To finish off the list is a more recent film that sparked an increase of furries and interest in the furry fandom in the last few years, Zootopia!
Zootopia is a 2016 animated feature film by Walt Disney Studios that is set in a world where humans never existed but instead animals are anthropomorphic and have clothing, technologies and cities much like humans. Ever since the teaser trailer release, furries and the media were calling it a furry movie and stating it is marketed to the furry fandom. The trailer itself even explains the meaning of anthropomorphic animals. So of course due to this, it became a huge influence within the furry fandom.
Multiple articles were also made about Zootopia and the correlation to furries:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8gkjep/the-long-love-affair-between-furries-and-disney
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/03/disney-zootopia-furries
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/03/disney-is-marketing-zootopia-to-furries-which-is-genius/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/disney-zootopia-furry
Just to name a few.
With all of the media coverage that came from Zootopia, more people were looking into and asking about the furry fandom, it wouldn’t be surprising if Zootopia would lead to an increase of furries into the fandom.
The furry fandom is a unique subculture and they continue to grow as a fandom and as a community. The more positive representation they get in the media is growing as well. With the fast growing rate of the internet, and the increasing interest and funding towards animation and games (especially lately with Netflix funding more animation series and Disney bringing back old favourites as live action remakes), more media is being created and consumed by communities such as the furry fandom resulting in their growth.
Header image Retrieved from https://twitter.com/FurFest/status/817430651129499648
References
The ConFurence Archive. (1997). Confurence 8 Photos. Retrieved from https://confurence.com/1997/01/confurence-8-photos/
Patten, F. (2012). Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966–1996. Retrieved from http://www.flayrah.com/4117/retrospective-illustrated-chronology-furry-fandom-1966-1996
IARP. (2016). II. Fandom Participation 2.8 Fursuits. Retrieved from http://www.furryresearch.org/findings/fandom-participation/2-8-fursuits/
Maase, J W. (2015). Keeping the Magic: Fursona Identity and
Performance in the Furry Fandom. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2515&context=theses
Fowler, M. (2018). THE 25 BEST DISNEY ANIMATED MOVIES. Retrieved from https://au.ign.com/articles/2018/06/29/the-25-best-disney-animated-movies
Local Furry learns to animate! 