Is Disney Responsible For The Boom In Furry Fandom?

[Lilani]

Disney may have had animals and romances but I don't they kicked off the furry fandom (Sonic had more of a hand in that)

Yeah, it was definitely more Sonic that got it started. About the only Disney film I can think of that had anthros similar to the furry fandom was Robin Hood, as the OP pointed out. Otherwise, most of the major animal characters were on all fours and didn't have hands (of course there's your odd Timon and Jaq and Gus, but otherwise most are "animals" as they should be).

I have no doubt Disney contributed to the continued demand for talking animals, and considering they made first mega-successful talking animated characters and they happen to be animals perhaps they first started the trend, but a few other factors had to become involved before furries really became defined.

 

[Vampire cat]

For me at least, the human element is absolutely critical for any sort of atraction. My perfect furry must be an obviously human body, but with animalistic traits added such as fur, horns and ears, tails, hoves and whatever else the animal in question would have. Still, walk on two legs, have an obviously human body and be as intelegent and aware as any normal human being =p.

Besides, being with a fellow furry makes for some very interesting and exciting cosplay!

 

[BytByte]

Have you seen that ____ the Hedgehog thread? Disney is just a lesser cog in the greater machine that is the furries mind. I think.

 

[edgecult]

I blame Shaq and Looney toons for bringing Lola Bunny to life and to big screens across the nation at least. No childrens movie needed an anthromorphic bunny with C cups bouncing about and such.. and yet she's here.. and a new generation of Furries were born. (The earlier generation I blame on the Thundercats opening episode >.>)

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, Batman predates all that. Also, various Batgirls/women who were supposed to be sexy.

Ok, maybe not exactly the same sort thing...but most people in this thread would do Batman, even if they wouldn't admit it.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

People have already pretty much cleared up this question, but it should be emphasized that furies aren't always about the sex. Which seems to be the conclusion most people jump to.

I draw furries, but I don't draw furries having sex.
Why do I draw them?
Because I believe furries are more visually interesting than humans ever could be. Humans are nothing but upright hairless apes, sometimes adding wings and tails spice things up visually.

When making a unique fantasy race, it's essential to combine different aspects of different creatures to the point where the end result is only vaguely human (may walk upright, have opposable thumbs).
It's silly to say these races were born on another planet with no relation to earth, but for some reason look completely human except with pointy ears.

I don't identify myself as a furry, but other people have identified me as one.

 

[2HF]

I was pretty tired when I posted this, I still am, but I wanna clarify a bit.

I didn't mean that Disney was solely responsible and I didn't mean that Disney created the very concept of furries.

I know that every fetish is older than time. I just think that Disney might have had a lot to do with the sudden surge of popularity that furrydom has experienced. Jessica Rabbit and Cheetara probably had a great deal of impact too.

And yeah, I know that not all furrydom is about sex, but a significant portion is and also I don't have a theory for non sex furrydom.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I doubt it. disney didnt intentially make either of those two sexy in a way that it was supposed to appeal tot he audience. Maid Marian is just an animal represantion of the human counterpart because disney wanted to add whimsey and good feelings (instead of how most of the stories the "classics" are based off of end), and Nala was only supposed to appeal to Simba and did the "naughty" look because it was something kids recognized as them being in love.

Sex with animals goes WAY back past disney, and you can say that it started in the time of the greeks and other native people of other continents, since most all worshiped some type of animal as a messanger or avatar of god and wanted to be like them, so much so they would dress as them.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I'm unfamiliar with the history of the Furry fandom but I'm pretty sure that anthropomorphic fetishes existed before Walt Disney's company became huge. It probably just exploded in popularity and visibility with the advent of the internet but I think it didn't come about mainly because of Disney. Oh and here's calling a big argument between what it means to be a furry and what constitutes bestiality.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Not the same thing, but as you can see the majority do have sexual interest in animals. Or rather, crosses between animals and humans.

there were furries in 1997? 0_0....well ok I guess things dont come out of thin air

but yeah..I just figured a furrie would rather screw this:

[spoiler/][img/]http://images.wikia.com/looneytunes/images/2/24/Lola%2Bbunny.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

than this

[spoiler/][img/]http://animal.discovery.com/mammals/rabbit/pictures/rabbit-picture.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

Dude, I remember when I first got the internet in like, 1995. We had AOL and I used to go into chatrooms and say weird things to people, and even back then there were all these custom rooms called "The Anthro Tavern", "The Fox Den", and shit like that. A lot of it was based off Disney stuff like The Lion King, Jurassic Park with raptors and pretty stereotypical furry stuff like we see it today.

I think that Disney movies and its cartoons (Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, that stuff) did have an influence on the overall "image" of furries, and the popularity of other cartoons at the time when the internet became popular, such as Sonic the Hedgehog. Plus, the internet grew pretty huge out of nowhere, and that tends to bring people together to form communities over sometimes weird stuff.

 

[Lucian The Lugia]

As a furry myself, I could say Disney is one of the possible catalysts for one's interest in the furry fandom. Like Istvan says, anthropomorphic animals do pre-date Disney, dating all the way back to Egyptian mythology. I'd say furries mostly stem from cartoons, and our interest in them. I myself started with the Sonic fanbase (Which I often look back on and barf) but I'd say my real catalysts were cartoons that featured animals with human qualities (I.E. Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, and hell, even Pokemon played a role; just look at my name). A "furry" doesn't have to be an animal person that walks on two legs, in fact characters from The Lion King could count as furries themselves, being animal species personified as human people. I guess you could say The Lion King is a furry Hamlet.

So to answer the OP's question; Yes, they can be, but they're not the only one.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I feel like one of my catalysts into furrydom was also this game right here:

Spoiler

To me, it's like a furry parallel of Mega Man Legends.

 

[shrekfan246]

I blame Shaq and Looney toons for bringing Lola Bunny to life and to big screens across the nation at least. No childrens movie needed an anthromorphic bunny with C cups bouncing about and such.. and yet she's here.. and a new generation of Furries were born. (The earlier generation I blame on the Thundercats opening episode >.>)

I think you mean Michael Jordan. Also, Cheetara and Lola Bunny, yeah.

I'm not sure exactly how popular they really were, but I'd say the Breath of Fire games certainly helped it along, too.

Spoiler: Katt from Breath of Fire. WARNING: It is SFW but she doesn't wear pants.

She just suffers from the same terrible fate inflicted on Barbie and Ken dolls.

 

[edgecult]

I blame Shaq and Looney toons for bringing Lola Bunny to life and to big screens across the nation at least. No childrens movie needed an anthromorphic bunny with C cups bouncing about and such.. and yet she's here.. and a new generation of Furries were born. (The earlier generation I blame on the Thundercats opening episode >.>)

I think you mean Michael Jordan. Also, Cheetara and Lola Bunny, yeah.

I'm not sure exactly how popular they really were, but I'd say the Breath of Fire games certainly helped it along, too.

Spoiler: Katt from Breath of Fire. WARNING: It is SFW but she doesn't wear pants.

She just suffers from the same terrible fate inflicted on Barbie and Ken dolls.

Ack! Yep your right. Michael Jordan it was. -nod- Good catch.

Shaq was in something back from my child hood that just seemed random.. my brain just connected two old memories. (Did he voice act some old cartoon or something as a guest actor? I gotta look that up later.)

 

[Canadamus Prime]

No, it is my understanding that anthropormophic animals and the like have been part of the folklore of many cultures since before Disney even existed.

 

[shrekfan246]

I blame Shaq and Looney toons for bringing Lola Bunny to life and to big screens across the nation at least. No childrens movie needed an anthromorphic bunny with C cups bouncing about and such.. and yet she's here.. and a new generation of Furries were born. (The earlier generation I blame on the Thundercats opening episode >.>)

I think you mean Michael Jordan. Also, Cheetara and Lola Bunny, yeah.

I'm not sure exactly how popular they really were, but I'd say the Breath of Fire games certainly helped it along, too.

Spoiler: Katt from Breath of Fire. WARNING: It is SFW but she doesn't wear pants.

She just suffers from the same terrible fate inflicted on Barbie and Ken dolls.

Ack! Yep your right. Michael Jordan it was. -nod- Good catch.

Shaq was in something back from my child hood that just seemed random.. my brain just connected two old memories. (Did he voice act some old cartoon or something as a guest actor? I gotta look that up later.)

If you ever saw Kazaam then I pity you. There was also Shaq Fu, the game, and he apparently voiced himself in Johnny Bravo and Static Shock.

Captcha says: "ball of confusion". I think that's pretty apt.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

EDIT: Forgot to mention I feel like one of my catalysts into furrydom was also this game right here:

Spoiler

To me, it's like a furry parallel of Mega Man Legends.

Have you played it's successor?

Spoiler

Waffle even has some cameos. I love it.