Archive for the ‘furry’ category

« FOXSYLVANIA home page
« Older Entries

The Tail of the Richmond Rat Boy!

May 29, 2023

It looks like Mickey Mouse got char-broiled, and has certainly seen better days…I’m referring, of course to the Richmond Rat Boy, a small, seemingly-mummified object anonymously donated to the Wayne County Historical Museum in Indiana. The Rat Boy appears to sport a rodent’s head atop a humanoid body that boasts details such as claws and teeth…

Now sadly, Rat Boy was never alive, but has been determined to have been crafted of plaster of Paris and clay over an armature. Animal claws, pointed teeth, and hair were added to lend a touch of realism to the figure. A note was left with the figure saying that it was found long ago in the basement of a local hospital, and once belonged to a circus-worker friend of the donor’s late grandfather…

Now Rat Boy is thought by museum staff to have been a gaff, a cryptid fabricated as a sideshow attraction in circuses that toured America in the 1910’s to the 1930’s. A more memorable example was the notorious Fiji Mermaid once exhibited by P.T. Barnum. They might have charged you a dime to a quarter to see such draws back in the day. Nowadays we can laugh at those gullible people of an earlier time, having reality television and conspiracy theories today…

So while Rat Boy may not be real, you can still buy your very own Rat Boy T-shirt to remember him by. “Be the first one on your block, every cat in the neighborhood will be in shock,” to recall the late great Soupy Sales in his song, Do the Mouse!

Categories: absurdities, anthropomorphic, Cabinet of Curiosities, cryptozoology, furry, furry interest, historical perspectives, retro cool, solved mysteries, twisted reality
Tags: ,

Comments: 3 Comments

“Guardians Vol. 3,” and Rocket Raccoon’s Backstory…

May 7, 2023

I eagerly look forward to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 released this month as it highlights and furnishes the backstory of Rocket Raccoon, who director James Gunn describes as the “secret protagonist” of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies…

Now Rocket Raccoon is an iconic character, especially to those of us who identify as furry. In this film, we see his humble beginnings as a “street raccoon,” and Rocket was perfectly happy being an animal. His forced transition to a snarky biological weapon was fraught with pain, and we are shown those Dr. Moreau-type experiments that later led the character to remark, “there ain’t nothing like me except me.” There’s a lot more to Rocket other than the master strategist, pilot, weapons-master, and space maverick that we know and love, and we see his vulnerability and terrible aloneness here…

Fortunately, it’s a commonality of trauma that binds The Guardians together, and in this their final ride as a team they appear to be going out in fine form in a movie described as both dark and hilarious.- – Long live Rocket Raccoon! 🦝

Categories: aliens, alternative realities, anthropomorphic, fantasy, furry, furry movies, sci fi
Tags: ,

Comments: 5 Comments

Rock this “House” on Netflix!

April 14, 2023

Stop-motion animation has progressed a lot since the days of the 1960’s Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and The House on Netflix, like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, illustrates this beautifully! The House is a trio of stories loosely centered around a house occupied by different parties, the house itself seemingly morphing in both size and location. Presenting as kind of a surreal, seductive nightmare, The House at times is quite charming before luring us into disturbing reality violations and explorations of themes like frustrated ambitions and appearances versus realities.

The first family to inhabit the house are human, and are rather whimsical, Muppet-appearing creatures, with something quite British about them. Living a happy but lackluster lower middle-class existence, they essentially buy into the plans of a mad architect to live in a house he builds for them, ultimately falling prey to their own greed and ignorance. Nothing is as it appears to be in The House…

Segments two and three involve anthropomorphic animals in the house, with the second chapter detailing a kind of rat real estate agent who tries to sell the house while battling the bugs that infest it. There is a musical song and dance extravaganza involving the “fur beetles,” the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the dancing cockroaches of the movie-version of Cats. It’s utterly nauseating, but you can’t look away from it, either. Horror mesmerizes…

Segment three, my personal favorite, is for the felines, with hard-working calico cat Rosa seeking to convert the house into rental units, dealing with constant setbacks and non-paying tenants. One of her renters tries to pay Rosa with a fish, whereas the other, a very new-age type of cat, offers a crystal in lieu of rent. Eventually the property is flood-inundated, and Rosa must join her tenants in a makeshift flotilla of boats, some crafted from timbers of the house. This actually represents a kind of liberation from the entrapments of possessions and materialism. The cats really don’t know what lies ahead, but really, do any of us?

Although heavy on anthropomorphic animals, The House is adult animation, not for children who might find its contents disturbing. Although it’s cute and cozy at times, The House has horrific elements, and kind of sneaks up on you at times. The best subtle horror can do that. The House will make you think, but you wouldn’t want to live within its walls, because it’s a stop-motion nightmare…

Categories: absurdities, alternative realities, anthropomorphic, furry, furry films, furry horror, horror, strange
Tags:

Comments: 3 Comments

The Foxes of Easter…

April 9, 2023

Bunnies tend to take over at Easter, symbolic of spring and fertility. In some cultures and folklore, however, foxes have also registered an Easter presence.

Easter was originally a pagan festival dedicated to Eostre (Ostara), the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Her consort was a hare, hence the Easter Bunny. Ostara’s consort (lover?) had previously been a bird, hence the ability to lay eggs! It gets freaky, and it’s best not to question notions of shape-shifting and cross-species relationships. This notion of an Easter Bunny was solidified by Jacob Grimm of the Brothers Grimm, who believed that the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara…

But in Germanic traditions extending up to the mid-20th century, an Easter Fox was held responsible for the Easter eggs, and children would prepare a cozy bed of hay and moss for der Osterfuchs. Yeah! Now we’re talkin’! German and Dutch settlers brought the tradition of the Easter fox to the U.S. in the 18th century, where rabbits gradually took over the Easter duties…

But for those of us who are fur-ious that a rabbit supplanted us, we await the restoration of the true Easter fox to his proper post of rightful honor… 🦊

Categories: animal presence, animals, anthropomorphic, furry, historical perspectives, holidays, seasonal
Tags:

Comments: 1 Comment

Art Imitating Art…

April 3, 2023

I have to admit that I’m a big fan of old school gangster movies, even though they predate me. I’m particularly fond of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre in their gangster roles, back in the day when good writing and solid acting alone drove movies.

Bugs Bunny could play that game, too. In the short Racketeer Rabbit (1946), he goes head-to-head with ‘toon versions of Robinson and Lorre, playing them as readily as he often played Elmer Fudd. In this Friz Freleng classic, Bugs is never intimidated, but plays all of the gangland conventions against them, treating a grilling as a sunlamp, ducking under machine gun fire, and treating a gangland “ride” as a delightful outing…

In the end, Bugs has driven Robinson’s “Rocky” character screaming out of the hideout, and Bugs is doing his best Edward G. Robinson impersonation…truly a small masterpiece, a work of art imitating art!

Categories: alternative realities, Brilliant but twisted, cartoons, famous furries, furry, historical
Tags: ,

Comments: 2 Comments

My Official Denial…

March 27, 2023

Just for the record…I did not…have sex…with Stormy Vixen! Nothing happened. I’m innocent of any wrongdoing, and have done nothing wrong. I’m being treated very unfairly by the media. If any money traded hands, I assumed that it was for Girl Scout cookies. I eat lotsa cookies! It’s all a witch hunt, ‘ya see…

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it…ahem! 😁

Categories: absurdities, anthropomorphic, furry, furry satire, humor
Tags:

Comments: 4 Comments

The Fabulous, Gangster Felines of “Lackadaisy”

March 15, 2023

Cats, when you think about it, are natural vintage 1920’s-era gangster animals. You’ve heard of swing cats, and they’ve got the music of the jazz era covered, with an electro-swing soundtrack. So put a bunch of anthropomorphic cats in prohibition era New Orleans. complete with the garb, wheels, weaponry, and style of the era, and you’ve got a real winner! I’d like a piece of their action, frankly…

Now Lackadaisy is a speakeasy that operates during Prohibition behind the front of the Little Daisy Cafe eatery. It’s previous proprietor was slain in a hit, so it remains to the surviving members of the mob to find their way again, and keep their business operational. Fortunately, cats are nothing if not adaptable survivors, and within their numbers they are well able to meet these challenges, all the time looking good, and fully in the spirit of the age…

Lackadaisy is the creation of Tracy J. Butler, and originated as a webcomic that is approaching breakout status, with a short film in the works. Her artwork is richly detailed and highly expressive, with a world of distinctive characters. I really think that great things lie ahead for these gangster cats, and their retro, fully-visualized 1927 speakeasy world…check ‘em out! 😸


“We play rough. That ‘s why they call us animals!“

Categories: alternative realities, anthropomorphic, furry, furry art, furry films, furry movies
Tags: ,

Comments: 5 Comments

NJM’s “Therapy” Commercial…

March 11, 2023

Being a mascot therapist must be a highly specialized niche within psychotherapy, and a sweet gig if you can get it. The clients are all quite remarkable, like the green catfish mascot who’s questioning his whole existence, and having anxiety over the fact that NJM has no mascots. “Identity crisis,” writes the therapist dutifully in her note pad…

Prompted to tell her more, the giant catfish comments almost tearfully that he also can’t seem to blink. “I meant more about NJM,” redirects the therapist.– –Ohh, the angst, the suffering here! We hear a muffled wailing sound, and the scene shifts to the waiting room, where we see a penguin and a robot mascot on the couch, awaiting their turn with the doctor. They are all good mascots with their tales of woe, no doubt, but unfortunately NJM doesn’t use mascots. Pity that, because these all look like good mascots…

Now if these fellows can’t find employment as mascots, surely they could fit into the Otherkin community… 🦊

Categories: absurdities, advertising, alternative realities, anthropomorphic, furry, furry commercials, furry television, twisted reality
Tags:

Comments: 5 Comments

“Sing 2” Superior to Original

March 7, 2023

Kid’s movies are a great source for furry characters, and so when I was able to stream Sing 2 in the privacy of my own home, no one was any the wiser, and I was all over it! Now Sing was a good movie, but Sing 2 fits into that rare category of movie sequels that are better than their originals…

To simplify a movie with actually fairly complex story arcs, koala producer Buster Moon takes his small town cast to the big city where he must negotiate through a hard-core wolf producer, Jimmy Crystal, which he does by claiming affiliation with a long-unseen rock legend, Clay Calloway, a grizzled and grief-stricken lion voiced by U-2’s Bono who’s been mourning his late lioness wife Ruby for over 15 years…

Well, the rock-legend is finally coaxed on board, and his star power helps launch Buster Moon’s space musical, Out Of This World. All of the original movie’s characters return, and a few new ones are introduced as well, including Nooshy,a knockout of a break-dancing lynx, and Porsha, the daughter of the big-city wolf producer, who’s a teenaged ditz but utterly fearless, and full of performing potential…

(Notice the detail. Porsha is wearing a Clay Calloway shirt!)

Well, Out Of This World gets produced, and it’s pretty spectacular in its song and dance scenes. The starship evens bears a passing resemblance to one of Starfleet issue, with warp nacelles visible. The movie imparts some underlying themes such as dealing with loss, and holding onto your dreams. With major stars performing the voiceovers and songs you’re sure to recognize, Sing 2 is well worth a look for fans of anthropomorphic animals…two paws up! 🦊

Categories: alternative realities, anthropomorphic, furry, furry movies, movies
Tags:

Comments: 1 Comment

“Viking Wolf,” a Werewolf Movie With Bite…

February 14, 2023

Many will talk about love this Valentine’s Day. Here, we will talk about werewolves! Kissing don’t last, bitemarks do…

I’ll have to admit that I was initially put off this film by its title of Viking Wolf, as well as by its premise that the werewolf in question was a 17-year-old girl. I didn’t want to see some dreadful teenage first date movie, or see my beloved werewolf horror subgenre messed with. Happily, I got around my reservations to find that Viking Wolf was worthy werewolf horror, and bites in a good way…

Now as for the Vikings, it seems Iike in 1050 they raided a monastery, cutting down the hapless monks who implored them not to break into a sealed room wherein resided the hound of hell, embodied as a wolf pup. Vikings like wolves, so they took junior on their ship back with them, which was a big mistake as he slaughtered them all on route, and established the werewolf bloodline in Norway.

Then almost a thousand years later, big city girl Thale transplanted to a small town with her police officer mother goes to a teen party in the woods where the werewolf bloodline member active selects dinner from the partygoers, and Thale gets a shoulder wound in the fracas…uh oh! She becomes increasingly wolfy and out of control, leading to memorable moments like the slaughter of a bus load of passengers when the moon triggers the transformation of Thale riding on the bus. Bless her heart, she wolfs out while still wearing her hoodie!

Well, it takes a grizzled old werewolf hunter missing an arm to get Mom to realize that her daughter is hopelessly a werewolf, and that a silver bullet is the only remedy for the “infection.”- – Talk about tough love!

Some people have called this “the best werewolf movie that they’ve ever seen,” but I wouldn’t go that far although the film is worthy of the traditions it invokes, tweaking them in an innovative way. The film does drag a bit in its earlier parts, and the werewolf design is less humanoid than what I like to see. This is basically a big, mangy wolf. There are missed cinematic opportunities, possibly due to time and budget restraints. We don’t get to see the actual blitz on the bus, for example, but only its aftermath. Still, this is a serious, well-acted and suspenseful film that shows us that the female can be the deadlier of the species…ARROO! RAWRR! 🐺

(…and Happy Valentine’s Day to all you young suckers in love from the resident fox anthro!)

Categories: anomalies, anthropomorphic, furry, furry movies, horror, legends and folklore
Tags:

Comments: 15 Comments

« Older Entries
%d bloggers like this: