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Historical debates

Roo v 2: The Furry Fracas (No one asked for)

Your rating: None Average: 2.6 (25 votes)

Two furry Youtubers, 2 the Ranting Gryphon and Tantroo McNally, find themselves in a poignant brouhaha. It all started in mid-February when an infamous furry comedian made a statement on hate crime statistics, and would lead to a long winded discussion of righteous condemnation that left audiences in awe at how two angry old men could find literally nothing better to do with their time.

Furry fanzines, comics and furry history

Your rating: None Average: 3.3 (15 votes)

The cover of Huzzah number 48, an APA from 2002, showing a rabbit in the woods with a bow and arrow.With $40 that I sent to a collector, I dove into the interesting pool of furry fanzines. Anyone can publish furry art and comics online these days, but back when the Internet was more BBS than WWW, it seems like any artist who wanted to get their name out there did a fanzine. There are an incredible number of them, and that's why in my opinion it's impossible to list them all. I know some have tried and failed.

"Bestiary", "Scrap", "Karno's Klassics", "Furplay" and "PentMouse" are just a very small number of what was out there. The quality of the art ranges widely, and so far I've come across more than one comic that makes absolutely no sense at all. But those are exceptions; most of what I've seen has been quite good.

For the most part, furry fanzines were published with anywhere between 8 to 50 pages. They're a really interesting view of the early days of the fandom. One thing I noticed - the style of art hasn't changed that much. But what has definitely changed is how furry fans have viewed their fandom.

'Sing' first teaser trailer

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Here is the first teaser trailer for Illumination Entertainment’s Sing, from the studio that brought us two (so far) Despicable Me features and one (so far) Minions feature, and that is going to bring us The Secret Life of Pets.

Despicable Me, Minions, and The Secret Life of Pets are all set in the human world. Sing takes place in a totally anthro world, like Disney's Zootopia. Are any of us planning theater parties, like there are to see Zootopia, when Sing comes out on December 21, 2016?

Full version of "Try Everything" from 'Zootopia' released

Your rating: None Average: 3.9 (15 votes)

The much anticipated 'Try Everything' from Disney's upcoming Zootopia has been released in full on Shakira's Vevo. As one can see from the comments, people are pretty excited for this song.

The single is written by Sia Furler, and definitely sounds like it.

Zootopia is coming out soon; so enjoy this song while you wait!

It's too bad they went for a self esteem anthem for this song. With such a wide premise and world they built for Zootopia with all the rich environments and backgrounds, it's too bad we don't hear her name drop animals or anything in the song once. I think it's a big opportunity missed, maybe that's just me.

Let me know what you all think of it!

A brave newt world

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (7 votes)

War With the Newts is a theatrical adaptation of the satirical novel by Karel Čapek, who is known for popularizing the word "robot" through his play R.U.R. It was adapted by Professor Natsu Onoda Power and performed at Georgetown University.

The play consists of a series of vignettes depicting the events surrounding the uplifting of a species of hyper-intelligent newts. When they are first discovered, they are seen as an able-bodied workforce, but gradually they begin to see how they are being enslaved by humans, and rise up in revolution. The newts were portrayed by actors wearing kigurumi newt suits and fingerless arm-gloves, and they frequently stole the show from the human actors. I had the opportunity to see the play in its world premiere run at Georgetown University. For a new play, this had a remarkable level of polish, while at the same time being eclectic, energetic and engaging.

'The Angry Birds Movie' takes flight

Your rating: None Average: 2.8 (5 votes)

The trailers for anthropomorphic animated movies are coming thick and fast. Here is the teaser trailer for The Angry Birds Movie, due out (unless the date is changed) May 20, 2016. The concept is by Finnish video game company Rovio Entertainment, of course, but the CGI movie is by Sony Pictures Imageworks’ new animation studio in Vancouver (where Sony Pictures Animation moved it from Hollywood for British Columbia’s tax breaks). It’s what Sony Imageworks will be working on now that Hotel Transylvania 2 is finished.

The feature is directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly, from a screenplay by Jon Vitti. Voices include Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as Chuck, Maya Rudolph as Matilda, Danny McBride as Bomb and Peter Dinklage as Mighty Eagle, with Bill Hader as Leonard, a Minion Pig.

Review: 'Angry Birds' - a 2016 attempt at a 2010 property

'Zootopia' gains a poster; plus, the director's furry fan art

Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (13 votes)

Yesterday, Byron Howard, co-director of Disney's upcoming furry movie Zootopia, Tweeted something was coming today. It turns out the "small treat" was the teaser poster for the movie.

zootopiaposter.jpg

Followers of Howard's Twitter account shouldn't be surprised to run into announcements about the movie, but there are other reasons to at least visit once in a while.

A famous experiment in anthropomorphism and psychology

Your rating: None Average: 3.6 (14 votes)

Harlow's monkey clinging to a terrycloth dollSorry to interrupt fun stories about comics and cartoons, but the Anthropomorphic Research Project story suggests some want to know what furryness means. Let me throw in a topic sharing an abstract concept with the fandom.

Anthropomorphism is often imagined from our human point of view (attaching human characteristics to something non-human). But the concept can exist apart from ourselves, when animals see themselves in objects. The way it works for them can reveal more about us.

Harry Harlow was a psychologist who experimented with monkeys. In the 1950's and 60's, he gave his subjects "surrogate" mothers built from different objects, to see how they would behave, and learn about care-giving and companionship in social and cognitive development. PBS says about his famous experiment:

He took infant monkeys away from their real mothers, giving them instead two artificial mothers, one model made of wire and the other made of cloth. The wire model was outfitted with a bottle to feed the baby monkey. But the babies rarely stayed with the wire model longer than it took to get the necessary food. They clearly preferred cuddling with the softer cloth model, especially if they were scared. (When the cloth model had the bottle, they didn't go to the wire model at all.)

Kazka preps 'Bronies' story anthology for mid-June release

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Kazka Press, best known for their flash fiction, is publishing Bronies: For the Love of Ponies – an anthology of short stories inspired by My Little Pony fandom.

The anthology – which is definitely not for kids – is edited by L. Lambert Lawson, and includes work by several well-known writers, including Kij Johnson's Nebula-winning "Ponies".

Furry fans may be most familiar with Michael H. Payne, writing guest of honor for the first Further Confusion, who won the Ursa Major Award in 2002 for his short story, "Familiars", and was featured in Best in Show. Michael won fame among bronies for his fan novel Half the Day is Night.

Kazka promises to have online pre-ordering for the $13.99+s&h paperback up soon. The e-Book ($9.99) is planned for June 20. Illustrations are by Galen Dara.

Samples:?"The Extinctionists"?-?"Warden of the Valley"?-?"How Bacon Saved the Pony Express"

Furry fans give generously to Fernando; over $20,000 raised

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Fernando'sHundreds of furs worldwide have opened up their wallets, giving over $20,000 to a Pittsburgh man who has sold subs, wraps and t-shirts to Anthrocon attendees in recent years.

Business owner Fernando Decarvalho faces financial ruin; his eatery, Fernando's Cafe, was forced to announce its impending closure last month. Fans hope their money will keep it open until Anthrocon 2012, and beyond.

The donations are to be given to Fernando at a planned meetup today (April 21) at his cafe. Over 100 have signed up to eat at the restaurant; several plan to attend in fursuit.

Update: $21,000 was handed over by "Anthrocons"; WTAE coverage - event stream [Dobie] (donations handed over at 33:33). Fernando expressed his thanks, while noting that his landlord has another potential renter in negotiation for his space after June.