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"Can a robot turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?"
"Can you?"
-The one good part of I, Robot

Bogged down in all the recent controversy about "generative AI" is that one of the reasons the research began was, in creating a program that can "create" a painting, we are theoretically trying to answer the evergreen science fiction question of whether a machine can become, well, perhaps not "human". Maybe a better word would be "anthropomorphic".

DreamWorks Animation's The Wild Robot will be coming to theaters September 20 of this year. Pretentious preambles aside, this movie is not just of furry interest because it has a robot that can be described as anthropomorphic; the trailer reveals plenty of animal characters who can also be described as anthropomorphic.

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On March 3rd, the Leo Awards announced that they would be retiring its writer's award. This award started in 2018 by Thurston Howl Publishing and its founding was written about by Fred Patten that year. Thurston had announced their consolidation with another furry publisher, Fenris Publishing, in December of 2023.

The announcement listed several reasons for making this decision which included: lack of judges and lack of interest in the awards outside of the writers themselves.

Their full statement can be read below the fold and on social media.

Contributors this month include 2cross2affliction, Acton, dronon, earthfurst, and GreenReaper.

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Furlandia announced on February 23 that Ursa Major Award-winning furry author Mary E. Lowd was removed as a guest of honor, citing her use of artificial intelligence to create her work’s cover art and the ensuing backlash.

Despite the strong response to her use of AI, the announcement’s second paragraph seemed to suggest that Furlandia is neutral on AI art itself:

Dear Furlandia Community,

Earlier this week we made the difficult decision to remove our Writing Guest of Honor for 2024, Mary E. Lowd. This is a decision we do not make lightly, and is all the more difficult for us as they have been a long time supporter of Furlandia. So why have we done this? It comes down to their decision to use AI-generated art as a tool in the creation of things such as book covers, the professional backlash that has accompanied it, and the general attitude towards this topic in the fandom.

Undoubtedly the topic of AI-generated art is incredibly divisive and controversial in our fandom at this time, and a lot of people have very strong opinions about it. We’ve made this decision not to push a particular opinion, but because our goal is to bring people together to celebrate the furry fandom, of which artists are the undeniable backbone. Continuing with Mary as a [Guest of Honor] would have made the people understandably uncomfortable and that’s not something we want. This is not an easy thing for any convention to have to do and we hope anyone who’s disappointed will understand.

Thank you,
Furlandia Executive Staff

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One of furry fandom’s original founding members passed away from liver cancer on February 20, 2024. Mark Merlino, alongside the late Fred Patten, were two of the six founders of the first anime club in the United States in May 1977. This interest and fandom evolved into a focus on the anthropomorphic characters which became large enough to grow outside into a tandem fandom known as furry.

This would culminate in the founding of the first convention exclusively for furry fans in Greater Los Angeles, ConFurence, which he co-directed with his mate Rod O’Riley. It saw yearly growth in attendance until Mark left the board at the end of 1998. Other conventions would grow to replace the founding convention that closed its doors in 2003. Its direct successor Califur started in 2004 and ran until its closure in 2017.

Merlino’s legacy has been well documented, featuring in Ash Coyote’s The Fandom and Joe Strike’s Furry Nation.

The fandom has been mourning and memorializing his passing with articles of his legacy, and fan art featuring his original species, the Skiltaire. Ren Tradewind has come forward with the suggestion of making his birthday of May 12th a sort of Fandom Foundation holiday.

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In this episode:

• Zootopia 2 gets a release date!
• Small trains and giant cats!
• Several furry charities and the update to total raised this year!
• An exclusive interview with Nio the Dutch Angel Dragon!

Welcome to the February episode of digging up positivity. At the time this goes live, both me and this episodes’ special guest are at Nordic Fuzzcon in Malmo, Sweden, where I am helping the charity team raising funds for U-Animals. But besides this awesome charity, there is so much more! And I love to tell you more once future me has returned home.

But for now the charity updates!

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The Insider covered news that broke on a Russian furry YouTuber’s telegram group about a Russian My Little Pony meet called the Mi Amore Fest. The gathering was allegedly ordered to disperse by the Federal Security Service (FSB). This is two months following when the cartoon show was deemed as mature content by the government. While a reasoning has not been given for this rating, rumors are that this was due to the rainbow mane and tail of the character Rainbow Dash and the growing animosity of Russia toward the symbol of the rainbow and its ties to the LGBTQ+ movement.

The opening of a furry taproom called Slightly Furry in Seattle by Martinisoft and SpORK Styles was covered by the local alternative magazine The Stranger.

This establishment replaces what used to be called the Sovereign Brewing establishment, just off the very Western end of Interstate 90 before it meets Interstate 5.

This is the second furry-operated taproom to open in the city. The first is a facility called the Vulpine Taproom located near the northernmost shore of Lake Washington. The article by The Stranger contains interviews and stories behind both businesses.

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This year’s list contains movies directed by Wes Anderson, Greta Gerwig, Hayao Miyazaki, Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese.

It also contains two adaptations of toy properties and two Marvel movies! Got to let people know it’s still me.

Contributors this month include 2cross2affliction, dronon, earthfurst, GreenReaper, and Rakuen Growlithe.

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The 2024 Good Furry Awards are now open to receive nominations. This is the sixth year for the program, which is sponsored by the 'Ask Papabear' advice column and Uncle Bear Publishing. It recognizes furries who have generously given their time, skills, or money to help the furry community, promote a positive image of the furry fandom, or otherwise help animals and people anywhere in the world.

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When writing this article for 2022's works, my thought was to help present short furry animations in a way that’d promote organic discussion. I enjoyed doing it, so will try to make it an annual tradition. As I was going through the Ursa Major recommended list, I found these entries had become a bit longer than last year; there were also more of them, so they took more time to review, but for most it was well worth the time.

These are the eleven I felt were most worth a view, plus a bonus, lightly-viewed short not on the Recommended list that I felt worth talking about.

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Hello! In this episode we cover:

• The final numbers of the Furry Charity Index 2023 and a new total
• Charities by the furry fandom in January
• Controlling your fuzzy ears with your brain in VRChat
• Animation news
• An exclusive interview with Laser The Sharkfox
• Announcement winners of the Tshirts and Pawpillows!

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Three foreign animated film reviews! Behold the trailers for:

The Angel in the Clock,
White Fang, and
The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily.

All of these films successfully blend 3D and 2D animation in their own different styles.

White Fang is the most 3D, applying a brush-like texture to characters to create a 2D, painted look. Angel's main characters are 2D, with 3D designs used for the settings. Bears uses 3D for almost everything, then alters its visuals to look as 2D as possible.

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Legislator Justin Humphrey of the Oklahoma State House of Representatives submitted a proposed bill (OK Bill 3084) which would indicate that a student identified as a furry would be removed from the classroom by their parents, or failing that, animal control.

Students who purport to be an imaginary animal or animal species, or who engage in anthropomorphic behavior commonly referred to as furries at school shall not be allowed to participate in school curriculum or activities. The parent or guardian of a student in violation of this section shall pick the student up from the school, or animal control services shall be contacted to remove the student.

This is another political act based on a rumor that started two years ago about cat litter being utilized by students 'pretending to be cats'. This is the second proposed law in Oklahoma to try and remove furry students from the classroom that also had the misuse of the terminology of “anthropomorphic behavior”. It is also the second year in a row that such a law has been proposed.