Editing Human–animal hybrid (section)

==More modern portrayals of fictional hybrids==
[[File:Jemima1.jpg|thumb|right|''[[The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck]]'', a work written and illustrated by [[Beatrix Potter]], features a spirited humanized animal as the title character.]]

{{see also|Funny animal|Genetic engineering in science fiction|Talking animal|Talking animals in fiction}}

Many prominent pieces of children's [[literature]] over the past two centuries have featured humanized animal characters, often as [[protagonists]] in the stores. In the opinion of popular educator [[Lucy Sprague Mitchell]], the appeal of such mythical and fantastic beings comes from how children desire "direct" language "told in terms of images— visual, auditory, tactile, muscle images". Another author has remarked that an "animal costume" provides "a way to emphasize or even exaggerate a particular characteristic". The [[anthropomorphic]] characters in the seminal works by English writer [[Beatrix Potter]] in particular live an ambiguous situation, having human dress yet displaying many instinctive animal traits. Writing on the popularity of [[Peter Rabbit]], a later author commented that in "balancing humanized domesticity against wild rabbit foraging, Potter subverted parental authority and its built in hypocrisy" in Potter's child-centered books. Writer Lisa Fraustino has cited on the subject [[R. M. Lockley|R.M. Lockley]]'s tongue-in-cheek observation: "Rabbits are so human. Or is it the other way around— humans are so rabbit?"<ref name=rabbit>{{cite book|title=Ethics and Children's Literature
 |author=Lisa R. Fraustino|editor=Dr. Claudia Mills|pages=145–162|isbn=9781472440723
 |date=2014|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=cOoWBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA145&dq=%22the+rights+and+wrongs+of+anthropomorphism%22#v=onepage&q=%22the%20rights%20and%20wrongs%20of%20anthropomorphism%22&f=false}}</ref>

Writer [[H. G. Wells]] created his famous work ''[[The Island of Doctor Moreau]]'', featuring a mixture of [[Horror literature|horror]] and [[Science fiction literature|science fiction]] elements, to promote the anti-[[vivisection]] cause as a part of his long-time advocacy for [[animal rights]]. Wells' story describes a man stuck on an island ruled over by the titular Dr. Moreau, a morally depraved scientist who has created several human-animal hybrids even by combining parts of other animals. The story has been adapted into film several times, with varying success.  The most acclaimed version is the 1932 [[black-and-white]] treatment called ''[[Island of Lost Souls (1932 film)|Island of Lost Souls]]''.<ref name=fone>{{cite web|url=http://news.moviefone.com/2013/09/06/leonardo-dicaprio-island-of-dr-moreau/
 |title=Leonardo DiCaprio Looks to Produce 'Island of Dr. Moreau' Remake
 |date=September 6, 2013|first=Drew|last=Taylor
 |publisher=[[Moviefone|news.moviefone.com]]|accessdate=August 6, 2015}}</ref>

Wells himself wrote that "this story was the response of an imaginative mind to the reminder that humanity is but animal rough-hewn to a reasonable shape and in perpetual internal conflict between instinct and injunction," with the scandals surrounding [[Oscar Wilde]] being the impetus for the English writer's treatment of themes such as ethics and psychology. Challenging the [[Victorian era]] viewpoints of its time, the [[1896 in literature|1896 work]] presents a complex situation in which enhancing animals into hybrids involves both terrifying violence and pain as well as appears essentially futile, given the power of raw instinct. A pessimistic view towards the ability of human civilization to live by [[Rule of law|law-abiding]], [[Morality|moral standards]] for long thus follows.<ref>{{cite book|pages=187–212|title=Compassion: The Culture and Politics of an Emotion|editor=Lauren Gail Berlant|author=Neville Hoad|date=2004|url=https://books.google.com/?id=YnkJYokNO2sC&pg=PA188&dq=%22response+of+an+imaginative+mind+to+the+reminder+that+humanity+is%22#v=onepage&q=%22response%20of%20an%20imaginative%20mind%20to%20the%20reminder%20that%20humanity%20is%22&f=false|isbn=9780415970525|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]}}</ref>

[[File:Kemonomimi mouse.png|thumb|right|The [[Kemonomimi]] art style, widely popularized since the latter part of the 20th century, involves humanoid characters with stylized animal features, such as this mouse girl.]]
The 1986 [[horror film]] ''[[The Fly (1986 film)|The Fly]]'' features a deformed and monstrous human-animal hybrid, played by actor [[Jeff Goldblum]].<ref name=arts/> His character, scientist Seth Brundle, undergoes a [[teleportation]] experiment that goes awry and fuses him at a fundamental genetic level with a [[Housefly|common fly]] caught besides him. Brundle experiences drastic mutations as a result that horrify him. Movie critic Gerardo Valero has written that the famous horror work, "released at the dawn of the [[AIDS epidemic]]", "was seen by many as a metaphor for the disease" while also playing on bodily fears about [[dismemberment]] and coming apart that human beings inherently share.<ref>{{cite web|last=Valero|first=Gerardo|date=January 13, 2014|title=David Cronenberg's "The Fly"|publisher=[[rogerebert.com]]|accessdate=August 6, 2015|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/the-fly}}</ref>

The [[science fiction film]] ''[[Splice (film)|Splice]]'', released 2009, shows scientists mixing together human and animal [[DNA]] in the hopes of advancing medical research at the pharmaceutical company that they work at. Calamitous results occur.<ref name=Columbus/>

The [[H.P. Lovecraft]] inspired movie ''[[Dagon (film)|Dagon]]'', released in 2001, additionally features grotesque hybrid beings. In terms of [[comic book]]s, examples of fictional human-animal hybrids include the characters in [[Charles Burns (cartoonist)|Charles Burns]]' ''[[Black Hole (comics)|Black Hole]]'' series. In those comics, a set of teenagers in a 1970s era town become afflicted by a bizarre disease; the [[Sexually transmitted disease|sexually transmitted affliction]] mutates them into monstrous forms.<ref name=arts/>

Multiple video games have featured human-animal hybrids as enemies for the protagonist(s) to defeat, including powerful [[Boss (video game)|boss characters]]. For instance, the 2014 [[survival horror]] release ''[[The Evil Within]]'' includes grotesque hybrid beings, looking like the [[undead]], attacking [[Portal:Main|main]] character Detective Sebastian Castellanos. With partners Joseph Oda and Julie Kidman, the protagonist attempts investigate a multiple homicide at a [[Psychiatric hospital|mental hospital]] yet discovers a mysterious figure who turns the world around them into a living nightmare, Castellanos having to find the truth about the criminal [[Psychopathy|psychopath]].<ref name=evil/>

[[Hero|Heroic character]] examples of human-animal anthropomorphic characters include the two protagonists of the [[2002 in film|2002 movie]] ''[[The Cat Returns]]'' ([[Japanese language|Japanese title]]: 猫の恩返し), with the [[Animation|animated film]] featuring a young girl (named "Haru") being transformed against her will into a [[Felidae|feline]]-human hybrid and fighting a villainous king of the cats with the help of a dashing male cat companion (known as the "Baron") at her side. The English language version of the film features [[Anne Hathaway]] and [[Cary Elwes]] in the main roles, respectively.<ref name=gazette>{{cite web|date=September 23, 2005|url=http://movie-gazette.com/1423|title=The Cat Returns|publisher=movie-gazette.com|accessdate=August 10, 2015}}</ref><ref name=TVGuide>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/cat-returns/review/284368/|first=Robert|last=Pardi|title=The Cat Returns|publisher=[[TVGuide.com]]|accessdate=August 10, 2015}}</ref> The critically acclaimed movie, with a score of 89% from [[Rotten Tomatoes]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cat_returns/ |title=The Cat Returns |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |accessdate=September 1, 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901080606/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cat_returns |archivedate=September 1, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> was directed by [[Hiroyuki Morita]].<ref name=gazette/><ref name=TVGuide/> In one notable moment, the once-again human Haru confesses to having [[Romance (love)|romantic feelings]] for the Baron, who responds in an ambiguous manner before leaving (vowing to be there for her again when needed).