Gritty Stories about Cute Talking Animals?

[evolution_rex]

I don't currently plan on working on a project like this, but I've had the idea in the past and wondered if you guys think could be done. Is it possible to have a story where the main characters are anthropomorphic animals but have the story be serious in tone with light amounts of dark moments?

Although I haven't read the series, I think the Owls of Ga'Hoole series might be an example of what I'm talking about.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Why not? Orwell did it with Animal Farm.

 

[Ireth]

Ga'Hoole is a great example. Redwall is also awesome.

 

[evolution_rex]

Why not? Orwell did it with Animal Farm.

I guess Animal Farm counts, but that worked because the whole story was an allegory and so it's on a different level. I'm more curious about a straight serious/dark fantasy with anthropomorphic animals.

EDIT: Was just remembered that Watership Down was also a thing, so it looks like it's been done quite a lot more than I realized.

 

[Trick]

Our own Gryphos posted a sample of writing that falls into this category. I quite liked it. Of course, I love Redwall too so I guess a more adult take on the genre for a more adult me makes it very likely that I'll like it.

 

[Philip Overby]

I'm integrating "cute" were-creatures into my bloody, weird stories, but they're not just straight up animals. One example is a were-gopher that can summon undead rats to speak through dead people. Even though the story is quite bloody, it deals with him investigating brownies (like the little forest sprites) that have been killing people with more aggressive forms of their trickster magic. So I'm using gophers and brownies, which are typically not in dark stories, and trying them out.

I like the idea of cute/weird being combined together. One reason I like Happy Tree Friends, South Park, and stuff like that.

 

[Caged Maiden]

The Rats of NIMH is pretty dark...

 

[Mindfire]

I came here to mention Redwall and Watership Down, but it looks like that's been taken care of. Also try the Warrior cats books. My sister loved those.

 

[CupofJoe]

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett is not light and fluffy if memory serves...

 

[Reaver]

Personally, I can't stand anthropomorphic animals. Even as a kid I found certain cartoon characters (WB, Disney, etc) to be stupid and weird. I found this equally strange in works of fiction. Still do.

I guess I'll never figure out why we as a species feel that this is entertaining or acceptable. Since stories about animals that can talk or have other human traits go back countless milennia, perhaps I should concede that I'm the odd man out.

 

[Mark]

This idea has worked well for many writers. I especially liked Alan Dean Foster's very funny Spellsinger series.

 

[evolution_rex]

Personally, I can't stand anthropomorphic animals. Even as a kid I found certain cartoon characters (WB, Disney, etc) to be stupid and weird. I found this equally strange in works of fiction. Still do.

I guess I'll never figure out why we as a species feel that this is entertaining or acceptable. Since stories about animals that can talk or have other human traits go back countless milennia, perhaps I should concede that I'm the odd man out.

I personally don't do anthropomorphic animals because I'm always afraid I might end up writing something that seems cringe-y, like something out of the Furry crowd, which i won't get into here because it's obviously very inappropriate, but I've always just been very cautious of that.