Goofy
Goofy is a funny-animal cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog with a Southern drawl, wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, white gloves, a tall hat designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and is one of Disney's most recognizable characters, he is characterized as clumsy and dimwitted, yet this interpretation is not always definitive. Goofy debuted in animated cartoons, starting in 1932 with Mickey's Revue as Dippy Dawg, older than Goofy would come to be; the same year, he was re-imagined as a younger character, now called Goofy, in the short The Whoopee Party. During the 1930s, he was used extensively as part of a comedy trio with Donald. Starting in 1939, Goofy was given his own series of shorts that were popular in the 1940s and early 1950s. Two Goofy shorts were nominated for an Oscar: How to Play Aquamania, he co-starred in a short series with Donald, including Polar Trappers, where they first appeared without Mickey Mouse.
Three more Goofy shorts were produced in the 1960s after which Goofy was only seen in television and comics. He returned to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol, his last theatrical appearance was How to Hook Up Your Home Theater in 2007. Goofy has been featured in television, most extensively in Goof Troop, as well as House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Known as Dippy Dawg, the character is more known as "Goofy," a name used in his short film series. In his 1950s cartoons, he played a character called George Geef or G. G. Geef. Sources from the Goof Troop continuity give the character's full name as G. G. "Goofy" Goof in reference to the 1950s name. In many other sources, both animated and comics, the surname Goof continues to be used. In other 2000s-era comics, the character's full name has been given as Goofus D. Dawg. Of Disney studio animators, Art Babbitt is most regarded for the creation of the Goofy character, while original concept drawings were by Frank Webb.
In a 1930s lecture, Babbitt described the character as: "Think of the Goof as a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, a half-wit, a shiftless, good-natured colored boy and a hick". In the comics and his pre-1992 animated appearances, Goofy was portrayed as single and childless, though unlike Mickey and Donald he didn't have a steady girlfriend. In the Goof Troop series, Goofy was portrayed as a single father with a son named Max, the character of Max made further animated appearances until 2004; this marked a division between animation and comics, as the latter kept showing Goofy as a single childless character, excluding comics taking place in the Goof Troop continuity. After 2004, Max disappeared from animation. Goofy's wife was never shown, while George Geef's wife appeared—but always with her face unseen—in 1950s-produced cartoon shorts depicting the character as a "family man". In the comics, Goofy appears as Mickey's sidekick, though he is shown as a protagonist.
Goofy lives in Spoonerville in Goof Troop. In comics books and strips, Goofy's closest relatives are his nephew Gilbert, his adventurer cousin Arizona Goof, a spoof of the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones, his grandmother called Grandma Goofy. Goofy's catchphrases are "gawrsh!", along with "ah-hyuck!", sometimes followed by a "hoo hoo hoo hoo!", the Goofy holler. According to biographer Neal Gabler, Walt Disney disliked the Goofy cartoons, thinking they were "stupid cartoons with gags tied together" with no larger narrative or emotional engagement and a step backwards to the early days of animation; as such, he threatened to terminate the series, but only continued it to provide make-work for his animators. Animation historian Michael Barrier is skeptical of Gabler's claim, saying that his source did not correspond with what was written. Goofy first appeared in Mickey's Revue, first released on May 25, 1932. Directed by Wilfred Jackson this short movie features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow performing another song and dance show.
Mickey and his gang's animated shorts by this point featured song and dance numbers. It begins as a typical Mickey cartoon of the time, but what would set this short apart from all that had come before was the appearance of a new character, whose behavior served as a running gag. Dippy Dawg, as he was named by Disney artists, was a member of the audience, he irritated his fellow spectators by noisily crunching peanuts and laughing loudly, until two of those fellow spectators knocked him out with their mallets. This early version of Goofy had other differences with the and more developed ones besides the name, he was an old man with a puffy tail and no trousers, shorts, or undergarments. But the short introduced Goofy's distinct laughter; this laughter was provided by Pinto Colvig. A younger Dippy Dawg appeared in The Whoopee Party, first released on September 17, 1932, as a party guest
Mickey and the Seal
Mickey and the Seal is a cartoon short created by Walt Disney in 1948. It was nominated for Academy Award for Animated Short Film, but lost to Tom and Jerry cartoon The Little Orphan, which shared one of seven Oscars for the Tom and Jerry series; this cartoon was featured in the video game Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse visits the seal exhibit at a zoo, he makes the seals perform tricks by feeding them fish. One young seal ends up inside Mickey's basket. Mickey takes the basket home; when Mickey puts the basket down, Pluto goes to investigate but is hit on the nose by the seal's flippers. Pluto tries to tell Mickey what happened. While this is happening, the seal escapes from the basket and Pluto chases it, only to get his head stuck inside the basket, he blunders around and in the process, makes a mess of the kitchen, alerting Mickey. He angrily orders Pluto out despite Pluto's attempts to tell him what he was chasing; when Mickey goes to the bathroom to take a bath, he doesn't notice the seal hop into the tank just before him.
Unaware of what's around him, Mickey ends up scrubbing the seal's head with his brush instead of his back, which he intended to clean. Mickey realizes that he's not scrubbing himself, but still can't see the seal behind him; the seal begins scrubbing Mickey's head, which makes Mickey puzzled. Pluto comes to the window and tries to tell Mickey again, but Mickey shuts the shade; when the seal takes his scrubbing brush, Mickey tries to get it back, only to grab the seal by mistake. After jumping out of the tub, Mickey grabs a stool to nab the intruder, drains the water, only does he realize there is a seal in the tub. Despite Mickey's orders to stay outside, an angry Pluto storms in and crashes into the tub, tries to attack the seal after Mickey introduces him to it. After Pluto becomes alarmed and angry when Mickey says he decides to keep it as a pet, Mickey changes his mind, understanding that Pluto won't like it, decides to take the seal back to the zoo, Pluto smiles in reply before licking Mickey's face.
After Mickey and Pluto drop it off, the seal shows the other seals the things it learned about bathtime from Mickey and Pluto. When Mickey comes home, he and Pluto find that all the seals have moved into their house and are using the bathroom and bathtub as their personal exhibit and pool and using an ironing board as a diving board; the young seal waves goodbye from the shower, which concludes the cartoon. Jimmy MacDonald as Mickey Mouse Pinto Colvig as Pluto, Salty the Seal 1948 – theatrical release 1956 – Disneyland, episode #3.11: "At Home with Donald Duck" 1968 – Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, episode #15.11: "The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show" c. 1983 – Good Morning, Mickey!, episode #38 1983 – "Cartoon Classics: Disney's Best of 1931-1948" 1988 – "Cartoon Classics: Special Edition" c. 1992 – Mickey's Mouse Tracks, episode #45 c. 1992 – Donald's Quack Attack, episode #36 1998 – "The Spirit of Mickey" c. 2000 – Walt Disney World TVs 2002 – House of Mouse, episode #2.9: "King Larry Swings In" 2004 – "Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two" 2006 – "Funny Factory with Mickey" 2009 – Have a Laugh!, episode #1 2010 – "Have a Laugh!
Volume One" Mickey and the Seal on IMDb
Lend a Paw
Lend a Paw is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released to theaters on October 3, 1941. Lend a Paw was directed by Clyde Geronimi and features original music by Leigh Harline. George Nicholas, Kenneth Muse, Nick Nichols, William Sturm, Eric Gurney, Norman Tate, Chick Otterstrom, Morey Reden, Emery Hawkins animated the film; the voice cast includes Walt Disney as Pinto Colvig as Pluto. In the cartoon, a remake of the 1933 short Mickey's Pal Pluto, Pluto saves the life of a kitten, feels jealous towards the kitten after Mickey Mouse takes the kitten in; the film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 14th Academy Awards in 1942. While out in the snow, Pluto hears meowing noises coming from a bag floating on a drifting ice flow, he saves it, only to lose interest. The kitten follows him home and Mickey adopts it. Pluto becomes jealous of all the attention the kitten gets and is coerced by his shoulder devil to get it in trouble.
Despite his shoulder angel's attempts to talk him out of it, Pluto tries to trick the kitten into attacking Mickey's goldfish Bianca, only for it to accidentally knock down the fishbowl. When Mickey demands answers from Bianca, she points to Pluto, knowing that he's the one trying to get the kitten into trouble in the first place. Mickey angrily kicks a guilty Pluto out of the house for the remainder of the day as punishment, Pluto angrily blames his shoulder devil for getting him into trouble; the kitten ends up being outside as well while chasing a ball, accidentally falling into a wall. The angel tells Pluto to save it, but the devil furiously tells him to let it drown as retribution for getting him kicked out. Having enough, the angel chases off the devil by punching him into oblivion and convinces Pluto to do the right thing, only for him to fall in too. Hearing Pluto's cries, Mickey saves them both and comforts a near frozen Pluto, feeling remorseful for kicking him out. After receiving a nice hot bath from Mickey and a thank you kiss from the kitten, Pluto is told by the angel "Kindness to animals, my friend, will be rewarded in the end".
1941 – theatrical release 1954 – Disneyland, episode #1.6: "A Story of Dogs" c. 1972 – The Mouse Factory, episode #29: "Consciences" 1981 – "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volume Three" c. 1992 – Mickey's Mouse Tracks, episode #67 c. 1992 – Donald's Quack Attack, episode #15 1993 – The Adventures of Mickey and Donald, episode #1 1998 – "The Spirit of Mickey" c. 2002 – Bonus on Oliver and Company 2004 – "The Complete Pluto" 2005 – "Classic Cartoon Favorites: Holiday Celebration with Mickey and Pals" 2006 – Bonus on The Fox and the Hound 2009 – Bonus on Oliver and Company 2013 – Bonus on Oliver and Company Lend a Paw at The Big Cartoon DataBase Lend a Paw on IMDb
Bulldog
The Bulldog known as the British Bulldog or English Bulldog, is a medium-sized breed of dog. It is a hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose; the American Kennel Club, The Kennel Club, the United Kennel Club oversee breeding records. Bulldogs are popular pets. Bulldogs have a longstanding association with English culture, as the BBC wrote: "to many the Bulldog is a national icon, symbolising pluck and determination." During World War II, Bulldogs were likened to Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his defiance of Nazi Germany. When the English settled in the Americas, their Bulldogs came with them. A few dedicated bulldog fanciers formed the Bulldog Club of America in 1890 and it was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York on November 29, 1904. Bulldogs have characteristically wide heads and shoulders along with a pronounced mandibular prognathism. There are thick folds of skin on the brow; the coat is short and sleek with colours of red, white and piebald. In the United Kingdom, the breed standards are 50 lb for a female.
In the United States, a typical mature male weighs 50 lb. The Bulldog Club of America recommends the average weight of a bulldog to be 40–50 lb. Bulldogs are one of the few breeds whose tail is short and either straight or screwed and thus is not cut or docked as with some other breeds. A straight tail is a more desirable tail according to the breed standard set forth by the BCA if it is facing downward, not upwards. According to the American Kennel Club, a Bulldog's disposition should be "equable and kind and courageous, demeanor should be pacifist and dignified; these attributes should be countenanced by the expression and behavior". Breeders have worked to reduce/remove aggression from these dogs. Most have a friendly, but stubborn nature. Bulldogs are recognized as excellent family pets because of their tendency to form strong bonds with children. Bulldogs are known for getting along well with children, other dogs, other pets. Bulldogs have been rated one of the least intelligent breeds; the term "Bulldog" was first mentioned in literature around 1500, the oldest spelling of the word being Bondogge and Bolddogge.
The first reference to the word with the modern spelling is dated 1631 or 1632 in a letter by a man named Preswick Eaton where he writes: "procuer mee two good Bulldogs, let them be sent by ye first shipp". In 1666, English scientist Christopher Merret applied: "Canis pugnax, a Butchers Bull or Bear Dog", as an entry in his Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum; the designation "bull" was applied because of the dog's use in the sport of bull baiting. This entailed the setting of dogs onto a tethered bull; the dog that grabbed the bull by the nose and pinned it to the ground would be the victor. It was common for a bull to maim or kill several dogs at such an event, either by goring, tossing, or trampling. Over the centuries, dogs used for bull-baiting developed the stocky bodies and massive heads and jaws that typify the breed as well as a ferocious and savage temperament. Bull-baiting, along with bear-baiting, reached the peak of its popularity in England in the early 1800s until they were both made illegal by the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835.
This amended the existing legislation to protect animals from mistreatment and included snakes, dogs and donkeys, so that bull and bear-baiting as well as cockfighting became prohibited. Therefore, the Old English Bulldog had outlived its usefulness in England as a sporting animal and its active or "working" days were numbered. However, emigrants did have a use for such dogs in the New World. In mid-17th century New York, Bulldogs were used as a part of a citywide roundup effort led by Governor Richard Nicolls; because cornering and leading wild bulls were dangerous, Bulldogs were trained to seize a bull by its nose long enough for a rope to be secured around its neck. Bulldogs as pets were continually promoted by dog dealer Bill George. Despite slow maturation so that growing up is achieved by two and a half years, Bulldogs' lives are short. At five to six years of age they start to show signs of aging, it was thought the original old English Bulldog was something else mixed with the Weimaraner.
However, current genetic analysis of pure bred dogs proves this to be false. In fact, the Weimaraner is not related to the bulldog. Though today's Bulldog looks tough, he cannot perform the job he was created for as he cannot withstand the rigors of running and being thrown by a bull, cannot grip with such a short muzzle. Although not as physically capable as their ancestors, decreased levels of aggression associated with modern bulldogs have resulted in far calmer temperament while remaining physically capable guards and companions; the oldest single breed specialty club is The Bulldog Club, formed in 1878. Members of this club met at the Blue Post pub on Oxford Street in London. There they wrote the first standard of perfection for the breed. In 1894 the two top Bulldogs, King Orry and Dockleaf, competed in a contest to see which dog c
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company known as Walt Disney or Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the world's largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, ahead of NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; the company established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production and theme parks. Since the 1980s, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is associated with its flagship family-oriented brands; the company is known for its film studio division, Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Blue Sky Studios. Disney's other main divisions are Disney Parks and Products, Disney Media Networks, Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International.
Disney owns and operates the ABC broadcast network. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. Cartoon character Mickey Mouse, created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, is one of the world's most recognizable characters, serves as the company's official mascot. In early 1923, Kansas City, animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland, which featured child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. After the bankruptcy in 1923 of his previous firm, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, Disney moved to Hollywood to join his brother, Roy O. Disney. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler of M. J. Winkler Productions contacted Disney with plans to distribute a whole series of Alice Comedies purchased for $1,500 per reel with Disney as a production partner. Walt and Roy Disney formed Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio that same year. More animated films followed after Alice. In January 1926, with the completion of the Disney studio on Hyperion Street, the Disney Brothers Studio's name was changed to the Walt Disney Studio.
After the demise of the Alice comedies, Disney developed an all-cartoon series starring his first original character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, distributed by Winkler Pictures through Universal Pictures. The distributor owned Oswald, so Disney only made a few hundred dollars. Disney completed 26 Oswald shorts before losing the contract in February 1928, due to a legal loophole, when Winkler's husband Charles Mintz took over their distribution company. After failing to take over the Disney Studio, Mintz hired away four of Disney's primary animators to start his own animation studio, Snappy Comedies. In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a mouse character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California, drawing up a few simple drawings; the mouse was renamed Mickey Mouse and starred in several Disney produced films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928 through Pat Powers' distribution company.
It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho. Steamboat Willie was an immediate smash hit, its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character, but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee de Forest's Phonofilm system. Steamboat Willie premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in New York City, now The Broadway Theatre. Disney's Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho were retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released in 1929. Disney continued to produce cartoons with Mickey Mouse and other characters, began the Silly Symphony series with Columbia Pictures signing on as Symphonies distributor in August 1929. In September 1929, theater manager Harry Woodin requested permission to start a Mickey Mouse Club which Walt approved. In November, test comics strips were sent to King Features, who requested additional samples to show to the publisher, William Randolph Hearst.
On December 16, the Walt Disney Studios partnership was reorganized as a corporation with the name of Walt Disney Productions, Limited with a merchandising division, Walt Disney Enterprises, two subsidiaries, Disney Film Recording Company and Liled Realty and Investment Company for real estate holdings. Walt and his wife held Roy owned 40 % of WD Productions. On December 30, King Features signed its first newspaper, New York Mirror, to publish the Mickey Mouse comic strip with Walt's permission. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce cartoons in color, beginning with Flowers and Trees. Disney released cartoons through Powers' Celebrity Pictures, Columbia Pictures, United Artists; the popularity of the Mickey Mouse series allowed Disney to plan for his first feature-length animation. The feature film Walt
Mongrel
A mongrel, mixed-breed dog or mutt is a dog that does not belong to one recognized breed and is not the result of intentional breeding. Estimates place their numbers at 150 million animals worldwide. Although the term "mixed-breed dog" is preferred by some, many mongrels have no known purebred ancestors. Furthermore, crossbreed dogs, while a mix of breeds, differ from mongrels in being intentionally bred. Although mongrels have at times been considered somehow lesser than intentionally bred dogs, they are thought to be less susceptible to genetic health problems associated with dog breeding, have enthusiasts and defenders who prefer them to intentionally bred dogs. Although mongrels exhibit great variation, generations of uncontrolled breeding and environmental pressures may tend to shape them toward certain general average body types and characteristics known as landraces, some of which may be developed by people into new breeds such as the Alaskan husky. At other times, the word "mongrel" has been applied to informally purpose-bred dogs such as curs which were created at least in part from mongrels if the breed is not recognized.
Like mongrels/mixed breeds, crossbred dogs belong to no one recognized breed. Unlike mixed-breeds, crossbred dogs are the product of artificial selection – intentionally created by humans, whereas the term "mongrel" refers to dogs that develop by natural selection, without planned intervention of humans. In the United States, the term "mixed-breed" is a favored synonym over "mongrel" among many who wish to avoid negative connotations associated with the latter term; the implication that such dogs must be a mix of defined breeds may stem from an inverted understanding of the origins of dog breeds. Pure breeds have been, for the most part, artificially created from random-bred populations by human selective breeding with the purpose of enhancing desired physical, behavioral, or temperamental characteristics. Dogs that are not purebred are not a mix of such defined breeds. Therefore, among some experts and fans of such dogs, "Mongrel" is still the preferred term; the words cur, tyke and mongrel are used, sometimes in a derogatory manner.
There are regional terms for mixed-breed dogs. In the United Kingdom, mongrel is the unique technical word for a mixed-breed dog. North Americans prefer the term mix or mixed-breed. Mutt is commonly used; some American registries and dog clubs that accept mixed-breed dogs use the breed description All American. There are names for mixed-breeds based on geography, behavior, or food. In Hawaii, mixes are referred to as poi dogs, although they are not related to the extinct Hawaiian poi dog. In The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, the common term is potcake dogs. In South Africa the tongue-in-cheek expression pavement special is sometimes used as a description for a mixed-breed dog. In Trinidad and Tobago, these mixed dogs are referred to as pot hounds. In Serbia similar expression is prekoplotski avlijaner. In the Philippines, mixed-breed street dogs are called askal, a Tagalog-derived contraction of asong kalye. In Puerto Rico they are known as satos. In Costa Rica it is common to hear the word zaguate, a term originating from a Nahuatl term, that refers to the scabies disease.
In the rural southern United States, a small hunting dog is known as a feist. Slang terms are common. Heinz 57, Heinz, or Heinz Hound is used for dogs of uncertain ancestry, in a playful reference to the "57 Varieties" slogan of the H. J. Heinz Company. In some countries, such as Australia, bitsa is sometimes used, meaning "bits o' this, bits o' that". In Brazil and the Dominican Republic, the name for mixed-breed dogs is vira-lata because of homeless dogs who knock over trash cans to reach discarded food. In Newfoundland, a smaller mixed-breed dog is known as a cracky, hence the colloquial expression "saucy as a cracky" for someone with a sharp tongue. Guessing a mixed-breed's ancestry can be difficult for knowledgeable dog observers, because mixed-breeds have much more genetic variation than purebreds. For example, two black mixed-breed dogs might each have recessive genes that produce a blond coat and, produce offspring looking unlike their parents. Starting in 2007, genetic analysis has become available to the public.
The companies claim their DNA-based diagnostic test can genetically determine the breed composition of mixed-breed dogs. These tests are still limited in scope because only a small number of the hundreds of dog breeds have been validated against the tests, because the same breed in different geographical areas may have different genetic profiles; the tests do not test for breed purity. With a mixed-breed dog, the test is not proof of purebred ancestry, but rather an indication that those dogs share common ancestry with certain purebreds; the American Kennel Club does not recognize the use of DNA tests to determine breed. As well, many newer dog breeds can be traced back to a common foundational breed making them difficult to separate genetically. For example, Labrador Retrievers, Flat-coated Retrievers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Newfoundland Dogs share the ancestry of the St. John's water dog – a now extinct occurring dog breed from the island of Newfoundland; the theory of hybrid vigor suggests that as a
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals. Anthropomorphism derives from its verb form anthropomorphize, itself derived from the Greek ánthrōpos and morphē, it is first attested in 1753 in reference to the heresy of applying a human form to the Christian God. From the beginnings of human behavioral modernity in the Upper Paleolithic, about 40,000 years ago, examples of zoomorphic works of art occur that may represent the earliest evidence we have of anthropomorphism.
One of the oldest known is an ivory sculpture, the Löwenmensch figurine, Germany, a human-shaped figurine with the head of a lioness or lion, determined to be about 32,000 years old. It is not possible to say. A more recent example is The Sorcerer, an enigmatic cave painting from the Trois-Frères Cave, Ariège, France: the figure's significance is unknown, but it is interpreted as some kind of great spirit or master of the animals. In either case there is an element of anthropomorphism; this anthropomorphic art has been linked by archaeologist Steven Mithen with the emergence of more systematic hunting practices in the Upper Palaeolithic. He proposes that these are the product of a change in the architecture of the human mind, an increasing fluidity between the natural history and social intelligences, where anthropomorphism allowed hunters to identify empathetically with hunted animals and better predict their movements. In religion and mythology, anthropomorphism is the perception of a divine being or beings in human form, or the recognition of human qualities in these beings.
Ancient mythologies represented the divine as deities with human forms and qualities. They resemble human beings not only in personality; the deities fell in love, had children, fought battles, wielded weapons, rode horses and chariots. They feasted on special foods, sometimes required sacrifices of food and sacred objects to be made by human beings; some anthropomorphic deities represented specific human concepts, such as love, fertility, beauty, or the seasons. Anthropomorphic deities exhibited human qualities such as beauty and power, sometimes human weaknesses such as greed, hatred and uncontrollable anger. Greek deities such as Zeus and Apollo were depicted in human form exhibiting both commendable and despicable human traits. Anthropomorphism in this case is, more anthropotheism. From the perspective of adherents to religions in which humans were created in the form of the divine, the phenomenon may be considered theomorphism, or the giving of divine qualities to humans. Anthropomorphism has cropped up as a Christian heresy prominently with the Audians in third century Syria, but in fourth century Egypt and tenth century Italy.
This was based on a literal interpretation of Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him. Some religions and philosophers objected to anthropomorphic deities; the earliest known criticism was that of the Greek philosopher Xenophanes who observed that people model their gods after themselves. He argued against the conception of deities as fundamentally anthropomorphic: But if cattle and horses and lions had handsor could paint with their hands and create works such as men do,horses like horses and cattle like cattlealso would depict the gods' shapes and make their bodiesof such a sort as the form they themselves have.... Ethiopians say that their gods are snub -- blackThracians that they are pale and red-haired. Xenophanes said that "the greatest god" resembles man "neither in form nor in mind". Both Judaism and Islam reject an anthropomorphic deity, believing that God is beyond human comprehension. Judaism's rejection of an anthropomorphic deity grew during the Hasmonean period, when Jewish belief incorporated some Greek philosophy.
Judaism's rejection grew further after the Islamic Golden Age in the tenth century, which Maimonides codified in the twelfth century, in his thirteen principles of Jewish faith. Hindus do not reject the concept of a deity in the abstract unmanifested, but note practical problems. Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, Verse 5, that it is much more difficult for people to focus on a deity as the unmanifested than one with form, using anthropomorphic icons, because people need to perceive with their senses. In Faces in the Clouds, anthropologist Stewart Guthrie proposes that all religions are anthropomorphisms that originate in the brain's tendency to detect the presence or vestiges of other humans in natural phenomena. In secular thought, one of the most notable criticisms began in 1600 with Francis Bacon, who argued against Aristotle's teleology, which declared that everything behaves as it does in order to achieve some end, in order to fulfill itself. Bacon pointed out that achieving ends is a human activity and to attribute it to nature misconstrues it as humanlike.
Modern criticisms followed Bacon's ideas such as critiques
