[[quoteright:230:[[Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperpup https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/119532_the_adventures_of_super_pup_0_230_0_345_crop.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:230:This ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' adaption really went to the dogs.]]

A lot of books that were written by famous authors have an entirely human cast. However, when the story is adapted (mostly as an AnimatedAdaptation), some creators decide the best way to really jazz up the story is to replace the humans with {{Funny Animal}}s or {{Beast M|an}}en. This is known as an Anthropomorphic Animal Adaptation.

Compare AdaptationSpeciesChange and AlternateSpeciesCounterpart. Can take place in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals. See also FurryLens. Contrast HumanFocusedAdaptation.

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!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/SherlockHound'' is ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' with an entirely canine cast.
* ''WesternAnimation/DogtanianAndTheThreeMuskehounds'' is ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' with also an entirely canine cast, and other animals.
* ''Animal Treasure Island'' is a partial example. There are a few human children (notably Jim, the main character), but all the pirates are portrayed as animals.
* The animated film of ''Literature/NightOnTheGalacticRailroad'' makes the main characters anthropomorphic cats, although there are some human secondary characters.
** Gisaburou Sugii did the same thing again with ''Anime/TheLifeOfGuskouBudori'', also based on a novel by Kenji Miyazawa.
** Creator/ShojiKawamori directed ''Spring and Chaos'' based on Miyazawa's life with everyone as anthropomorphic cats.
* The obscure direct-to-video anime series ''Mother Goose Songs & Rhyme'' (known as ''Mother Goose Video Workbook'' in Japan) adapts Mother Goose nursery rhymes and songs with cute anthropomorphic animals. The series was made by Creator/TriangleStaff and was released in Japan, United Kingdom, and American between 1988 and 1991. The series had a total of 12 volumes, with [[NoExportForYou only the first three gaining an international release.]]
* In a similar way to ''Sherlock Hound'', mentioned above, ''Studio Junio'' later released ''Anime/MontanaJones'' which takes inspiration from ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', but featuring a cast of anthropomorphic felines.
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[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* The ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' season ''Mr.Wolffy, Mr.Right!'' is an inversion. The original show is about FunnyAnimal goats and wolves, while ''Mr.Wolffy, Mr.Right!'' is about humanized versions of the wolves.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/BadRubber'': The one-issue comic is a FunnyAnimal parody of ''Film/BladeRunner''.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'': Not the Zoo Crew, who were original characters, but the [[ShowWithinAShow comic-within-a-comic]] ''Justa Lotta Animals'', a ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' pastiche featuring [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Supersquirrel]], [[ComicBook/WonderWoman Wonder Wabbit]], [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batmouse]], etc.
* ''ComicBook/DCMeetsLooneyTunes'': Inverted in the ''ComicBook/BatmanElmerFuddSpecial'', which has characters based on Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Sylvester, etc. but they're all human. Other oneshots had the FunnyAnimals as is, with explanations ranging from AlternateTooniverse to UpliftedAnimal to none whatsoever.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelApes'': The comic takes place in a version of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse where everyone's an ape or otherwise some kind of non-human primate (Spider-Man for example, is a Spider Monkey).
* ''ComicBook/MuppetClassics'': The comic miniseries following the example of ''Christmas Carol'' etc.: ''Muppet Literature/PeterPan''; ''Muppet Myth/RobinHood''; ''Muppet Myth/KingArthur''; ''Muppet Literature/SnowWhite'' and ''Muppet Literature/SherlockHolmes''.
* ''ComicBook/NathanHalesHazardousTales'': Invoked in ''Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood'', the fourth book in the historical Graphic Novel series. When the Hangman initially finds the story of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI too boring, Nathan Hale asks what would make the story more interesting, Hangman responds with "[[FunnyAnimal cute little animals with funny hats]]". Despite Hale's reluctance, the story of the Great War is told with talking animals representing each nation and their people involved, with such examples being Germany represented by the Eagle, England/the United Kingdom as a bulldog, and the United States of America as a bunny.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderHam'': Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham is ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' as a pig. Also features various other animal-hero adaptations such as [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Deerdevil]] and [[ComicBook/GhostRider Goose Rider]].
** ''ComicBook/UltimateFF'' introduced [[Characters/MarvelComicsMilesMorales Miles Morhames]], the Ultimate Spider-Ham. His home universe is a parody of the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe with animal superheroes.
* ''ComicBook/WhatIf'': Before there was Spider-Ham, Marvel had Webster Weaver, the Amazing Man-Spider, who appeared in a back-up strip called ''What If the Spider Had Been Bitten By a Radioactive Human?"
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[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:
** ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' would be the TropeCodifier. For example, Robin Hood and Maid Marian are [[CunningLikeAFox foxes]], Little John is a {{bear|y Funny}}, Prince John is a [[KingOfBeasts lion]], the Sheriff of Nottingham is a [[SavageWolves wolf]], etc.
*** Interestingly, the film began its life as an adaptation of the medieval tale of Literature/ReynardTheFox, which ''does'' feature anthropomorphic animals. However, the levels of FamilyUnfriendlyViolence, raunchy jokes, and ToiletHumor in the original stories made the material rather unsuitable for Disney's brand. The idea of medieval adventure featuring animals was eventually enlisted for the more family-friendly story of Robin Hood.
** ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' is an adaptation of Creator/CharlesDickens' ''Literature/OliverTwist'' where Oliver is a kitten and Fagin's gang are dogs. However, in a rare case, the animals are non-anthropomorphic, and some characters (notably Fagin and Bill Sykes) remain humans.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' is loosely based on ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', starring various {{nearly normal|animal}} African animals (most prominently, lions).
* ''WesternAnimation/DavidCopperfield1993'' was a [[InNameOnly very loose]] animated adaptation of [[Literature/DavidCopperfield the original novel]] in which the Copperfield family and Murstone were cats, Peggoty was a hedgehog, Steerforth (Mealy) was a dog and Mr Micawber was a monkey.
* The 2000 animated ''[[WesternAnimation/TomSawyer2000 Tom Sawyer]]'', in which Tom and Becky are cats, Huck is a fox, etc.
* ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' is ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' JustForFun/RecycledInSpace. Some of the key characters (like the main character Jim and his mother) are still human, but the rest of the cast are different kind of aliens, many of whom look considerably animal-like. For example, Long John Silver looks like a large anthropomorphic bear/dog, Billy Bones is [[LizardFolk reptilian]], [[TheCaptain Captain Amelia]] (a [[GenderFlip Gender-flipped]] version of Captain Smollett) is a [[CatFolk cat-lady]], Dr. Delbert Doppler (a CompositeCharacter based on Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney) has distinctly canine features, and Scroop, the pirate who attacks Jim (based on various pirate characters), looks like something between a GiantSpider and a lobster.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfMulan'' is an adaptation of ''Literature/TheBalladOfMulan'', where all the characters are insects or other small animals.
* ''WesternAnimation/RomeoAndJulietSealedWithAKiss'' is ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' starring sea lions and other aquatic mammals.
* ''Animation/LapitchTheLittleShoemaker'', based on the 1913 novel ''The Brave Adventures of Lapitch'' by Croatian author Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, features anthropomorphic animals. The title character is a mouse instead of the human boy from the original story.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/BasilOfBakerStreet'' (which was adapted into ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'') is not a straightforward adaptation, as Basil lives in a mousehole ''near'' Literature/SherlockHolmes, and considers the detective his mentor in-universe, but it fits.
* The ''Sherlock Hound'' novels by Brenda Sivers (unrelated to the anime of the same name, beyond the obvious).
* In the ''Literature/WelkinWeasels'' books, Sylver is very loosely Myth/RobinHood, and his descendant Montegu Sylver is slightly less loosely Literature/SherlockHolmes.
* ''Franchise/TheMuppets Meet the Classics: Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' by "Gaston Leroux and" Eric Forrest Jackson, which features Christine as a pig, Raoul as a frog, Erik as ... a sort of [[BuffySpeak dragony creature]] ... and so on.
* An illustrated version of ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'' by Scott Gustafson depicts all the characters as dogs.
* If real people count, the ''Bunbury Tales'' picture books by David English, and subsequent animated series, was about a cricket team of anthropomorphic rabbits, which included lapine versions of notable cricketers of the 1980s with names like Ian Buntham (Ian Botham) and Viv Radish (Viv Richards). The OpposingSportsTeam was the cats of Whiskertown, including Mike Catting (Mike Gatting) and Geoff Boycat (Geoff Boycott). One story even featured the ghost of the greatest rabbit cricketer of all time, W.G. Grass (W.G. Grace).
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Inverted with ''Ida Makes A Movie'', the pilot of ''Series/TheKidsOfDegrassiStreet'', which was adapted from a book about anthropomorphic cats.
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[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/LeBebeteShow'' was a {{satire}} show that caricatured [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPoliticalSystem French politicians]] of TheEighties as anthropomorphic animals inspired by ''Series/TheMuppetShow''.
* Franchise/TheMuppets films, since the characters are a UniversalAdaptorCast:
** In ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz'', Toto is a prawn, the witches are pigs, Scarecrow is a frog, the Tin Man is a ... whatever ..., the Munchkins are rats and the Soldier with Green Whiskers is an eagle. (But the Cowardly Lion is a lion ''[[AssInALionsSkin played]]'' by a bear.)
** In ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'' Bob Cratchett and the Cratchett sons are frogs, Mrs Cratchett and the daughters are pigs, Fezziwig is a bear, and Scrooge's schoolmaster is an eagle.
** In ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'' Captain Smollett is a frog, Squire Trelawney is a bear, Mister Arrow is an eagle, Ben Gunn is a {{Gender Flip}}ped pig and Morgan is a goat.
** Likewise, ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' did an episode-length adaptation of ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' where the Queen and King of Hearts are pigs, the Mad Hatter is a whatever, the Dormouse is a chicken, [[Literature/TheWizardofOz the Tin Woodsman]] is a bear, and the Wizard of Oz is a rat. (Things went a little off the rails.)
** In ''Film/MuppetsHauntedMansion'', Madame Leota is a pig, the Hatbox Ghost is a bear, the Organist is a dog, one of the Duelists is an eagle, the Happy Haunts include frogs, a bear, a turkey and a weasel, and Constance Hatchaway's husbands include a pengiun and a monkey.
** ''Film/TheMuppetsGoToTheMovies'' had multiple examples including Dr Franchise/{{Frankenstein}} as a pig, ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' with a frog as Rick and a pig as Ilsa, ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' with a pig as Scarlett, ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' played by a pig, a whatever ... and ... an orange humanoid, ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' with a pig as Dorothy, and so on.
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperpup'', a pilot filmed on the old ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' sets. Superman ''et al.'' as dogs!
* ''Tales of the Rodent Sherlock Holmes'' was a Creator/{{CBBC}} ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' pastiche starring Roland Rat as Holmes and Kevin the Gerbil as Watson.
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''Critter-TEK'', a licenced(!) funny animal parody of ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. The Federated Suns become the Amphibian Suns, the Lyran Commonwealth becomes the Feline Commonwealth, and so on.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/EnslavedOdysseyToTheWest'' is an inversion - Monkey and Pigsy have changed from a monkey and a pig to humans, as is often the case with adaptations of ''Journey to the West''.
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Furry comic ''Webcomic/LittleTales'' used to include an ongoing BSideComics adaptation of ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday''.
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[[folder:Websites]]
* One of the classic ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' photoplasties, titled [[https://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_501_34-famous-movies-that-would-be-better-with-animal-actors Famous Movies That Would Be Better With Animal Actors]] have this as a subject. With a lot of hilariously appropriate entries, including casting an ''actual'' snake as Snake Plissken.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''M-U-S-H'', a parody of ''Film/{{MASH}}'' with animal characters during wartime. "MUSH" stands for Mangy, Unwanted, Shabby Heroes.
* In the original ''WesternAnimation/BoskoTheTalkInkKid'' shorts Bosko and Honey were stereotypical African-American characters. In the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode "Fields of Honey" they get changed into amorphous animal characters ''a la'' [[{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}} the Warner Siblings]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MickeysChristmasCarol'' took many characters from previous Creator/{{Disney}} animated features and shorts and placed them as the characters in Charles Dickens' [[Literature/AChristmasCarol original story]]. For example, Scrooge [=McDuck=] is Ebenezer Scrooge, Franchise/MickeyMouse is Bob Cratchett, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck is Fred, WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} is Jacob Marley, etc.
* In a similar way, Creator/{{Disney}} did an animated {{OAV}} based on ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' starring the studio's characters, including WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck and WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} as the leads.
* And Creator/{{Disney}} also made ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' with Mickey, this time as the two twins.
* The Spanish and Japanese studios BRB Internacional & Nippon Animation produced three television shows based on literary classics with FunnyAnimal cast:
** ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'': A Spanish cartoon (''La vuelta al mundo de Willy Fog'') is an adaptation of Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays''. Mr Fog is a lion, Rigadon (Passepartout in the novel) and Romy (Aouda) are cats, and Inspector Fix is a dog. There are also many original characters. Protagonists and sympathetic characters tend to be cats and PantheraAwesome, while antagonists are likely to be dogs, foxes or wolves. The sequel, ''Willy Fog 2'', adapts ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' and ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', with Professor Lidenbrock as a mole, Professor Aronnax as an owl, and Captain Nemo as a cat.
** ''WesternAnimation/DogtanianAndTheThreeMuskehounds'': an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas Novel 'The Three Musketeers'. The general story is pretty close to the original text, with the minor difference that most of the characters are dogs. Remembered for the crazy barking theme tune.
** An adaptation of ''Literature/{{Sandokan}}'' in which the Tiger of Malaysia is an actual tiger.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BaggyPantsAndTheNitwits'', the Baggy Pants segment stars a feline CaptainErsatz of Creator/CharlieChaplin's Little Tramp character.
* ''WesternAnimation/SabansAdventuresOfOliverTwist'' is a mid-1990s animated television series. The main cast is anthropomorphic animals, although humans also appear in the series.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendsOfTreasureIsland'', while admittedly an InNameOnly adaptation in most other areas as well, converts the novel's cast into {{Funny Animal}}s.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' had one episode called ''Les Miseranimals'' which was an adaptation of the musical of ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' starring Rita (cat) and Runt (dog).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDevilAndDanielMouse'', an animated television movie adaptation of ''Literature/TheDevilAndDanielWebster''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOddballCouple'' is [[InNameOnly very loosely based]] on ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'', with a cat named Spiffy and a dog named Fleabag as the equivalents of Felix and Oscar.
* ''WesternAnimation/DCNation'''s ''Farm League'' are animal versions of the ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''. Unrelated to the Justa Lotta Animals, above.
* The Adventures of Don coyote and Sancho panda, the Hanna-Barbera series, took the two leads and turned them into the pun-based animals.
* ''Monster Tails'' (an animated section inside the live action show ''Series/WakeRattleAndRoll'') have animal versions of the classic Franchise/UniversalHorror monsters like Dracula's cat Catula, FrankensteinMonster's dog Frankenmutt, the Film/BrideOfFrankenstein's she-dog Elsa, Dr. Jekyll's dog Veenie, the {{Mummy}}'s dog Mummfrey and the Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon's gold fish.
* Partial example with ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'' as is a kid's friendly adaptation of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' with {{Talking Animal}}s, but also has human characters.
* Inverted with ''WesternAnimation/VictorAndHugo'', who are basically Pierre and Gaston from ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'', but as humans.
* As well as the literary adaptations above, BRB Internacional created the RealPersonFic ''The Untouchables of Elliot Mouse'', which is a loose adaptation of ''Film/TheUntouchables'' (specifically the film, with recognisable versions of Malone and Wallace) in which Elliot Ness and his team are mice, trying to stop feline cheese-smuggler Al Catone in the city of Cheesecago.
* Partial example with ''WesternAnimation/JasonAndTheHeroesOfMountOlympus''. All the humans and other mortal characters from ancient mythology such as the Gorgon sisters remain as they were, but the gods of Mount Olympus are depicted as anthropomorphic animals, with Jupiter as a chimpanzee, Mercury as a rabbit, Venus as a squirrel, Hercules as a lion and Mars as an elephant. Vulcan appears in one episode and is depicted as a wild boar.
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