Analysis / Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better

The portrayal of normally quadrupedal animals in fictional works that feature animals from the Nearly Normal Animal to Funny Animal tiers as either bipedal or quadrupedal as they are in real life depends on the animal's species. Some are more likely to be portrayed as bipedal (like mice, rats, and bears — all three sometimes stand on two legs in real life), some are more likely to be portrayed quadrupedal as in real life (like horses and cattle), and others can be either/or. For example, in many cartoons that features cats and dogs, the cats are more likely to walk and run on two legs while the dogs are more likely to stay on all fours.

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