Needs Help: Typical Cartoon Animal Colors

• The characters consist of a brown hare, a grey wolf, a black and white badger, a red fox... Pretty much everyone, really.

• He has a yellow beak and feet, like most cartoon parrots.

• A gray wolf.

• A black-and-white cow.
• A pink pig.
• A yellow ferret.
• A gray mule.
• A yellow chick.

• He is a yellow canary.

• A white chicken.

• He's a uniform deep green color, although green is a very uncommon color for tortoises in real life. Unlike most other cartoon tortoises, but like many real life tortoises, his shell is prominently patterned with large spots.
  • The rabbits are all solid white, brown, grey or black.
  • Squirrels are a solid mid-brown, with light bellies.
  • Beavers are drawn with white incisors, instead of the orange ones they have in real life.
  • The chickens are a clean, solid white; when multiple chickens appear in the same scene, some will be brown or golden-brown instead, but always a solid, unmarked color. They all have bright red combs, and canary yellow chicks.
  • The ducks are classic mallards, usually appearing in small family groups — a grey-bodied male with a bright green head, a solid brown female and two or three bright yellow ducklings. Both males and females are drawn with bright yellow bills, although only male mallards have these in real life.
  • Snakes are bright jade or emerald green, with lighter bellies. Sometimes they're dark yellow instead, but only when multiple snakes are present in a single shot.
  • Clementine the giraffe is dark yellow with brown spots.
  • Sandra the wolf is dark grey on her back, head, nose and upper side of her tail and very light grey on her belly, muzzle, legs and underside of her tail.
• He's dark brown with a lighter tan muzzle and belly, a classic color scheme for bears in Western cartoons.
• He's a bright leaf green, of a shade common in cartoon reptiles and very rare in real ones.

• Most of the cows in the herd are white with large black spots, in the manner of Holsteins that’s typical of cartoon cattle. The rest are either white with large brown spots or solid brown.
  • Pigs are typically bright pink; when multiple pigs are present at once, some will be tan, black or tan with large black spots.
  • Almost all mice in the show are pure white, and occasionally light grey.
  • Most chickens are a clean, solid white; when multiple chickens appear in the same scene, some will be brown or golden-brown instead, but always a solid, unmarked color. They all have bright red combs, and canary yellow chicks.
  • The ducks are the classic mallards, usually appearing in small family groups — a grey-bodied male with a bright green head, a solid brown female and two or three bright yellow ducklings. Both males and females are drawn with bright yellow bills, although only male mallards have these in real life.
  • The eagles are all uniformly bald eagles with gray bodies and white heads and tails.
  • Snakes are usually bright jade or emerald green, with lighter bellies. Sometimes they're dark yellow instead, but only when multiple snakes are present in a single shot. Cobras tend to be either black or a dark grayish-purple.
  • Tortoises and turtles tend to be either uniformly green or to have green heads and limbs with gray-green or brown shells, although green is a very uncommon color for tortoises in real life. Unlike other cartoon tortoises, but like real life tortoises, their shells are almost always prominently patterned with either spots or hexagonal markings.
  • When frogs appear, they're colored a bright leaf green.

• A brown-and-white cow.
• A black-and-white cow.

• Small, yellow chicks growing into their fluffy, off-white feathers.

• Their initial color variants — orange tabby, black-and-white tuxedo and Siamese — are all very popular ways to depict cats in popular culture. Averted as of 1.14, which gives them a larger variety of coat colors, common or otherwise.
• Their five color variants include a classic green parrot and others modeled on the scarlet, blue-and-yellow, and hyacinth macaws. The fifth is based on the cockatiel, a species of small parrot very common as a pet.
• Foxes spawned in taigas are bright orange with white tail tips, while foxes spawned in snowy taigas are the uniform white of Arctic foxes.
• They have the shiny bright pink of the classic cartoon pig.
• The quasi-Frisian brown-and-white splotches of cartoon cattle.
• Pristine white, with bright yellow beaks and feet and scarlet wattles.
• Brown and white are both common colors. So is black-and-white, despite these being theoretically wild animals instead of pets.
• Bright emerald green, even though few turtles, and certainly no sea turtles, are this color.

• The Wolf has grey fur.
• The Hare has brown fur.

• He's a yellow duck.

• Common wolves have dark gray tails, backs, thighs and crowns, with creamy white faces, necks, feet and tail tips. Cold-footed wolves and coyotes are largely whiter and brown recolors of this pattern.
• Honeyvore bears are dark brown, with the popular addition of a much paler tan muzzle.

• Is the classic bright red crab standard to cartoons. Belongs in the subtrope Red Live Lobster.

• He's a typical yellow footed and billed crow, despite this being impossible in real life.

• A gray donkey.
• An orange tabby.

• Brown and beige is already a pretty common cow color as it is, but the "Holstein" palette gives her the more generic and stereotypical black and white fur.

• A brown mouse.
• A yellow duckling.

• Ducky is a yellow duck plush with orange feet and bill.

• More often than not, if a bear shows up in this strip it'll be brown.
• Likewise, crocodiles and alligators that appear in the strip are always green, pigs are usually pink, and frogs are usually green.

• George is a brown monkey

• Woof the dog is solid brown, Meow the cat is solid orange, Oink the pig is pink, Trumpet the elephant is gray, Squeak the mouse is tan, Moo the cow is white with brown blotches in the TV series, Buzz the bee is yellow and black, Roar the lion is yellow with a brown mane, Snap the crocodile, Hiss the snake and Croak the frog are both green, Cluck the chicken is orange with a red comb and yellow beak, Growl the tiger is yellow, Quack the duck is white with a yellow bill, Hoot the owl is brown, Puff the panda is black and white and Baa the sheep is gray with while wool.

• Many of the dogs have colors that seem a tad bit off.

• Most cows are white with large black spots, in the manner of Holstein cattle that's typical of cartoon cows. The rest are either white with large brown spots or solid brown.
• Pigs are typically bright pink; when multiple pigs are present at once, some will be tan, black or tan with large black spots.
• The rabbits are all solid white, brown, grey or black.
• Almost all mice in the show are pure white, and occasionally light grey.
• Harry the bear is dark brown, with a tan belly and muzzle.
• Clementine the giraffe is dark yellow with brown spots.
• Sandra the wolf is dark grey on her back, head, nose and upper side of her tail and very light grey on her belly, muzzle, legs and underside of her tail.
• Most chickens are a clean, solid white; when multiple chickens appear in the same scene, some will be brown or golden-brown instead, but always a solid, unmarked color. They all have bright red combs, and canary yellow chicks.
• The ducks are the classic mallards, usually appearing in small family groups — a grey-bodied male with a bright green head, a solid brown female and three or four yellow ducklings. Both males and females are drawn with bright yellow bills, although only male mallards have these in real life.
• The eagles are all uniformly bald eagles with gray bodies and white heads and tails.
• Tortoises and turtles, including Tank, one of the main characters' pets, are either uniformly deep green or have green heads and limbs with gray-green or brown shells, although green is a very uncommon color for tortoises in real life. Unlike other cartoon tortoises, but like real life tortoises, their shells are almost always prominently patterned with either spots or hexagonal markings.
• Crocodilians, including regular crocodiles, Pinkie's baby alligator Gummy, and monstrous creatures such as the Cipactli and cragadiles, are various shades of green. This discrepancy is especially obvious in a deliberate gag in "Pinkie Pride" when a scene cuts to Gummy as a real baby alligator in live-action, whose hide is a much duller hue than the animated Gummy's bright emerald green.
• Snakes are usually bright jade or emerald green, with lighter bellies. Sometimes they're dark yellow instead, but only when multiple snakes are present in a single shot. Cobras tend to be either black or a dark grayish-purple.
• Frogs are colored a bright leaf green.

• In real life, lobsters only turn red once they're cooked. Downplayed with Pinchy being a pale dark red while he was alive, only to turn bright red when he's cooked. Belongs in the subtrope Red Live Lobster.

• Real alligators are not as green as Captain Jack is. Belongs in the subtrope Green Gators.

• Ranko is portrayed a beige face, hands and feet, while in real gorillas these are dark gray.

• Played straight with Jerry, a brown mouse, and Quackers, a yellow duck. Averted with the rest of the animal characters.

• Many smileys and NPCs in the game appear have the typical colors:
  • The Cow smiley and Moodonna NPC represent all-brown cows.
  • The Dog smiley appears all-brown, though this is avoided with the Laika smiley which has a streak of white down the middle of its face.
  • The Fox smiley appears as a vibrant orange, as observed by its Flavor Text.
  • Froggy, the sole appearance of frogs in the game appears as green.
  • The Lion smiley has a brown mane.
  • The Raccoon smiley is gray with a darker gray around the eyes.

• Cows are classic black-and-white spotted Holsteins.

• Played straight with Otis, the black-and-white cow, Pig, the pink pig, Freddy, the yellow ferret, Miles, the gray mule, and Maddy, the yellow chick. Averted with the rest of the animal characters.

• Wilbur the pink pig, Templeton the gray rat, and the white geese.

• Emerson is red like a cooked lobster rather than brown like a live one. Belongs in the subtrope Red Live Lobster.

• The bull in "Torero Camomillo" is black-gray.
• The dog Cossacks in "Popoff" all have yellow-brown fur, excluding Popoff, who's yellow with orange ears ^note which also indicates he stands out from the others.
• The horses in "Il Lungo, il Corto e il Pacioccone" are white with brown heads.
• The dog, donkey, cow and sheep in "Il Coccodrillo Come Fa?" are respectively yellow-brown, gray, brown and light brown with white wool.
• The chick in "Il Pulcino Ballerino" is yellow, and the mouse is grey.
• Most of the animals in "Volevo un Gatto Nero" are colored normally (notable exceptions include the purple monkeys, though it's probably Hair Color Dissonance, and the blue dog).
• The former half of "Cocco e Drilli" is green.
• A brown bear and black wolf appear in "La Slitta Vagabonda".

• Crocker is a green crocodile, Zooter is a pink pig, Toadhog is a green toad, and Taxicrab the crab is red.

• Paco the scarlet macaw has a yellow beak. Actual scarlet macaw beaks are white on top and black on bottom.

• The frog is green, as with most cartoon frogs.

• Strangely, this is averted in a game that otherwise plays this straight. The default frog colour is brownish orange. The stock green frog only occurs in frogs bred in snowy biomes, which they do not naturally spawn in.

• Averted. She's green (which is an actual canary color) instead of yellow.

• Averted.

• As a raven, Blackwing should have a black beak and legs; his yellow beak and feet make him more closely resemble a male common blackbird than a raven. Being all-black, however, would make him less visually interesting and make his expressions harder to read.

• Averted. He's brown, like a real alligator, instead of green like most cartoon crocodilians

• Red◊ crabs◊ appear◊, but so do◊ green◊ crabs◊.

• Caterpie are designed after caterpillars, a group of animals that come in a wide variety of colors in real life but are most often depicted as green. Naturally Caterpie is also green. Caterpie's design is based off a stylized version of certain Swallowtail caterpillars with its osmeterium always visible (a special organ on Swallowtail caterpillars that releases a stink to protect itself, just as Caterpie's feeler does). The real-life caterpillars that bear the closest resemblance to Caterpie would have to include the Spicebush Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but largely in their later instars (in their first few instars, they are brown, but indeed turn green as they get bigger.)

• Averted with the rest of the animal characters.

• Typical Cartoon Animal Colors: Generally averted due to the Gogo's Amazing Technicolor Population qualities, thus causing Gogo's that are made to look like animals to come in colours that would be less realistic for the animal in real life.

• Although it's hard to see in the black-and-white weekly strips, the colored Sunday strips show that Arthur is a standard cartoon yellow duck.

• Averted with the rest of the animal characters.

• Subverted. Almost all the cows are depicted as black-and-white... except the Great Cow Guru, who is depicted as solid white.

Literature

• The picture book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? features a brown bear, a red bird, a yellow duck, a green frog, a white dog, a black sheep, and a goldfish.

Music

• "The Monkey and the Elephant" by Burl Ives. The monkey is described as brown and the elephant is described as gray.

Poetry

• A nursery rhyme in Japan features a snail with antennas:

Video Games

• Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life:
  • At the beginning of the game a floppy-eared dog and a pointy-eared dog walk up to you and you have the option to choose which one to adopt. Despite this, the floppy-eared one is drawn on the cover of the game.
  • The black-and-white cow is labeled "Normal Cow".
• Pokeomon: Caterpie are designed after caterpillars, a group of animals that come in a wide variety of colors in real life but are most often depicted as green. Naturally Caterpie is also green. Caterpie's design is based off a stylized version of certain Swallowtail caterpillars with its osmeterium always visible (a special organ on Swallowtail caterpillars that releases a stink to protect itself, just as Caterpie's feeler does). The real-life caterpillars that bear the closest resemblance to Caterpie would have to include the Spicebush Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but largely in their later instars (in their first few instars, they are brown, but indeed turn green as they get bigger.)

Webcomics

• The Order of the Stick: Blackwing the raven, Vaarsuvius's Familiar, has bright orange beak and legs that, while typical of cartoon corvids, make him resemble a male common blackbird more closely than anything else. Largely justified in this case — being all-black would make him less visually interesting and, especially in the comic's deliberately simplistic art style, make his expressions harder to read.
• Sheldon: Although it's hard to see in the black-and-white weekly strips, the colored Sunday strips show that Arthur is a standard cartoon yellow duck.

Web Original

• The Bird Watcher's General Store's web article Real Crows Don't Have Yellow Beaks talks about why yellow beaked and yellow footed cartoon crows are so prevalent in cartoons and comics and how the yellow beaks and feet became a typical cartoon animal color for crows and ravens.

Western Animation

• CatDog: Cat and Dog are conjoined twins and their body is mostly made up of generic cartoon dog traits.

• A Bug's Life: Rosie is a spider and has three segments instead of having just one like animated spiders typically have.
• Charlotte's Web: Much like Rosie, Charlotte has three segments.
• Happy Feet: The penguins are rendered realistically, rather than being generic cartoon penguins that don't resemble any particular species.
• The Lion King (1994): Rafiki the baboon is depicted as a mandrill rather than a generic cartoon monkey.
• Surf's Up: Much like Happy Feet, the animators go out of their way to render penguins accurately.

Literature

• Franny K. Stein: Franny's dog Igor is solid color and very furry, with a heart-shaped nose, a rat-like tail, and spiky teeth.

Western Animation

• Aside from having floppy ears, the dogs in Blue's Clues are unique. They have spots all over their body including their ears, realistic noses, and are rainbow-colored.
• Franklin: Averted with Snail, who has his eyes accurately drawn on top of his stalks rather than on his head.
• Mickey Mouse: Averted with a starfish in Hawaiian Holiday. The starfish is depicted accurately, with its eyes between its legs and its mouth on the bottom.
• Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends has some aversions.
  • Much like a real spider, Miss Spider has two segments.
  • Cookie has four legs, which is still inaccurate, but different from the typical cartoon portrayal of butterflies having no legs.
• The Octonauts: The emperor penguins are an exception, being the only penguins in the show that aren't generic cartoon penguins.
• The Simpsons:
  • The penguins in "Simpson Tide" avert this, clearly being gentoo penguins.
  • The penguins in "A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again" also avert this, being emperor penguins and little penguins with black bills.
  • The whale in "The Squirt and the Whale" averts this, being a completely realistic baleen whale.
• Sponge Bob Squarepants: Averted with the crabs, starfish, snails, and jellyfish.
  • With the exception of being red, crabs are drawn more accurately than most cartoon crabs, with the eyes sticking out rather than being inside.
  • Starfish are drawn with their faces on an arm, which is still inaccurate, but different from the typical cartoon portrayal — cartoon starfish are generally drawn with their face in the middle.
  • Snails are accurately drawn with their eyes on their stalks, while snails in cartoons are often drawn with their eyes on their heads.
  • Jellyfish are spotted and faceless.