Welcome to the July edition of Digging Up Positivity! Time flies when you are having fun and fruit flies like a banana. This episode is filled to the brink with charities, because boy, you lot have been busy! Our guest is one of the most known mice from the Netherlands: Miesdo Mouse.

We have a few announcements and if you like the British furs, you DEFINITELY want to watch till the end of the video. From now on you can become a member of this channel and usually you can see the episodes a wee bit earlier just like my other supporters. But of course, you know the deal: Like and subscribe. I would love to spread the positive goodness from this fandom a bit further thanks to your help!

And now, on with the charities, because boy, there are a lot of these this month:

Perlimps (trailer) is a Brazilian 2D animated film, the second from animator and director Alê Abreu. After seeing his earlier film, Boy and the World (O Menino e o Mundo, 2013), I really wanted to see what his next project would be like. I wasn't expecting to wait nine years!

Abreu's films definitely do not adhere to typical Hollywood narrative structures, veering towards the artsy without being self-indulgent. Boy and the World, for example, has no dialog at all, and conveys things entirely with sounds and visuals. (As well as being an abstract statement about growing up and the poverty that comes from the exploitation of labor.)

Perlimps is way more approachable in comparison. On the surface, judging by its trailer, I thought it was going to be another film about the devastation of the environment by humans. It does some of that, sure, but that's just surface stuff.

The rest of the film's surface is all in the trailer. Claé (an orange wolf) and Bruô (a blue bear) are secret agents from the opposing kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon, trying to find the Perlimps, mysterious entities who can help save the forest from the encroachment of man.

Hello and welcome to another episode of Digging Up Positivity! The summer is in full swing. And we have many amazing conventions and fundraisers out there! A lot of furs amongst us have shown that their generosity knows no bounds! But otter than that, we have some cool animation news and our special guest for this month is Keenora. A friendly German wolf known for not just his crazy antics in fursuit but for some lovely charity initiatives as well. And of course, at the end of this episode I will tell you who won last month's raffle: A license for Clip Studio Paint, the software I, together with many artists use for my art. But first, the latest charities!

Okay — we had not heard of Vincent, the creation of one Vitor Cafaggi, but we stumbled across Vincent Volume 1: Guide to Love, Magic, and RPG thanks to Previews. “It’s been some time since Vincent has had a good day. Sitting on the bus, he still doesn’t know that his life is about to change. Forever. At that moment, outside the bus, Lady lets a little smile escape when recalling an anecdote about tomatoes. Vincent sees the smile and his world turns upside down. Now, armed with his nerdy RPG friends (not counting Bu, who is like a sister to Vincent and full of solid wisdom), an impressive magic act, and a insatiable love of roast beef sandwiches (no pickles, Vincent hates pickles), he must learn how to navigate his first non-platonic love and what may happen if things don’t go as planned (as they often do in the life of Vincent).” Got all that? Take a look at this new full-color graphic novel over at Target.com.

image c. 2019 Paperkutz

In Brazil in March 2019, a furry bowling event had gathered under the name Furboliche. In attendance was Crash Azarel, a popular fursuit performer who had been guest of honor at Brasil FurFest the previous year. At the bowling event there was also another group in attendance to take photos of the fursuiters, to show them wearing sneakers for an advertising campaign for Converse (a brand bought by Nike in 2003). These adverts have been recently released on their Argentinian and Australian sites. Crash shared the news of the marketing launch on his Twitter feed.

WELL CONVERSE-ALLSTARS's FURRY COMERCIAL IS OUT.
So far only in Australia and Argentina, but coming soon near you! XD on their site and on their shops! pic.twitter.com/TMdbVWmCkG

— Crash Azarel (@Crash_Azarel) July 13, 2019

Afterwards, some furs began to be critical of the collaboration, concerned about using one's fursona for the profit of another, and fears of corporate culture and marketing infiltrating the fandom. True to its brand name, the shoe being worn by the furs of Brazil were starting a conversation on outside marketing within the fandom.

Update 7/27: Brasil FurFest has announced a sponsorship by Converse since this article was published.

Brazilian furry camping convention Abando is to end after next month's instance, according to a video posted by co-founder Reyres (translated by Puggy):

He basically explains that Abando became somewhat out of hand, it became way too expensive, Abando is a little event, and organized by few people, that do it just because they like it, but these things consume way too much time, effort, and in the case of this one, much, much money, since it requires the rental of an entire nature park, regardless of the places getting sold out or not.

Some of the staff, over the years, had to step out for many reasons; some are getting married, having children, moving away. And taking care of the event is a big task, not to mention that lately, it threatens the financial security of the whole staff.

Brazilians cast almost 1.7 million votes in choosing Fuleco, an anthropomorphic three-banded armadillo, as the mascot for the 2014 FIFA World Cup games (soccer). A fursuited mascot is featured in the BBC's TV coverage.

As one of the most high-profile ambassadors of the event and a member of a vulnerable species, the Official Mascot can play a key role in driving environmental awareness. The name Fuleco™ is a fusion of the words “futebol” and “ecologia”. This seamlessly represents the way in which the FIFA World Cup™ can combine the two to encourage people to behave in an environmentally friendly way. In voting for the name Fuleco™, the Brazilian population has clearly demonstrated an affinity for both themes that the name epitomises. (press release)

But while Brazilians approve of the armadillo as a mascot, the way the name was chosen – a three-way online poll – is less popular. Over 23,000 signed a petition requesting a "more democratic" process, with some asking for a name featuring the vulnerable species itself.

We've known for ages that animals are sentient beings, albeit on a lower level than humans. These stories provide insight into animals' thought processes and emotions, how they cope with sadness and disappointment, and how they can recover when conditions improve.

Our first story is about Gigi, a Doberman Pinscher, who became depressed after losing her litter of two puppies following birth complications.

The second is a modern take on The Lion King: Agence France-Presse and Brazilian media report that a pair of lion partners were reunited at a zoo in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, after the male became so depressed by their separation that he stopped eating.

Brazilian fur Hwei Chow has posted detailed interviews with furry artist Heather Bruton and FA owner Dragoneer in the international section of community portal FurryBrasil.

The interviews – named Muzzle to Muzzle – are presented in a roleplaying conversational style reminiscent of The Tame Talk Show, which Hwei produced.

Regrettably, only the introductions to these have been archived.

Two quick stories from the BBC: A fire has destroyed a collection of snakes, spiders and scorpions at the Instituto Butantan in the Brazilian city of São Paulo:

"The entire collection was lost, the biggest collection of snakes in the world," curator Francisco Franco said. "It's a loss to humanity."

Meanwhile, a $4 iPhone app called iGorilla is to be sold to support conservation work in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park.

Editor's note: The feature list looks suspiciously similar to the company's 99¢ iPuppet.

Brazilian newspaper Diário de Guarulhos has printed an article about the fandom (p 16), developed with input from Fauna Urbana, Tanuki Gokuhi, Aniki Geelong, Jrrhack and Zutharr.

According to Koga SilverDragon, the piece "describes in a succinct and clear way the 'basics' of the fandom." Included are photos of Canadian fursuiters Inari and Rappy Raptor.

As previously noted, furs appeared tonight on popular Brazilian TV show Caldeirão do Huck.

The fursuiters played as extras to Luciano Huck, who was disguised as one of them.

Those who don't understand Portuguese may want to skip to 3:40 once it's loaded.

Fauna Urbana reports on recent fursuiter involvement in Caldeirão do Huck, a Brazilian comedy TV show watched by millions. The episode is to air April 17. A fan video accompanying the coverage shows interviews in which fursuiters explain furry fandom from their perspective.

Unlike the Fantástico feature, only fursuiters are involved; some furs fear misrepresentation.

Update (Apr 19): The show has been postponed to next Saturday.

Portuguese-language news portal Fauna Urbana, source of Flayrah's story about Abando 2010, has begun offering an English feed.

Currently available is a fully-translated version of the original story, and a brief summary of the first edition of FurryBrasil podcast Focinho a Focinho (Snout to Snout), which includes an interview with Abando staff Aniki Geelong and Ekevoo Guepardo.

Site leaders hope to attract English-speaking readers, and also intend to translate certain Flayrah news items into Portuguese for their local audience. Articles on both sites are normally available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

Fauna Urbana reports [translation] on the third instance of Brazilian campout Abando, held last weekend near São Roque.

The event attracted 37 attendees — 15 more than last year, and close to the site limit of 40. Attendance cost 100 Reals (US$55), which covered the bus to and from São Paulo, four meals, workshop materials, prizes and gifts, including a t-shirt.