You need an "all of the above" box to check. My parents got me a subscription to "Walt Disney's Comics & Stories" when I was 4 or 5 years old. I read all the s-f & fantasy I could find from my teens on, including both juvenile & adult s-f and fantasy with intelligent &/or talking animal characters. Movies & TV: "Kimba", "Mr. Ed", "Robin Hood", "Watership Down", "The Shaggy Dog", "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" were just a few among many s-f & fantasy movies & TV. When did those with anthropomorphic characters and themes start to stand out among all the others? I dunno, but definitely by the late 1970s.
You need an "all of the above" box to check. My parents got me a subscription to "Walt Disney's Comics & Stories" when I was 4 or 5 years old. I read all the s-f & fantasy I could find from my teens on, including both juvenile & adult s-f and fantasy with intelligent &/or talking animal characters. Movies & TV: "Kimba", "Mr. Ed", "Robin Hood", "Watership Down", "The Shaggy Dog", "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" were just a few among many s-f & fantasy movies & TV. When did those with anthropomorphic characters and themes start to stand out among all the others? I dunno, but definitely by the late 1970s.
Fred Patten