Furry music: hmmm... http://www.flayrah.com/3893/musical-russian-furry-foundation-reases-2011-compila... ? I can't imagine fursuiting without dancing playing a significant part. I know at least one music furry I'd give an award for introducing me to the fandom in the first place, thru a stand-alone monthly fursuiter dance. Debatable, maybe...
Correct me if there's something written about this, but the Ursa Major site doesn't seem to define the point of the award like you said. It says, "These Awards are decided by the fans, not by a committee." It doesn't say anything about stuff that "fans aren't aware of". It seems arbitrary about mixing stuff that's DIY vs. mainstream high-budget studio product. (Can you get more apples and oranges than Bitter Lake vs. Dreamworks? Does Puss in Boots really need more recognition?) If it already includes DIY stuff, why not highlight more with broader categories?
It says:
"To be eligible, a work must have been released between January 1 and December 31 of the calendar year for that award, and must include a non-human being given human attributes (anthropomorphic), which can be mental and/or physical (for example the intelligent rabbits in Watership Down for the former, and Bugs Bunny for the latter.) Simply including an animal character is not sufficient to qualify. Non-animal characters such as Wall-E are also anthropomorphic."
Isn't anthropomorphism implicit by using a "fursona"? Then it could be more about how good it is, rather than how literally furry the content is.
"Some were involved in furry fandom before the average furry fan was born." That doesn't mean much to me. Don't communities evolve as they gain new members doing new things?
Considering how few people are involved in voting (is it just a few thousand?), is the award's value outside the fandom much of an issue at all?. Keeping things G or PG rated, OK... I understand the concern about that.
I don't actually analyze every nominee... just stirring the pot about why some things can get awards, and other neat things can't. :)
Furry music: hmmm... http://www.flayrah.com/3893/musical-russian-furry-foundation-reases-2011-compila... ? I can't imagine fursuiting without dancing playing a significant part. I know at least one music furry I'd give an award for introducing me to the fandom in the first place, thru a stand-alone monthly fursuiter dance. Debatable, maybe...
Correct me if there's something written about this, but the Ursa Major site doesn't seem to define the point of the award like you said. It says, "These Awards are decided by the fans, not by a committee." It doesn't say anything about stuff that "fans aren't aware of". It seems arbitrary about mixing stuff that's DIY vs. mainstream high-budget studio product. (Can you get more apples and oranges than Bitter Lake vs. Dreamworks? Does Puss in Boots really need more recognition?) If it already includes DIY stuff, why not highlight more with broader categories?
It says:
"To be eligible, a work must have been released between January 1 and December 31 of the calendar year for that award, and must include a non-human being given human attributes (anthropomorphic), which can be mental and/or physical (for example the intelligent rabbits in Watership Down for the former, and Bugs Bunny for the latter.) Simply including an animal character is not sufficient to qualify. Non-animal characters such as Wall-E are also anthropomorphic."
Isn't anthropomorphism implicit by using a "fursona"? Then it could be more about how good it is, rather than how literally furry the content is.
"Some were involved in furry fandom before the average furry fan was born." That doesn't mean much to me. Don't communities evolve as they gain new members doing new things?
Considering how few people are involved in voting (is it just a few thousand?), is the award's value outside the fandom much of an issue at all?. Keeping things G or PG rated, OK... I understand the concern about that.
I don't actually analyze every nominee... just stirring the pot about why some things can get awards, and other neat things can't. :)