I like watching a good cartoon just like everyone, but nothing bugs me more than seeing a cartoon animal misrepresented.
It ruins the whole thing for me.
I'm talking about things that could so easily be done right and it's a mystery why they weren't done correctly from the beginning.
I hope I don't ruin cartoons for you because I'm here to point out and correct these terrible cartoon animal myths.
[INTRO MUSIC]
First up is the old favorite Bugs Bunny.
Bugs is a gray hare or rabbit and his character debuted in 1940.
He's famous for outsmarting his rivals and confidently chomping on a carrot.
The problem is, rabbits don't eat carrots in the wild. in fact
they don't really eat root vegetables at all.
Instead they munch on what's above ground. Which in the case of a carrot would be the carrot green.
It might not seem like a big deal to make carrot chomping a fun part of Bugs Bunny's character
It's pretty iconic, but there is a problem. Bugs is famous.
He's the mascot for Warner Brothers production company, he's appeared in more films than any other cartoon character
he's the ninth most portrayed film personality in the world and
he has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
This makes him very visible to the public and if you ask a kid what they know about rabbits
they'll tell you that they have big ears
they can jump and that they eat carrots.
So many people think rabbits eat carrots because of Bugs Bunny
and it has led to pet rabbits getting seriously improper diets.
Feeding an abundance of carrots leads to tooth decay and
digestive problems causing pain discomfort and expensive vet procedures.
It was a funny thing for Bugs' character to do at the time
but it's led to not so funny consequences.
Okay, a more recent cartoon faux pas is from the movie Rio.
The main character Blue is a beautifully portrayed Macaw.
He's so well done that I was totally surprised when I saw one major problem.
He only has three toes.
Macaws, like Joey here, have four toes.
See, two on the front and two on the back. Also known as zygodactylous feet.
All birds in the parrot family so, parrots, parakeets, cockatoos and macaws
among others, have these specialized feet.
The two in the front and the two on the back arrangement,
allows them to pick up objects and manipulate them with one foot while balancing on the other.
They're also expert climbers using they're hooked beaks and strong toes to climb and perch on tree branches.
I'm seriously so weirded out by these feet. Why would they cheat Blue out of one of his toes?
And look they did it with the other birds, too. I just don't get it.
Why?
Alright, what about the one where turtles and tortoises can simply jump out of their shells?
This is on the same level as having skeletons jump out of our bodies and dance around. Maybe funny
but just not possible.
Like human bones are attached to our muscle and skin
a turtle's bones are too. In fact, their shell is just their dermal layer
That's made up of bone and is fused with parts of their skeleton.
You can see between the backbone and ribs is sort of filled in with shell bone
and there's no way to separate them.
So a turtles or tortoises shell is made of bone
that's connected to their skeleton. And then they have this colorful and textured layer on top
that's called scoots, or scales. These are made of keratin.
Which is the same material that makes our fingernails and hair.
So, if you did succeed in separating a turtle from its shell like in the cartoons
you'd pretty much be left with organs and goop. And that's not funny at all.
Here's another myth about animals and favorite foods.
Mice and cheese. This one isn't as bad as rabbits with carrots
but the idea that mice like cheese best is just wrong.
Mice actually prefer foods high in carbohydrates like seeds nuts cereal and sweets.
However, they are opportunistic omnivores eating anything that resembles food.
So they won't say no to eating cheese It's just not their favorite.
How about the idea that bulls are enraged by the color red?
I see this all the time in cartoons and books.
The thing is, bulls can't even see the color red. Their eyes only have two cones.
So they see various shades of blues, yellows and grays but not red.
In the gruesome sport, bullfighting, the matador carries a cape and tries to get the attention of the bull.
The only reason the bull is triggered by it is because there's lots of movement so the more a matador waves and flaps it about the more
likely the bull will see it as a threat and charge.
Bulls are very protective of their herd and will charge anything they perceive as
threatening like predators stalking around.
Most bulls will either ignore or be curious about a person who's standing still.
Our last cartoon myth is that Porcupines can shoot their quills. Which we've already covered.
And if you want to learn more about that we have another animal myths video link is in the description. Hint they can't.
Thanks for watching
I hope we've dispelled a few of these persistent myths and if you're ever part of the decision-making crew for a cartoon with animals as
characters, please make sure you do your research
and you know, give them all their toes.
If you'd like to go on an adventure with us every week subscribe to our YouTube channel
Animal Wonders Montana, and we'll finish off by watching Hazel being adorable. Thanks guys!