Dissecting Dragons: Episode 128: Neat Little Monsters - The Animal Companion in Speculative Fiction

Episode 128: Neat Little Monsters - The Animal Companion in Speculative Fiction

 

It's peculiarity especially of speculative fiction, that there are often supporting characters who are animals in varying degrees of anthropomorphism in narrative terms. Everything from Disney to epic fntasy to space opera makes use of these (often not speaking) characters. So why is that? What are the advantages of the animal companion and how do they help to support the min character's arc? Where does this need for interspecieces connection come from? This week the dragons delve in to this phenomenon. On the slab Disney animated feature films, Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials, C.S. Lewis' Chronices of Narnia and many more.

 

Title music: Ecstacy by Smiling Cynic