Indeed. That’s not to say I don’t love different types of noir. Even with anthropomorphic animals like the ones in Chicken Police. Hey, I’m not complaining though. I love noir in every form. Even when it’s in satire as well. And even with animals as the characters. Hey, I love noir so much so that my friend brought me a special book (look below) about the history of noir (for my B-Day last month). Yeah, I just love a present that combines two of my passions. Movies and books.
Chicken Police Is Extension Of My Love For Noir
But back to the topic at hand. Chicken Police is something special for me. Why? Because as much as I love the genre (in every form) I don’t get to write about it that often. I’m sad to say. I mean the only previous game that involved noir was the outstanding Bear With Me. I loved writing that post (check it out here), but right now in Chicken Police, I’ll focus on a different kind of project. Anthropomorphic cops in various movies and TV shows. All of them are animated of course, with one single exception at the end. But, what’s the game all about? Scroll down and find out.
Deciphering Chicken Police
Developed by The Wild Gentlemen and published by HandyGames, Chicken Police is a satire, which recalls the mood and atmosphere of the 40’s film-noir classics. And as the best noir detective stories, it’s also so gritty and hopeless, but with plenty of cynical humor…
Chicken Police follows the story of Sonny Featherland and his former partner Marty McChicken. As they investigate a case that could have been easily ripped from one of Chandler’s novels. Even though they have a sordid past and a long history of getting on each other’s nerves, the two partners still respect each other.
“It’s also clear from the trailer that its dark story will be pretty funny, with plenty of scopes to establish it as one of the more unique releases in its genre. Needless to say, there’ll be absolutely nothing like it released during 2020. And hopefully, it’ll be as brilliant as it is different,”. That’s according to Forbes and yes they’re right. Even 98% of the user responses on Steam are very positive. Indeed. There’s nothing like it.
But which character fits the best here? Let’s start with some of the most recent ones and then progress to some of the „oldies but goodies“.
Judy Hopps from Zootopia
How can you not adore Judy? The only lady in this list and probably the youngest character too. She’s a go-getter. And ambitious. Not to mention always positive and optimistic to the point of being annoying. But she’s a sweetheart at the same time. And she’s also smart and resilient, and independent. You’ve guessed it. Judy is one of my favorite characters ever. But the downside of her perkiness and the idealistic view is that she’s often dismissed. Or just ignored. But in fact, she’s awesome and a role model for every young girl out there. Fun fact: Judy is 24 years old during the main events of the movie, and if the movie takes place in 2016, she was probably born in 1992. Cool right?
Droopy From Droopy, Master Detective
From probably the youngest character on this list, to probably one of the oldest. Droopy is a legend, and he dates all the way back to the golden era of Hollywood. Yeah, the year 40’s Hollywood. Basset Hound, that moves slowly and lethargically, speaks in a jowly monotone voice. That’s Droopy all right. With sad droopy eyes and meek, deadpan voice and personality, he’s a sweetheart but possesses incredible strength as well.
Droopy first appeared in the MGM cartoon Dumb-Hounded, released on March 20, 1943, and he’s been a staple in modern pop culture since. But what I’m interested in the most is Droopy, Master Detective. is a spoof of detective films and cop shows, featuring Droopy and his son, Dripple, as detectives on the mean streets of a big city. It’s awesome and this particular segment really brought me back to my childhood.
Ace Heart From Dog City
I’m staying in the ’90s with Dog City and with Ace Heart as well. Ace Heart is a canine private investigator and he’s awesome. A private eye German Shepherd. But Within the animated Dog City, Ace’s allies include Eddie and police chief Rosie O’Gravy. While his chief adversaries are Bugsy Vile and his gang and the fiendish Baron Von Rottweiler.
Although Dog City may seem a bit wacky it’s a beloved Canadian children series, with both puppets and animated characters. First and foremost, the Muppet portions of the show focused on the interactions between Ace Hart and his animator Eliot Shag (who, like Ace, is a German Shepherd). Eliot on the other hand would illustrate the stories while Ace would traverse through it. Occasionally breaking the fourth wall to speak with Eliot about the various troubles with the story. In one episode, Eliot even enters Dog City himself to join Ace in solving a mystery. It’s worth checking out too.
Sam & Max From Sam And Max
I’m referring to the anthropomorphic, vigilante private investigators based in a dilapidated office block in New York City. Yeah, that Sam and Max. Sam is a six-foot-tall dog who wears a suit and a fedora, while Max is a short and aggressive “hyperkinetic rabbity thing”. Both enjoy solving problems and indeed, their origin is in comic books. But since the inception of the characters, they both transitioned into other media.
Video games, TV series and even music. And what’s so special about them? Well, Sam possesses near-encyclopedic amounts of knowledge. Particularly on obscure topics, and is prone to long-winded sentences filled with elaborate terminology. While Unhinged, uninhibited and near-psychotic, Max enjoys violence and tends to prefer the aggressive way of solving problems. Their opposing characters are interesting to watch, but generally, they get the job done swiftly.
Inspector Ishida From Usagi Yojimbo
A popular supporting character in the Usagi Yojimbo comic book series, Inspector Ishida is a very underrated character. And basically deserves a lot more love. Hence the mention here in this list. Ishida first appeared in “The Hairpin Murders”. And in that particular comic book, the detective (with the help of Miyamoto Usagi), investigates a strange series of murders where the weapon is a hairpin stabbed in the neck. Although the character was intended only as a one-shot character, he soon proved unexpectedly popular. Oh and the series creator Stan Sakai has used him in numerous other stories since. He uses jutte and katana as main weapons and he’s one of the most underrated police detectives ever. I really like Inspector Ishida.
Chicken Police: Which Characters Would You Add Here?
Which anthropomorphic cop character deserves a mention on this list? Tell us in the comment section. Oh, and also let us know if you love the Chicken Police game. What’s your favorite thing about it? Hit the comment section. Don’t be shy. Let us know.
