Larry Talbot: Wolfman or Werewolf?

[jerod]

Made these images in response to a post on CHFB.
It dealt partially with the question of whether Talbot was actually a werewolf like the gypsy Bela; but we "saw" him as a wolfman because that's how he saw himself.
Another thought was that at the initial stage he was still partially "man", but in time would degenerate into an actual "wolf".

Part of the conversation~

telegonus wrote:
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...Imagine if Larry had been transformed into an actual wolf, complete with a tail and four legs: his death by caning,--at the hands of his father, no less--would probably have moved many moviegoers in tears, like the end of Old Yeller. Wolves are wild dogs. Very few people enjoy seeing a dog die.

In response here is my version of Larry Talbot as full-on werewolf:

[Flower]

Larry Talbot was a werewolf .. bitten by one and became one.

[Anton Phibes]

I prefer Jack Pierce's Wolfman to a more doglike intrepretation. Classic make up, iconic, cannot be denied.

[Unknown Primate]

The two-legged Wolf MAN is my favorite.  However, you did a great job with those pics!

[aura of foreboding]

This is interesting.  I like your art and appreciate you taking the time to post your scenario. 

I, personally, do not care for quadrupedal werewolves.  I like my werewolves bipedal.  The only reason we have a creature called a Wolf Man is because of Universal Studios (and its marketing).  If they could have made Chaney convincingly transform into a quadruped, I'm sure they would have, but they couldn't, so they didn't.  Thus, the bipedal werewolf was (re-)born.  Personally, I feel the two-legged beasty is far more frightening than something that resembles an animal, and appreciate what Universal did, thus inviting dozens of other iconic (two-legged) werewolves to the big and small screens. 

[Zackuth]

I'm also a two-legged wolf-man fan.  The two-legged type appears more monsterous to me. 

[depressedlarrytalbot]

In 1972 I did a Year Six 'self-assignment' where I made this distinction and illustrated it with a wolf's head alongside a generic wolf-man head. I got a 'For Trying' stamp. Damn teach' didn't care for school assignments based on Mittel-European folklore and a love of monster movies, apparently.

[mjaycox]

I like the interpretation that he would become more wolf-like as time went on, and that he was bi-pedal during this series as he had only been a Wolfman for a brief period of time, relatively.

The reason I love this interpretation is due in no small part to the fact that I once heard it espoused from the lips of a six year old boy. It was back in 1999. The Music Box theater in Chicago was showing a print of the "The Wolf Man", and afterwards, in the lobby, this kid who had come with his dad to see the move, was wondering aloud why Bela the werewolf had 4 legs and looked like a dog, but Larry Talbot looked like a man. The kid then came out with this whole little theory, complete from whole cloth, and spoken with the solemnity of someone defending a doctoral thesis. It as wonderful to behold. I smiled the rest of the day. I smile now as I think about it.

Interestingly, the movie "Wolf" with Jack Nicholson follows this tack. He starts out like a Henry Hull werewolf, but by film's end has become a quadriped.

Matt

[aura of foreboding]

Cool story, Matt.  I think I've seen that whole idea somewhere else as well -- in some movie or something that I can't quite recall.  Strange.  Maybe it was just something I made up in my childhood too!     In this version that I vaguely remember, though, I think that at some juncture the man ceases to ever revert and is a wolf forever. 

Going with said interpretation, I am just glad that we didn't get so far with Chaney as to see that happen. 

[Moonshadow]

In 1972 I did a Year Six 'self-assignment' where I made this distinction and illustrated it with a wolf's head alongside a generic wolf-man head. I got a 'For Trying' stamp. Damn teach' didn't care for school assignments based on Mittel-European folklore and a love of monster movies, apparently.

At least you didn't get sent to the school psychiatrist for drawing your father like Frankenstein...but that's a topic for a whole 'nother thread. 

[Earth 2 Chris]

Those are really well done! But like the others, I prefer a human/wolf hybrid. Changing into a total wolf takes away all the pathos to me. I mean, it's a ferocious version of Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" at this point.

Chris

[Mord]

Two legs are better than four.

[jerod]

While the images were fun to make; I'm with the majority and prefer the wolfman.

[Illoman]

Jerod, that's my all time favorite image of Chaney as the Wolf Man, who I prefer as well.

[depressedlarrytalbot]

At least you didn't get sent to the school psychiatrist for drawing your father like Frankenstein...but that's a topic for a whole 'nother thread. 

I take it you did .....