Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Quiz

Answer:

As well as the Cowardly Lion (who overcame his fear to save others on multiple occasions), Dorothy and Toto were accompanied on their journey to see the wizard by an animated Scarecrow and a Tin Man. Sequels to the original book provided additional information about these characters - as did Gregory Maguire in his 1995 novel 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West', although this was quite a different take, to put it mildly.

The Hungry Tiger first appeared in 1907, in the third Oz book, whose full title was given as 'Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Billina the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People Too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein'. The Hungry Tiger, like many of the characters Dorothy meets in Oz, has a perception of himself that is at odds with his actual character: he is perpetually hungry, and says he really wants the chance to eat a nice plump baby, but at the same time his conscience prevents him from ever doing so!

Winnie-the-Pooh, famously based on a favorite soft toy of A. A. Mine's son Christopher Robin, was first mentioned in print in a poem in the 1924 collection 'When We Were Very Young', then got top billing in the 1926 collection of short stories 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. The illustrations by Ernest Shepard became the image familiar with all children until Disney 'updated' the character and unhyphenated his name, starting in 1961.

Tigger, one of Pooh's friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, was introduced in 1928's 'The House at Pooh Corner', when he bounces his way in, announcing, "Bouncing is what Tiggers do best." He regularly refers himself in the third person plural, despite the fact that he also proclaims himself to be unique. But who expects consistency from anthropomorphic plush toys?

In 'The Jungle Book', published in 1904, Rudyard Kipling provides the story of a young boy, abandoned in the Indian jungle, who is raised by wolves. The wolves draw on the assistance provided by Baloo (a sloth bear) and Bagheera (a black panther), who teach Mowgli the ways of the jungle. Baloo's name (pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, according to the author) comes from the Hindi word 'bhalu', used for several species of bear. He is a stern but compassionate teacher of the cubs under his tutelage, quite different in personality from the character portrayed in Disney's adaptations.

Shere Khan (a name roughly meaning tiger ruler) is Mowgli's nemesis, responsible for the separation of Mowgli from his parents when his attempt to hunt them goes awry. The lame tiger demands that the wolves give him the child, but they refuse. Years later, when Shere Khan again attacks the wolves, Mowgli defends them, but realises he must return to the world of men. Their antagonistic relationship continues until Mowgli and one of his wolf friends finally orchestrate his death.

Aesop's fable 'The Lion and the Mouse' tells of a mouse, trapped by a lion, who successfully pleads to be released. Later, when he encounters the lion trapped in a hunter's net, he returns the favour by chewing through the ropes and releasing the lion. The moral of this tale is usually given as some variant of "Mercy brings its own reward" or "There is no one so insignificant they cannot be of assistance", depending on the spin. If the latter is considered the point, the original encounter is described as including the mouse pointing out that it would dishonour the lion to eat such a small and insignificant prey. In the former version, there is more stress laid on the begging for mercy.

William Blake included his poem 'The Tyger' in the 1794 collection 'Songs of Experience'. It references his earlier poem 'The Lamb', published in 'Songs of Innocence', raising a challenge to the accepted Christian view of his day, by asking, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?". Since the Lamb was considered a symbol of Jesus Christ, Blake was effectively asking what kind of god could create such a wondrous yet fearsome creature as the tiger, a menace to mankind, while also sending a saviour into the world.

While Bre'er Bear may be familiar to a contemporary audience from his appearance in the 1946 Disney animation 'Song of the South', the character first appeared in the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris, on which the film was based. Harris collected folk tales from the southern part of the United States, adapting them to have some common characters, and (starting in 1881) framing the collection as stories told by a freed slave. His use of words written to convey the southern African-American dialect of the time, as well as his setting the stories on a plantation, has caused his books to be seen as inherently racist over time, but the stories themselves remain enjoyable as a source for exploring the trickster Bre'er (brother) Rabbit as he crosses the path of Bre'er Bear and Bre'er Fox. Bre'er Rabbit is often seen as representing the slaves who needed to use all their wits to overcome the adversity of their situation.

Chapter 6 of the Biblical book of Daniel tells how Daniel was protected when confined in a pit of lions. Daniel had broken the edict that, for a period of thirty days, nobody should pray to anyone other than Darius (the king of Babylon, of whom Daniel was a servant); Daniel continued his daily prayers to the God of Israel. Darius was unhappy, but forced to follow through on the decree; his relief when Daniel survived the ordeal led to a fairly bloodthirsty sequel: he ordered that those who had tricked him into the decree that was intended to remove Daniel from his place of honour in the court should themselves be thrown to the lions, along with their wives and children.

Aslan is the only character who appears in all seven novels of C. S. Lewis's 'Chronicles of Narnia'. He is a talking lion, often written as Lion, to emphasise the reference to the Lion of Judah, an epithet applied to Jesus. He is the son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea who is behind all the deep magic of Narnia, and his sacrifice and resurrection near the end of the first-written novel, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', makes his role as a Christ figure clear.

Joy Adamson's 1960 book was about raising three orphan lions (Elsa, Big One and Lustica) along with her husband George, after he had shot their mother (who charged him while defending her cubs). While her sisters were sent to a zoo, Elsa was raised and returned to the wild. She returned a few years later with her own cubs (as described in 'Living Free'), but later died before they were old enough to survive on their own, and the Adamsons took on their care ('Forever Free'). The movies 'Born Free' (1966) and 'Forever Free' (1972) cover the events from all three books.

The eponymous Corduroy got his name from the material used to make the overalls he wore while on display in a department store. When a little girl, whose name is later revealed to be Lisa, is not allowed to buy him because he is missing a button, he decides to explore the store after hours and look for the missing button. He is unsuccessful in his quest. Fortunately, Lisa is a determined soul who returns the next day with money from her piggy bank with which to purchase Corduroy, and takes him home where she can sew on a button for him.

Michael Bond first brought us Paddington in the 1958 book 'A Bear Called Paddington', which was followed by a number of sequels (over twenty), as well as television adaptations and films. Having traveled from darkest Peru, he arrives in London with a battered suitcase, a duffel coat, a weatherbeaten hat from his Uncle Pastuzo and a sign around his neck saying, "Please look after this bear." After the Brown family adopt the small spectacled bear, they find his name too hard to pronounce (or growl), so call him by the name of the station where they first met him. He is known for three things in all the stories: his immense politeness (and dislike of rude people when they cross his path), his propensity for getting into trouble while trying to be helpful, and his love of marmalade.

Iorek Byrnison is the most recent character in the quiz, appearing in Philip Pullman's 1995 book 'Northern Lights' (named 'The Golden Compass' in North America), the first instalment of the trilogy 'His Dark Materials'. Lyra Belacqua, one of the central characters, recruits him as a member of her expedition to rescue her friend Roger, who has been kidnapped. Along the way, the party restore Iorek to his rightful place on the throne of Svalbard.