T is for...Talking Animals!

A lot of fairy tales have talking animals in them, which is one of the reasons why I like them so much - it just seems so much more magical than having humans in them! The actual term is Anthropomorphism, which means attributing human characteristics to animals.

Taken from here

In The Three Billy Goats Gruff, the three goats can not only talk, they are also shown to be very clever animals. Each goat knows how to get across the bridge without being eaten by the troll, to get to the lovely fields on the other side. The first goat tells the troll that there is a larger goat coming behind him, that the troll will find more satisfying to eat. The second goat says the same thing, so the troll waits for the biggest goat to cross the bridge. When he does, he is so big that he easily tosses the troll off the bridge, and follows the other goats to the fields, where they live happily ever after.

Taken from here

In The Three Little Pigs, three pigs are sent out into the world by their mother to seek their fortune. The first pig builds his house from straw, but it gets blown down by a wolf who wants to eat the pig. The pig runs to his brothers house, which also gets blown down by the wolf as it is made of sticks. The two pigs run to their brothers house, which the wolf is unable to blow down as it is made of bricks. I love the conversation between the wolf and each of the pigs, always going as follows:
"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"No, no, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."
The wolf then tries to trick the pigs out of the brick house, but they are too clever to fall for his tricks. He then decides to climb down the chimney and get at the pigs that way, but the pigs are too smart for him, as they boil a pot of water in the chimney and the wolf falls into it and is cooked!

Taken from here

There is also a wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, who not only speaks like a human, he also dresses up as one! He eats little red's grandmother and dresses in her clothes to trick her. She notices a lot of differences, saying things like "What big teeth you have!" and the wolf replies "All the better to eat you with, my dear!" thus revealing himself and eating her. Luckily, a hunter comes by and slices the wolf's belly open, saving little red and her grandmother.

Taken from here

There are more talking animals in Goldilocks and the three bears, who are very much humanised as they eat porridge for breakfast, sit in chairs and sleep in beds!
In each of these tales, the animals are perceived as much smarter than we believe them to be in real life! The wolf is always very devious, and is great at coming up with plans to eat people/other animals!