For those that'd never heard of the films, both Homeward Bound and its' sequel are about two dogs and a cat that are accidentally separated from their owners. In first film, the pets have to cross the Sierra Nevada mountain range and navigate through Sans Fransisco in the second one. What inspired my question, other then the cats and dogs having anthropomorphized personalities, there's really nothing overtly fantastical about the franchise. It technically isn't even a "talking animal" work, as none of the animal characters verbally communicate with humans. In other words, the protagonists don't really encounter anything supernatural. The premise in of itself is certainly extraordinary but not implausible. As there are documented cases of both lost cats and dogs traveling across dozens, hundreds, and occasionally even thousands of miles to find their homes. Are the Homeward Bound films considered "fantasy", as they don't really contain any supernatural elements to them at all? Or is them simply having a main cast of anthropomorphized animals enough to qualify them as such?
I would not consider those to be fantasy. There are multiple real world stories of animals who somehow manage to find their way over tremendous distances to be reunited with "their" people.
I vote no to fantasy. None of the animals do anything real animals wouldn't be able to do, even if the scope of the journeys are very unlikely. The only potentially fanciful element is the narrated personas, but I don't feel that really pushes the movies to the point where they could be considered fantasy. I have a definite preference to the old Homeward Bound films as a family pet movie when compared to more modern animated movies focused on pets.
Not fantasy unless you're going to consider Tom and Jerry fantasy or Mickey Mouse. It's a kids movie. It is what it is.
Depends on how you view the “voicing” of the animals. If you view it as the animals having those thoughts, dialogue, or whatever, then they have abilities that real animals do not have—broadly speaking, it is fantasy. If you view that instead as human commentary for comedic/dramatic effect and not intended to be the real “voices” of the animals, then it’s not fantasy.
For me, Fantasy is defined by the presence of science-defying magical/supernatural forces which could never occur in the real world. You pretty much hit the head of the nail; the only thing noteworthy of being unrealistic from the Homeward Bound movies is the dialogue from the animals. We know dogs and cats do not speak in the real world, but this doesn't mean they are incapable of communicating and having inner thoughts. I look at the movies with the perception that instead of speaking in a human language, the voice acting is just a translation of the animals' thoughts into something that the viewer can understand. From this standpoint, there is nothing magical/supernatural going on in the movies, so I would not consider these movies Fantasy. Now let's take it a step further and say these animals have the ability to communicate and interact at a higher level with humans, like Scooby-Doo. Now we've really breached the layer of plausibility, as Scooby-Doo is intelligent, has the ability to communicate, and is capable of actions physically impossible by dogs. Does this qualify as Fantasy? In my eyes, it depends on which iteration of Scooby-Doo you're looking at. Looking at the original cartoons where every monster is just someone in a mask with elaborate traps and technology, there is a lot going on in these cartoons that is unrealistic, but this Scooby-Doo universe always follows a set of rules resembling the real world. We do not understand why Scooby-Doo is able to talk, but I would never consider it "magical". So in this instance again, I would say No to the Fantasy genre. Now, consider Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. This movie is particularly note-worthy, as the monsters were real as opposed to just costumes, and voodoo magic played a huge role in the story. Now I would say this could be categorized as Fantasy, as the characters and plot are influenced heavily by magical powers and creatures that defy not only real world science and logic, but also defy the logic that exists in the Scooby-Doo universe.
