From a story by Clive Barker, Night of Zoopocalypse takes a family film and gives it a monstrous paint job.
PLOT: When a meteor crashes into Colepepper Zoo, a virus that transforms the animals into slobbering zombie-like mutants is unleashed. Now, the unaffected animals must band together to stop it before it’s too late.
REVIEW: It’s hard out there for animated films not being produced by either Disney or Dreamworks. It seems as though most are dismissed without having those two companies attached. Yet some of the best animation in recent years has come from smaller studios. So it’s exciting to see a new animated film releasing, with neither juggernaut attached, and featuring a name that is sure to raise some eyebrows: Clive Barker. That’s right, the Hellraiser creator has taken time away from the world of the macabre and is instead focusing on family animation with Night of the Zoopocalypse.
The story of Night of the Zoopocalypse follows Gracie, a wolf who wants to know her purpose both in life, but also with her pack. When a mysterious meteor crashes into an enclosure, what’s inside starts to take over the other zoo animals. Gracie has to join forces with other animals, each of them having unique quirks and being rather independent. They have to learn how to work together in order to stop this outbreak from spreading. And with this being a kid’s movie, they do a good job of avoiding death, while still ramping up the stakes.
Gracie is a fun enough lead, though I had more interest in the outcast of the group, played by everyone’s favorite small-town sheriff. David Harbour is the biggest voice involved and his character Dan is a wild mountain Lion, newly introduced to the zoo. He’s a loner and refuses to be part of a pack, so you can see where the issues come into play. Gracie is so plain, that Dan’s mean side gives Night of the Zoopocalypse a bit of life. I liked the dynamic between the carnivores and herbivores, and how they interact.
The real star of the movie comes in the form of Poot, an adorably Pigmy hippo voiced by Christina Nova. Poot follows in the footsteps of other adorable characters with limited vocabulary like Boo from Monster’s Inc. Given how long animation takes, the filmmakers really got lucky to have a character that is sure to get comparisons to viral sensation, Moo Deng. Poot gets plenty of laughs and is the heart of the film. If this film catches on, I’m sure plenty will be owed to Poot.
The animation could easily be described as simple but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. There’s a bareness to some of the environments, but nothing ever feels cheap. I also really loved all the different camera lens, which gives such a different look than the usual flat canvas of animation. The character designs are all great and give the film its identity. I’m so sick of animated films just trying to be photorealistic and taking away all the caricature elements. Though I do have to call out the strange designs of the humans, which makes them into these weirdly proportioned monstrosities.
Co-directors Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro have a long history in animation, having worked on films like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Monster’s Inc. They’re taking all that knowledge and know-how and putting it all into Night of the Zoopocalypse. Despite Clive Barker’s name being attached, this is still firmly a kid’s movie, so Hellraiser fans should probably get their expectations in check. If anything, the Barker name is a great way to get people that otherwise wouldn’t have taken the leap, to watch the film. They say the story is based on a concept by Barker, so it’s hard to say just how much he actually contributed to the final product.
Even in it’s simplicity, I really enjoyed my time with Night of the Zoopocalypse. The character designs standout from the Pixar-style that every studio seems to be doing these days. And I quite liked the characters, who managed to get me rooting on their heroic journey.
NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE IS COMING TO THEATERS ON MARCH 7TH, 2025.
