Connect with us
Cryptozoo

Film

Cryptozoo Uses Gorgeous Hand-Drawn Animation to Illustrate Its Zoo for Mythical Beasts

Cryptozoo, Dash Shaw’s sophomore feature, is a Jurassic Park–like story of imaginary creatures done in hypnotizing animated style.

Sundance 2021: Cryptozoo Review

The days of major hand-drawn animated movies being a major force in film are long behind us. Computer-generated animation has become the dominant force and likely will remain so because it’s faster, cheaper, and less labor-intensive. But hand-drawn animation still exists at the margins, and Dash Shaw’s sophomore feature Cryptozoo is a shining example of how lovely and entrancing the medium can be. Its phantasmagorical display of mythical creatures and abundant color makes it a significant step up from his debut, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, even though the plotting still suffers from some of the aimlessness of that film.

Cryptozoo opens on a meditative note as a hippy couple in what’s later revealed to the 1960s strip to the nude while out in a forest at night. After some surprisingly poignant lovemaking, Matthew (Michael Cera, showing unusual depth), discovers a fenced enclosure hiding something astounding: a unicorn. The two buck-naked wanders have stumbled into a compound that’s half exotic animal shelter and half Disneyland. It’s filled with winged horses, a giant squid-like Kraken, pointy-nosed elf-like tricksters, and chimeras, to name just a sampling. Some are savage beasts, while others, like a satyr (voiced by Fargo’s Peter Stormare) are intelligent and humanoid. Shaw, who was best known as a graphic novelist before moving into film animation, has said that all of the creatures in the movie were based on real mystical beasts, and the attention to detail will be thrilling to anyone who studied Greek mythology in school or went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole of fantastical Japanese creatures.

Lake Bell voices Lauren Grey, a conservationist who wants to track down as many of the cryptids for the zoo as possible. Though she thinks of herself as righteous, she’s motivated more by an obsession that originated in her childhood during an encounter with a baku, a piglike Japanese mythological beast with the snout of an elephant that sucks up and eats dreams. In her case, it ate her nightmares and gave her peaceful sleep, but it can also eat positive dreams that motivate one to live. Joan (Twin Peaks’ Grace Zabriskie) is the elderly patron who owns the cryptozoo and isn’t afraid to turn it into an amusement park if it will provide enough money to keep it open. While in search of the baku, they team up with Phoebe (Angeliki Papoulia, best known for her collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos). She’s a Medusa-like Gorgon with a head of snakes and eyes that turn people into stone, but she tranquilizes the snakes and puts them under a wig, and wears contacts to prevent herself from killing everyone who glances at her. She passes as human, but she views the cryptozoo as a transitional space that can raise awareness about cryptids in hopes of making humans fear them less. As they traverse the US in search of the baku, shadowy military figures are hot on their tale in hopes of using it to eat the dreams of hippies and leftists protesting against the government.

In place of the thick line drawings of My Entire High School, Shaw and his animation director (and wife) Jane Samborski have created more delicate, detailed character designs that convey far more emotion than in the previous film. The vocal talent is also stronger this time around, and there are surprisingly emotional performances from Cera in the introduction and Papoulia later in the film that wouldn’t have been possible with the older style. But it’s the cryptids and landscapes that are the most entrancing aspect of Cryptozoo. They’re suffused with color in ways that make it easy to stare and lose track of the plot, which has several unfortunate valleys. Shaw’s animation and characterization are more compelling than ever, but his ability to bind those aspects together with his story is still limited. He seems to have been influenced by the plot and majesty of some of Steven Spielberg’s films, most obviously the Indiana Jones films and Jurassic Park, and most people familiar with those movies will see exactly where Cryptozoo is going long before it gets there. But seeing is also part of the pleasure with images as beautiful as these. Shaw still has plenty of room to improve, but if he makes something this beautiful it will always be worth watching.

The first-ever “virtual” Sundance Film Festival runs from January 28 – February 3. Check back for our daily coverage and visit the festival’s official website for more information.

Watch Cryptozoo

Now Streaming

Written By

Brian Marks is Sordid Cinema's Lead Film Critic. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, LA Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, and Ampersand. He's a graduate of USC's master's program in Specialized Arts Journalism. You can find more of his writing at InPraiseofCinema.com. Best film experience: driving halfway across the the country for a screening of Jean-Luc Godard's "King Lear." Totally worth it.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Falling-Down film review Falling-Down film review

Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down Poses Some Serious Questions

Film

The Big Lebowski The Big Lebowski

25 Years Later: Aggression Will Not Stand in The Big Lebowski

Film

The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers

50 Best Movies That Did Not Win Best Picture at the Oscars

Film

The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers

50 Best Movies to not Win Best Picture at the Oscars

Film

Blueback film review Blueback film review

Blueback Doesn’t Dive Deep Enough

Film

The Last of Us Left Behind The Last of Us Left Behind

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye on The Last of Us “Left Behind”

TV

The Last of Us Look for the Light The Last of Us Look for the Light

The Last of Us Season One Ends the Only Way It Knows How with “Look for the Light”

TV

Brother movie review Brother movie review

Brother is a Well-acted but Overwrought Account of 1990s Scarborough

Film

The Last of Us When We Are in Need The Last of Us When We Are in Need

Everyone’s a Monster In The Last of Us “When We Are in Need”

TV

Inside Movie Review Inside Movie Review

Being Trapped Inside with Willem Dafoe’s Art Thief is (Mostly) Great

Film

The Mandalorian Season 2 Phenomenally Flaunts The Potential of Storytelling With Star Wars The Mandalorian Season 2 Phenomenally Flaunts The Potential of Storytelling With Star Wars

The Mandalorian Starts Season 3 with a Good Episode but an Okay Premiere in “The Apostate”

Culture

The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments

The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments

Culture

Roberto Benigni at the 71st Academy Awards Roberto Benigni at the 71st Academy Awards

The Most Iconic Moments at the Oscars

Culture

John Wick: Chapter 4 Review John Wick: Chapter 4 Review

John Wick: Chapter 4 Is an Action Epic for the Ages

Film

Idiot’s Delight – Happy 25th, Big Lebowski Idiot’s Delight – Happy 25th, Big Lebowski

Idiot’s Delight – Happy 25th, Big Lebowski

Film

One for The Birds — Hitchcock's Masterpiece at 60 One for The Birds — Hitchcock's Masterpiece at 60

One for The Birds — Hitchcock’s Masterpiece at 60

Film

Connect