Documentary, comedy and horror tend to be the three tenants of Canada's contribution to cinema, and for good reason — Allan King, SCTV, the Kids in the Hall and David Cronenberg have been pioneers of the medium, while their contemporary peers have taken up the mantle, continuing to move the needle. Animation, though, has been a quiet force in our country's landscape with a long and rich history that deserves more recognition.
Night of the Zoopocalypse began as the brainchild of two Toronto-based companies: Copperheart Entertainment, most notably the producers behind the Gingers Snaps trilogy, and the House of Cool, an animation house whose contributions include the Despicable Me franchise and Marvel's What If...? series. The film brings together much of what's great about Canadian film, including an ensemble voice cast of exemplary comedic talent, stunning animation, and a horror motif that pays tribute and celebrates the genre.
The films follows a young wolf Gracie (voiced by Gabbi Kosmidis, a relative newcomer from Toronto), whose pack focuses its efforts on disaster readiness, which should have put them in a good position when a meteor strikes Colepepper Zoo, rendering its inhabitants gummy zombies, beginning with Bunny Zero. In an effort to survive, Gracie teams up with a group of unaffected animals to find a cure, including a grumpy mountain lion (David Harbour), a rather sassy ostrich (Scott Thompson) and a know-it-all proboscis monkey (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee).
Borrowing its title and beats from horror classic Night of the Living Dead, Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro's film takes the genre legacy Canada has ardently built and translates it into a vibrantly animated, visual spectacle. Dutch angles, swift camera cuts and foreboding silhouettes fill out the film in purple and green neon, as Night of the Zoopocalypse introduces horror tropes and traditions through a family-friendly lens.
The film deviates from its horror influences with less emphasis placed on the actual storytelling, resulting in a tale that might be a little simple for adult viewers. However, in doing so, Night of the Zoopocalypse becomes the perfect movie to sow horror seeds for a new generation.