When it comes to animation, far too many people have been lulled into the high budget, near perfect beauty of computer animated film. While it is certainly a spectacle of hard work and computer know-how, it tends to overpower all other forms of animation. Several great films with far more complex narratives have been overshadowed by films about talking toys and sentient cars. If anything, a lot of people miss out on what animation can provide.
Cryptozoo isn't necessarily an award worthy film, but it is one that is worth a watch. The narrative is pretty interesting. During the onset of the 1970s California, people are seeking to save unusual, mythical animals that they have labeled "cryptids." Due to the rare and unusual nature of these creatures, plenty of bad actors are seeking these creatures for nefarious means. From a political standpoint, the thought of the military as a stand-in bad guy is okay, but the usual reasoning is pretty basic. They want these creatures for military applications, even though many of the creatures would be hard to utilize in this manner. I get the fact the military is a great defacto bad guy, but I think something else would have worked better. Either way, our two main characters Lauren and Phoebe are racing to find a rare and unusual cryptid known as a Baku, which feasts off dreams regardless if they are good or bad. The military application would be a little far fetched, as in the Baku's power could be harnessed to steal the dreams of rabble rousers and counter culture extremists.
Personally, this is the only aspect of the story I kind of roll my eyes at. It sounds reasonable, but let's face it. Societal change and declarations are massive concepts, and it would take a lot of kidnapping to even make this an effective tool. It's also a bit suspect they would even be able to develop a way to turn this ability into a weapon before the societal movement shifts. Nixon pretty much proved that all you need is racism and well timed pandering to crush a political upheaval.
Since we are on the subject of politics, the film accidentally (or intentionally?) takes a collective pimp slap against the subject of feminism, or more directly white feminism. Essentially, this means the white perspective believes they have some form of moral authority over all other spectrums of the feminist movement. It's fully on display in the film when the protagonists believe a "zoo" and giving disenfranchised populations "jobs" would ease the acceptance of the said group. This has been pretty much debunked, especially when it comes to creating a subservient class of people to the dominant class. Anyway, it was interesting to see their rose colored perspective blow up in their faces, though the initial challenges to that perspective were a bit non-existent in the story.
Anyway, aside from the weird political takes, the ending was honestly the weakest part of the film. Amidst the conflict and build-up, it just ends. Of course, you can't really push this story too much further but it feels like it was cut short, and maybe that is the crux of the story. Lauren takes on a less self righteous position in society, but it is clear she is haunted by the failure. Either way, the story is interesting and the animation is pretty artistic. Its not the worst thing you can do with an hour and a half of your time.
