What You Need To Know:
NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE is an animated comedy about a wolf named Gracie who’s convinced she doesn’t need to work with others because her wolf pack lives in a peaceful zoo. Gracie sneaks out of her enclosure to explore after dark and meets an aggressive mutant bunny that’s been turned into a gummy zombie by an alien organism. The alien organism that infected the bunny starts spreading to the other animals. So, Gracie teams up with a hot-tempered mountain lion named Dan and a group of bickering animals to survive the night.
What NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE lacks in appealing character design and originality, it makes up for with charming twists and tight comedic timing. Some will enjoy the jokes as much as they do the colorful cast and exciting twists as they watch Gracie dodge the gooey mutants with her friends. NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE has some moral, redemptive virtues promoting working together, courage and sacrifice. However, it features some intense and scary cartoon violence and Romantic, humanist elements about believing in yourself. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger and older children.
Content:
Mixed pagan worldview with moral, redemptive virtues promoting overcoming and putting aside differences to work together, courage, sacrifice, and helping others, mixed with Romantic, humanist elements where stress is placed on a character’s belief in themselves, with some immoral actions by the villain that include abandoning friends to save oneself, stealing, lying, bragging, and insulting others, plus villain insists he’s “more evolved” and therefore more worthwhile than his companions, and a brief comical reference to Hindu prayer;
Two light profanities where God’s name is taken in vain twice, and some name-calling;
Frequent and sometimes intense and scary, cartoon violence when characters are bloodlessly smacked and bitten and even chewed, the gooey and candy-like zombie mutants frequently lose limbs or are “decapitated” with limbs still moving and trying to attack or body parts detaching and reattaching such as one gummified zombie animal puts its eye back into its socket, animals knocked down, and one animal is shocked by an electrified fence;
No sex;
No nudity;
No alcohol use;
No actual tobacco use or illegal drugs but a lemur spends one scene in the vet’s office periodically inhaling nitrous oxide from an oxygen mask for fun; and,
Some light immorality includes lying, insulting others, abandonment, selfishness, minor disrespect to an elder, and stealing.
More Detail:
NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE is an animated comedy, using classic horror references in bright, zany animation to keep the viewer’s attention. The movie follows Gracie, a wolf who’s sure she can ignore her pack’s philosophy of prepping for danger by sticking together, because she and the pack in the safety of a zoo. However, when an alien organism begins transforming her neighbors into zombie-like mutants after closing time, Gracie is separated from her pack. To get back to them and survive the night, she must team up with a group of contentious animals and learn that they’re not too different to work together.
Gracie sneaks out of her zoo enclosure to explore after dark and meets not only an aggressive mutant bunny, but also Dan, a hot-tempered mountain lion trying to escape captivity. In the vet ward, she and Dan meet even more critters who refuse to find anything in common with one another.
However, the same alien organism that infected the bunny begins spreading to the other animals after closing time. So, Gracie must team up with the reluctant Dan and this group of bickering survivors to find her pack and end their nightmare.
NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE has some unappealing character design and redundant dialogue, but some may be entertained by the well-timed jokes, colorful cast and engaging animation. The movie’s editing is particularly sharp. For example, at one point it cuts off an argument between two characters before it gets tedious and transitions quickly back to some action. The movie also uses classic zombie imagery to maintain the fun in chase scenes that could otherwise be repetitive. The characters, while not wildly original, have a mix of funny personalities and motives that keep their interactions funny and charming.
Perhaps the most engaging thing about NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE is the stylization. While clearly echoing the undead genre, NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALPYSE adds fun twists to their monster designs. For example, infected animals turn into gummy-worm-like mutants, the color palette of a scene can heighten into neon, and the soundtrack plays a unique motif somewhere between creepy and bouncy whenever they’re onscreen.
NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE has a morally uplifting, redemptive message about trusting others and acting with selfless bravery. The heroic animals often risk their own lives to help others in peril. However, the movie ties these moral, redemptive virtues to a Romantic, humanist belief in oneself.
NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE also features some intense and scary cartoon violence. Although it lacks the traditional bloodletting of the usual live-action zombie movie, it replaces it with scenes where animals mutate into gooey candy-like zombies like gummy bears or worms. Thus, there are still scenes where an animal’s gummified heads or limbs fall off, and even detach and reattach. For this reason, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger and other children.
