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Cryptozoo

CryptoZoo was a blockchain-based play-to-earn project co-founded by and wrestler , launched on , , that involved to acquire non-fungible token (NFT) "eggs" which purportedly hatched into virtual animals for breeding, trading, and earning rewards in a Pokémon-inspired ecosystem. The project rapidly attracted investors, with its initial 10,000 Genesis Eggs collection selling for approximately 4,160 ETH shortly after launch, capitalizing on Paul's large online following to generate millions in sales. Despite early hype, CryptoZoo failed to deliver a functional game, leaving NFT holders with largely illiquid assets and minimal utility beyond speculative trading, which precipitated sharp declines in token value and widespread investor dissatisfaction. In response to mounting criticism, particularly from investigative YouTuber Coffeezilla who highlighted unfulfilled promises and potential mismanagement in late 2022, Paul initiated a $2.3 million buyback program in January 2024 for certain NFTs, though this covered only a fraction of reported losses exceeding $25 million for some participants. The project's collapse sparked significant controversies, including allegations of fraud and market manipulation, culminating in a February 2023 class-action lawsuit against Paul and associates claiming breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and a "rug pull" scheme that defrauded buyers by promoting a non-existent product. Paul has denied wrongdoing, attributing failures to co-founders and external factors, and countersued critics while ongoing litigation as of 2025 has seen judicial recommendations against dismissing claims or shifting blame. These events underscore broader risks in influencer-driven cryptocurrency ventures, where promotional enthusiasm often outpaces technical delivery and regulatory oversight.

Production

Development

Dash Shaw, a Richmond, Virginia-based cartoonist and animator known for graphic novels and short films, initiated development on Cryptozoo following his 2016 animated short My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea. Influenced by Winsor McCay's unfinished 1921 film The Centaurs, Shaw sought to explore mythological creatures through animation, drawing from his comics background to emphasize drawing as the primary means of visualizing unphotographable cryptids. The project emerged in the mid-2010s, with pre-production emphasizing a small, collaborative team approach managed via spreadsheets for storyboarding and task allocation. Shaw developed the script to center on character-driven narratives involving cryptid lore, conducting research at the New York Public Library into 1960s countercultural newspapers, which informed the film's setting in late-1960s San Francisco amid the Vietnam War era. This period was selected for its utopian idealism in global media and countercultural optimism, paralleling themes of sanctuary and exploitation without delving into execution. During research, Shaw encountered the Baku—a Japanese dream-eating cryptid resembling a chimeric elephant—which crystallized the story's core conflict and elevated the concept from comic to feature film. Shaw collaborated closely with his wife, Jane Samborski, as animation director, incorporating her experiences from an all-women's Dungeons & Dragons group to shape a predominantly female cast and her paintings of cryptids. Production milestones included script refinement and independent funding supporting a four-year timeline from 2016 to 2020, culminating in submission to the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in January and received the NEXT Innovator Prize.

Animation and design

Cryptozoo utilizes a hand-drawn, mixed-media animation style characterized by eclectic techniques that differentiate visual elements to evoke a sense of mythological diversity among cryptids. Human characters are rendered in fine pencil lines filled with watercolor washes, while cryptids employ varied approaches such as painted forms and collage-like assemblies, often drawn directly from global folklore descriptions rather than invention. Animation director Jane Samborski painted the majority of cryptid designs, contributing to the film's kaleidoscopic and quasi-realistic vibrancy alongside director Dash Shaw's minimalist line work. The design incorporates bold colors, explicit nudity, graphic gore, and hallucinatory sequences to replicate 1960s-era aesthetics, achieved through physical media like pencil on large paper sheets and thin-line drafting before digital compositing in Photoshop and After Effects. This eschews CGI entirely in favor of traditional cel animation and handcrafted elements, including physical models, to preserve a DIY authenticity rooted in Shaw's comic book origins and to emphasize drawing as a conduit for imaginative depiction. The resulting psychedelic, retro-inspired look draws comparisons to outsider art, prioritizing raw artistic experimentation and visual chaos over the refined polish of mainstream animation pipelines. Production challenges stemmed from the labor-intensive frame-by-frame , which required expanding beyond the couple's small-scale efforts to include guest artists for stylistic variety and freshness. Team coordination involved meticulous via spreadsheets to manage stages from storyboarding to final edits, ensuring the hand-drawn translated into dynamic, time-based compositions without compromising the film's , unorthodox .

Plot

In 1960s San Francisco, amid the era's countercultural upheaval, the narrative centers on cryptozookeepers managing a sanctuary for cryptids—mythical creatures hidden from public view. Lauren Gray, a veterinarian specializing in these beings, leads efforts to capture a Baku, a legendary dream-eating hybrid originating from Japanese folklore, to secure it within the Cryptozoo and shield it from exploitation by black-market traders and other adversaries. Joined by associates including the young idealist Matthew, Gray pursues leads through hippie communes where rumors suggest Bakus are harbored, encountering wild cryptids such as unicorns and other escaped specimens that pose immediate threats to humans and the mission alike. The hunt involves tense captures, alliances with sympathetic cryptids, and rival operations that commodify the creatures for profit or military use, heightening risks during nocturnal forays into urban and forested areas. Tensions escalate at the Cryptozoo facility as sanctuary breaches occur, forcing confrontations over the of versus allowing to roam , with pursuits and escapes underscoring the precarious between and amid mounting .

Cast and voice performances

The principal voice cast of Cryptozoo (2021) consists of Lake Bell as Lauren Gray, the lead cryptozookeeper; Michael Cera as Matthew; Angeliki Papoulia as Kali; with supporting performances by Zoe Kazan, Peter Stormare, Grace Zabriskie, Louisa Krause, and Thomas Jay Ryan voicing additional human and cryptid characters. Casting emphasized actors with backgrounds in independent and character-driven projects, aligning with the film's experimental animation style aimed at adult audiences rather than mainstream blockbusters. Critics offered mixed assessments of the vocal work: Lake Bell's delivery was commended for its full commitment and authoritative edge, effectively anchoring the ensemble, while Michael Cera's subdued style complemented the material's offbeat vibe; however, some reviews highlighted a general detachment in performances across the cast, bordering on deadpan or uncomfortable, which suited the hallucinatory aesthetic but could feel emotionally distant or uneven.

Themes and interpretation

Mythological elements and cryptids

The Baku serves as the central cryptid in Cryptozoo, depicted as a dream-devouring chimeric being rooted in Japanese folklore, where it traditionally manifests as a tapir-like entity composed of disparate animal parts—such as an elephant's trunk, tiger's paws, and boar's body—tasked with consuming nightmares to grant peaceful sleep. In the film, multiple juvenile Baku emerge as elusive, vibrant orange creatures resembling pig-elephant hybrids, capable of ingesting entire human dreamscapes, which renders them both ecologically vital for regulating subconscious turmoil and strategically exploitable as psychological weapons. Their behavioral traits align with folklore precedents of selective predation on malevolent dreams, portraying them as autonomous migrants drawn from hidden enclaves to urban fringes, where they forage nocturnally and evade capture through instinctive evasion rather than aggression. Gorgons appear as recurrent figures inspired by Greek mythological origins, characterized by serpentine hair and a gaze that petrifies viewers, as chronicled in ancient texts like Hesiod's Theogony detailing the sisters Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. The film features Phoebe, a Gorgon assistant who conceals her petrifying attributes under headwear, emphasizing their role as sentient, relational beings integrated into human-cryptid alliances, with ecological adaptations allowing survival in concealed habitats amid human expansion. Succubi, drawn from medieval European demonology as seductive female spirits that drain life force through nocturnal visitations, are integrated as predatory entities that manipulate desires, depicted in the narrative as shape-shifting infiltrators preying on vulnerabilities in mixed-species environments. Additional cryptids include fauns from Greco-Roman lore—bipedal hybrids of human and goat features embodying woodland fertility and mischief—and Tengu, avian-humanoid yokai from Japanese traditions known for martial prowess and mountain dwelling. These beings exhibit faithful legendary behaviors, such as fauns' impulsive revelry and Tengu's aerial agility, functioning as independent actors in the film's ecosystem: some seek sanctuary to evade commodification, while others roam feral, forming loose hierarchies based on territorial instincts and symbiotic interactions with landscapes altered by human presence. Original hybrids, such as multi-limbed amalgamations echoing global chimeric motifs like the Greek Chimera or Hindu Makara, amplify folklore empirics by blending verifiable elemental traits—e.g., serpentine agility with mammalian endurance—without unsubstantiated invention, underscoring cryptids' portrayal as evolved relics of pre-modern biomes persisting in marginal refugia.

Social and political allegory

The Cryptozoo's mission to contain and display cryptids for public edification serves as an allegory for mid-20th-century conservation efforts, which often masked economic exploitation under the guise of preservation, as evidenced by the facility's transformation from a purported sanctuary into a site of commodified spectacle and eventual breakdown. This interpretation posits the zoo not as a genuine utopian refuge but as a neoliberal market-driven enterprise that prioritizes profit over ethical containment, critiquing how ideological commitments to "protection" can enable coercive structures akin to state or corporate authoritarianism. Dissenting analyses argue that the film's depiction undermines simplistic anti-capitalist narratives by illustrating how unchecked liberation of cryptids devolves into destructive anarchy, suggesting a causal chain where ideological purity leads to practical disorder rather than systemic reform. Elements of 1960s counterculture, including communal free love and nudity depicted in the film's Haight-Ashbury sequences, function as a double-edged symbol: ostensibly liberating for cryptids and humans alike, yet revealing naivety that invites exploitation and chaos, as when idealistic gatherings precipitate violent bakunins by unrestrained entities like the gorgon. This portrayal ties directly to historical events, such as the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, where influxes of youth seeking utopian communes overwhelmed resources and fostered unintended social breakdowns, including increased crime and health crises by late 1967. While some interpretations praise these motifs as anti-establishment endorsements of tolerance amid civil rights struggles, others contend they caution against hedonistic excess, where the pursuit of individual freedom erodes collective order without addressing underlying causal incentives like scarcity or predation. Cryptids themselves embody marginalized groups—immigrants, refugees, or exoticized others—whose containment critiques xenophobic impulses in both establishment and countercultural spheres, yet the narrative probes how compassion without boundaries enables predation, as seen in the gorgon's manipulative allure drawing followers into peril. Director Dash Shaw has described the film as exploring tolerance and civil rights allegorically, but the plot's resolution underscores a realist tension: ideological allegiances to "wild" freedom or structured captivity both falter under empirical pressures of survival and conflict, avoiding dogmatic resolution in favor of illustrating trade-offs. This balanced scrutiny, drawn from the era's documented clashes between hippie ideals and pragmatic realities, resists glorifying either side's utopian pretensions.

Release

Premiere

_Cryptozoo had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2021, as part of the NEXT section dedicated to innovative independent films. The event occurred amid the festival's hybrid format, combining virtual screenings with limited in-person attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing broader access while emphasizing the film's distinctive hand-drawn animation. At Sundance, Cryptozoo received the NEXT Innovator Prize presented by Adobe, recognizing its boundary-pushing animation techniques and narrative experimentation in depicting mythological creatures. Following its Sundance debut, the film screened at additional festivals in 2021, including the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, where it drew attention for its psychedelic visual style and creature designs amid niche genre audiences. These early festival appearances generated buzz centered on the film's novel animation approach, with previews noting its vibrant, hallucinatory aesthetics evoking 1970s counterculture influences. Screenings at events like the Florida Film Festival in April further highlighted the film's appeal to animation enthusiasts, focusing on its technical innovation rather than plot intricacies during initial public viewings.

Distribution and home media

_Cryptozoo received a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 20, 2021, distributed by Magnolia Pictures, primarily in arthouse theaters. The rollout emphasized select markets, aligning with the film's independent animation profile and psychedelic style. Video on demand (VOD) availability followed, with digital rental and purchase options launching on November 16, 2021, across major platforms. Home media releases included Blu-ray and DVD editions on the same date, November 16, 2021, via Magnolia Home Entertainment. The film's domestic box office performance was modest, opening with $12,891 and totaling approximately $33,765. This reflected challenges common to limited indie releases, with earnings remaining under $100,000. By late 2021, Cryptozoo became accessible on streaming services including Amazon Prime Video and Kanopy, expanding post-theatrical reach.

Reception

Critical reviews

Cryptozoo garnered mixed critical reception, with a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 92 reviews. The film's visual ambition and handmade animation style drew praise for their psychedelic and experimental qualities, often evoking comparisons to earlier adult-oriented works like Fantastic Planet. IGN rated it 7/10, lauding its "gory, graphic, experimental, psychedelic adventure" that blends mythological creatures with hallucinatory sequences. The Guardian commended the "trippy" aesthetic and "lovingly handmade" craftsmanship, describing it as "utterly bizarre in the best possible way" and effective in delivering visceral impact through its creature designs. Conversely, detractors highlighted deficiencies in narrative structure and character development, arguing that the overstuffed thematic elements undermined coherence. RogerEbert.com assigned it 2/4 stars, critiquing it as an "unusually timid animated fantasy" that superficially mimics outsider art but devolves into "bad pulp fiction" with sluggish pacing and unconvincing dialogue. IGN noted the film as "overstuffed with ideas," where the central dilemma on cryptid exploitation feels poignant but is diluted by erratic plotting and underdeveloped supporting figures. Additional complaints targeted the animation's perceived primitiveness in fluid motion and voice performances lacking distinction, resulting in muddled explorations of countercultural motifs without sufficient depth or causal linkage to broader allegories.

Audience and commercial performance

Audience reception for Cryptozoo has been mixed, with viewers appreciating the film's distinctive animation style and visual creativity while criticizing its pacing, narrative coherence, and overly niche subject matter. On IMDb, the film holds a 6.4/10 rating based on over 2,300 user votes, reflecting a divide where some praised the psychedelic aesthetics and adult-oriented themes as refreshing in animation, but others found the story meandering and the crude drawing style detracting from engagement. Similarly, Rotten Tomatoes audience score stands at 50%, drawn from limited verified ratings, underscoring a perception of limited broad appeal despite strengths in imaginative world-building. Commercially, Cryptozoo achieved modest results typical of an independent animated feature with mature content, grossing $33,765 domestically during its limited August 2021 theatrical run following festival premieres. The film's unrated status, featuring explicit nudity and violence, constrained wider distribution and family audiences, contributing to its niche positioning rather than mainstream box office success. Internationally, earnings totaled around $30,000, highlighting challenges for indie productions competing against high-budget blockbusters. Post-theatrical performance relied on home media and streaming availability, fostering a small cult following among animation enthusiasts and festival-goers. The film persisted on platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Tubi through 2025 without notable surges in viewership or renewed popularity, as evidenced by steady but low user rating volumes and no major re-release campaigns from 2023 onward. This trajectory illustrates the hurdles for adult-themed indie animations in sustaining long-term commercial momentum amid streaming saturation.

Awards

Cryptozoo received the NEXT Innovator Award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, recognizing its innovative approach to animated storytelling. The film earned a Special Mention from the Generation 14plus jury at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival for its distinctive blend of mythology and fantasy animation. At the 2021 Sitges Film Festival, it won the award for Best Animated Feature Film. Cryptozoo was also selected as Best Feature under the Axis: Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival, highlighting its technical and artistic merits in genre animation. The film garnered a nomination for the John Cassavetes Award, which honors outstanding feature films made with budgets under $750,000, at the 2022 Independent Spirit Awards. Director Dash Shaw received the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award from SFFILM in 2021, presented in conjunction with screenings of Cryptozoo to commend his visionary contributions to independent cinema. While these festival honors affirm Cryptozoo's within and circles, it secured no nominations from such as the of Motion Picture and Sciences, aligning with the film's experimental and mainstream rather than wide commercial viability.

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