This Weird 2025 Animated Movie Was Based On An Idea By Horror Legend Clive Barker

Rodrigo Perez-Castro's and Ricardo Curtis' 2025 animated film "Night of the Zoopocalypse" began its life as an unpublished short story called "ZOOmbies" – conceived of, by of all people, Clive Barker, the horror maestro behind "Hellraiser." 

In a 2014 interview published on Barker's website, he explained that he once had an idea for a story called "ZOOmbies," which was to be about a young boy who was trapped in a zoo during a zombie apocalypse. The idea was adapted into a comic by author Ben Meares, "just to see if we could do anything with it." They ended up selling the movie to, in their words, "this company," and their language implies that neither Barker nor Meares had much involvement in it after the sale. 

11 years after that interview, in 2025, audiences were finally treated to "Night of the Zoopocalypse," a colorful, odd-looking kid-horror film, extrapolated from "ZOOmbies." Well, perhaps audiences weren't treated, as it sailed by most people's attention, unnoticed. This is a pity, as "Night of the Zoopocalypse" is one of the more visually creative animated films of its year, boasting a black-light-poster color palette, and some unique, bubble-eyed character design unlike anything coming from any other animation studio. 

In the 11 years it took to get made, the story shifted from a human protagonist to a team of talking animals who find that a zombie-creating meteor has landed in the zoo where they live. The main character is a lanky timberwolf named Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis) who must team up with a gaggle of other animals to survive, and to solve the spreading zombie problem in the entire park. Despite its kid-friendly tone, "Night of the Zoopocalypse" was odd and even a little scary. Weird little kids will love it. 

The first thing anyone will notice about "Night of the Zoopocalypse" are its characters' eyes. Unlike the carefully designed, ultra-friendly Barbie eyes seen in a typical Disney movie, the characters in "Night of the Zoopcalypse" have big, round ping-pong-ball eyes, like outsize versions of Aardman characters. Their fur bubbles up in big round lumps, and their limbs are either willow-thin or tree-trunk thick (notably, the legs of the mountain lion Dan, played by David Harbour). It's a refreshing aesthetic. 

Also unusual for a children's film: the zombie transformations are treated with the utmost horror. The zombies in "Zoopocalypse" aren't the goofy kind like in "Plants vs. Zombies," but are a legitimate threat. The zombie-inducing meteor lands in the zoo's rabbit enclosure, and a cute little bunny eats a piece, becoming infected. It surrounds itself in a gooey cocoon, like in "Gremlins," and hatches out as an altered version of itself. The zombies in "Zoopocalypse" are neon-colored, have glowing eyes, and have become translucent and gelatinous. I have to be honest: gelatinous, blob-like rabbit monsters are a new one on me. 

The structure of the film plays out like most zombie movies. It takes a while for the protagonists to notice how bad the outbreak is. They flee in a group to ever-smaller shelters as the zombies pursue them. There are arguments as to whom can be trusted and which animal can lead. Gracie is the obvious leader, the ostrich Ash (Scott Thompson from "Kids in the Hall") is the fearful one, the pygmy hippo child Poot (Christina Nova) must be protected, and no one should trust the proboscis monkey Felix (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee). 

Because the monsters are jelly-like, they have powers that ordinary zombies don't. "Night of the Zoopocalypse" climaxes with Gracie realizing that gel-animals, when mashed together, can kind of fuse into new slimy hybrid creatures. The final "boss monster" of the movie is a massive mash-up creature with giraffe, elephant, hippo, lion, and other parts. It's pretty awesome. 

Given how scary the monsters are, some audiences might be frustrated by the child-friendly story. There is a cuteness to "Night of the Zoopocalypse" that robs it of some of its potential edge, perhaps keeping it out of the hands of Goth teens and other explorers of fringe media. But this movie is perfect for the 10-year-old who is going to become a Goth someday. Although kid-friendly, it can't be described as anything other than a horror movie. And a slick, unique, scary, wild horror movie for kids is no bad thing. 

"Zoopocalypse" was put out by Viva Pictures, a low-budget studio that has made some interesting film choices in recent years. They distributed "The Amazing Maurice," an animated film based on the works of the late Terry Pratchett, and they also handled the little-seen "Hitpig!," a film based on a book by "Bloom County" creator Berkeley Breathed (and which, sadly, holds one of the worst openings of all time). Viva is also interested in monsters, having put out little-seen films like "Scary Girl," and "200% Wolf." The indie studio is hardly in a position to compete with Disney, DreamWorks, or Netflix, but they seem to be slowly filling a niche of weird movies by talented artists, often adapted from the works of off-kilter and fascinating authors. And in an overcommercialized marketplace, the underdog — or perhaps undertimberwolf — is worth paying attention to.