“One of the most gorgeous works of American animation in ages.” –The Film Stage 

Mixing the drily ironic wit of Wes Anderson with the most hypnotically beautiful hand-drawn animation this side of Fantastic Planet, Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo is a psychedelic wonderland of sex, drugs, dreams and freaky-deaky fantasy. The film follows the efforts of a group of cryptid hunters to capture a Baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) for their “cryptozoo,” a sprawling Disneyland-like destination in which rare beasts are both put on display and put to work. Over four years in the making, Shaw’s labor of love is both a stunning demonstration of the animator’s visual imagination and a thoughtful, even moving exploration the dehumanizing effects of capitalism, militarism, and ecological destruction. Indie stars including Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Zoe Kazan, Louisa Krause, Angeliki Papoulia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Peter Stormare and Grace Zabriskie lend their voice talents to this one-of-a-kind handmade treasure of a film.