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Philippines

Movie review: 'Hayop Ka!' (2020)

Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (6 votes)

Hayop Ka! ("You Animal!") is an adult 2D animated film from the Philippines, in which all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. Released in 2020, it was directed by Avid Liongoren, who co-wrote it along with Manny Angeles and Paulle Olivenza, and was produced by Rocketsheep Studio and Spring Films.

The story revolves around a cat named Nimfa (played by Angelica Panganiban), who works at a perfume counter in a department store in the city of Manila. She's been living with her boyfriend for over a year, a large, burly mongrel named Roger (played by Robin Padilla) who works as a janitor. She has doubts about their long-term prospects, so when she meets Inigo, a rich, tycoon husky (played by Sam Milby), a love triangle quickly develops. This is a very adult movie! All three want to have an active sexual life, with varying degrees of commitment.

Trailer: 'Saving Sally'

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (5 votes)

The Cartoon Brew presents a trailer for Saving Sally, a Filipino feature-in-progress by Avid Liongoren. The two-years-in-progress feature combines live-action footage, cartoon animation, matte paintings, and motion graphics.

As far as the plot can be made out from this one-minute trailer (three Vimeo trailers, in fact), Sally is a live-action college student whose boyfriend is a nerdy amateur comic-book artist. The comic-book drawings come to life, and the anthropomorphic monster falls in love with Sally and won’t stop following her around. As the feature progresses, Sally herself starts switching back and forth between live-action and very surrealistic animation in which she identifies more and more with the monsters.

It’s a very original take on anthropomorphism. Saving Sally may or may not get finished, and it may or may not get to the U.S., so don’t miss this trailer. The Cartoon Brew is chock-full of animation, which is all fascinating even when it is not about anthropomorphic animation.