ZooPhobia explained

ZooPhobia
Italic Title:no
Author:Vivienne Medrano
Url:ZooPhobiaComic.com
Status:Ended
First:July 3, 2012
Last:March 19, 2016
Genre:Fantasy, slice of life, comedy horror

ZooPhobia is an American webcomic originally published in 2012 by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, from which she later loosely adapted characters and plotlines for her animated musical television series Hazbin Hotel. It follows a young woman named Cameron, who travels to an interspecies sanctuary named Safe Haven. Two ZooPhobia short films, "The Son of 666" and "Bad Luck Jack", were released in 2013 and 2020, respectively.

Plot

Cameron, a neurotic young woman, is sent to an island sanctuary named Safe Haven by accident after she desperately pleas for a counseling job.[1] She discovers that she cannot leave the island, as doing so would cause it to lose its magic. She spends the duration of the comic trying to lessen her fear of the animals (zoophobia) in Safe Haven, trying to adapt to the unfamiliar environment she was thrown into.[2]

Characters

See also: List of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss characters.

Release

Although the comic was originally released in 2012, Medrano mentioned creating a webcomic in December 2010.[7] The comic went on hiatus for an indefinite period in November 2016, reportedly because Medrano wanted to focus on developing her unpublished Angels and Demons arc of ZooPhobia into an animated series, which later became Hazbin Hotel.[8] [9] In April 2017, Medrano said that the comic would get a "complete reboot",[10] and hinted at the same in a July 2018 Tumblr post.[11]

Short films

The Son of 666

On January 7, 2013, Medrano announced the development of an animated short film prequel to ZooPhobia as her thesis film for her third year at School of Visual Arts, to follow a younger Damian and his father Lucifer.[12] Titled "The Son of 666", and written, directed, and animated by Medrano herself,[13] the two-minute short film was released to her YouTube channel on April 15, 2013.[14]

Bad Luck Jack

On September 30, 2020, Medrano released a second animated ZooPhobia short film on her YouTube channel, titled "Bad Luck Jack" and 12-minutes-long. It was funded by crowdfunding from her Patreon. The short featured various characters from the webcomic and music by Gooseworx.[15] Medrano said the animated short was "very special" to her.[16] Two songs in the short, "Make a Start" and "The Curse" were written by Sam Haft, while Parry Gripp wrote the song "Monster Fighting Time". Bryson Baugus voiced Jack, Joe Zieja voiced Zill, Reba Buhr voiced Kayla, and Cristina Vee provided Kayla's singing voice.[17] [18] The short was co-written by Medrano and Amanda Heard, and was animated by Medrano and her production company SpindleHorse Toons.

Music video

On October 30, 2014, Medrano released a music video set to "Die Young" by Kesha and Becky G, following the werewolf JayJay hosting a party with other ZooPhobia characters.[19] By November 2019, the animation would accumulate over 50 million views.[20] The video was taken down following the release of the season 1 finale of Helluva Boss "Queen Bee" (in which Kesha appears as Queen Bee-lzebub) due to copyright issues.

Audiovisual adaptation

On March 2, 2016, Medrano announced ZooPhobia: The AudioVisual Adaptation to be in development, adapting the existing and unpublished comic as a semi-animated web series. It was to be scored by Gooseworx, voice directed by Connor "Connorhea" Cheely, and star Whitesin as Cameron Walden and Megan "Inky" Youmans as KayCee.[21] It has not seen completion as of 2024.

Reception

Larry Cruz of CBR compared the journey of the protagonist, Cameron, to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.[22] Cruz also praised Medrano's artistic style as "visually appealing", calling it unconventional like a "John Kricfalusi cartoon" and called the storytelling "decent". He also criticized the story of Cameron overcoming her intense fear of animals to be "a little rushed", and said that the designs of the animal characters were too similar to each other. Ahmar Wolf of the Furry Times called the webcomic unique, adding that "whether you think it is good depends on your taste", praised the artistic style, and argued that the storyline is "out there", making it a comic you will either "love or hate".

Dan Short of Animated Views differentiated the animated short, "Bad Luck Jack", from Medrano's other works, saying that it is "equivalent to a Disney Channel program like High School Musical" because it is "wholesome, super tame, contains no sexual references, and has no profanity," making it family-friendly.[23] Short also wrote that the short is visually appealing, and could serve as an introduction to those not familiar with the series. He stated that Kayla stands out because of her Australian accent, and praised the voice cast and musical numbers. Short concluded by calling the short "perfectly enjoyable".

Awards

The animated short "Bad Luck Jack" won a Ursa Major Award in the "Best Dramatic Short Work" category in 2020.[24] [25] [26] The Ursa Major awards are given in the field of furry fandom works and are the main awards in the field of anthropomorphism.[27] [28] The short was also listed as a "Recommended Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work" on the Ursa Major Award website.[29]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: June 2, 2013. ZooPhobia. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150906210023/http://www.thewebcomiclist.com/p/23163/ZooPhobia. September 6, 2015. March 27, 2021. The Webcomic List.
  2. Web site: Wolf. Asher. January 10, 2013. ZooPhobia Webcomic. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210327195155/https://furrytimes.net/2013/01/10/zoophobia-webcomic/. March 27, 2021. March 27, 2021. Furry Times.
  3. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. fff I'm happy I can finally post lil things of KayCee; shes one of my favs to think about mmhm ^^. Tumblr. August 9, 2012. August 9, 2012.
  4. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. Livestream doodles: Alastor has a huuuuuuge crush on KayCee so doodled them lots xD also all around played with drawing him and such.. Tumblr. January 21, 2013. January 21, 2013.
  5. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. Characters. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210201180513/https://zoophobiacomic.com/characters. February 1, 2021. March 27, 2021. Official website of ZooPhobia Comic.
  6. Speed Draw – Vaggie Motha – VivziePop. December 6, 2016. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. December 6, 2016. YouTube. VivziePop.
  7. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. December 7, 2010. Webcomic Ventures. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210327202334/https://frighteninglyenthusiastic.blogspot.com/2010/12/webcomic-ventures.html. March 27, 2021. March 27, 2021. Frightening Enthusiastic. Blogspot.
  8. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. vivziepop. 798261803906113536. November 14, 2016. I'm sorry guys, ZooPhobia is over until I have the time and energy to reboot it. The only art for it is exclusive to Patreon. :c . March 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20161114230342/https://twitter.com/VivziePop/status/798261803906113536. November 14, 2016. live.
  9. Web site: Miller. Caroline. A24 Reveals Character Images for Raunchy Animated Series Hazbin Hotel. MovieWeb. March 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220322132258/https://movieweb.com/hazbin-hotel-character-photos-a24/. March 22, 2022. live.
  10. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. VivziePop. April 27, 2017. Messy ZooPhobia Ramble. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200507192825/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaER6NHqfmI. May 7, 2020. March 27, 2021. YouTube.
  11. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. July 8, 2018. Since people are pointing out to me ZP ended on a cliffhanger of sorts!. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210327202644/https://vivziepop.tumblr.com/post/175691327904/since-people-are-pointing-out-to-me-zp-ended-on-a. March 27, 2021. March 27, 2021. VivziePop: The Silly Blog and Art of Vivienne Medrano. Tumblr.
  12. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. I wanted to make at least ONE film involving my characters, i figured a little blerb about Damian would be a blast cause he’s a fun concept and I feel would make a fun film. But my teacher raised a good point, that without more backstory/info Damian doesn’t look very related to his father, So I played around with their designs for the film. It takes place when Damian is a tad younger, and there are canon reasons he’d look a bit different but I haven’t gotten these okayed yet. If my teacher thinks the designs are still not working enough i may just do a different film all together, cause I couldn’t really bare to change either design too drastically. Though, what ever film I do end up doing I will work insanely hard on.. Tumblr. January 7, 2013. January 7, 2013.
  13. Web site: Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. and a quick attempt at something fun for the opening title of the film, if I can spruce this up with colors it may look neat! Also whats a better title? “Son of 666” or just “666” I dunno :B. Tumblr. February 11, 2013. February 11, 2013.
  14. The Son of 666 – SVA (Third Year Film). April 15, 2013. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. April 15, 2013. YouTube. VivziePop. My SVA 3rd year film! Yes I've been doing Hell-cartoons this long haha!.
  15. Web site: VivziePop. September 30, 2020. ZooPhobia – "Bad Luck Jack" (Short). live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210211013749/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxDDIGJCCsk. February 11, 2021. March 27, 2021. YouTube.
  16. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. vivziepop. 1311385807878385665. September 30, 2020. Our newest cartoon is out!! This one was very special, we have been working on it for a long time and it felt weird but wonderful to return to these characters that dominated my early years. We've come a long way Thank you to my amazing team for creating this with me. Enjoy!!. March 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20201002041247/https://twitter.com/VivziePop/status/1311385807878385665. October 2, 2020. live.
  17. 1311376675062640640. BaugusBryson. You can hear me as the loveable Jack in @VivziePop's latest short, "Bad Luck Jack"!! I hope you guys like it! Also thanks to my bud @kellengoff for casting me in such a fun role! . September 30, 2020 . October 1, 2020 . Bryson. Baugus. Bryson Baugus. https://web.archive.org/web/20201001182627/https://twitter.com/BaugusBryson/status/1311376675062640640. October 1, 2020. live.
  18. 1311423833493049344. RebaBuhr. I'm the speaking voice of Kayla (singing provided by @CristinaVee) in @VivziePop's new animated short ZooPhobia. I want to give a shout out to all the animators because I live for beautiful animation like this!. September 30, 2020 . October 1, 2020 . Reba. Buhr. Reba Buhr. https://web.archive.org/web/20201001043454/https://twitter.com/rebabuhr/status/1311423833493049344. October 1, 2020. live.
  19. "Die Young" – Fan Animated. October 30, 2014. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. October 30, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141030205556/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PKNuZovuSw. October 30, 2014. YouTube. VivziePop.
  20. Web site: Hazbin Hotel [Review] ]. Short . Dan . November 7, 2019 . Animated Views . November 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201106031732/https://animatedviews.com/2019/hazbin-hotel/ . November 6, 2020 . live.
  21. ZooPhobia: The AudioVisual Adaptation (Teaser). March 2, 2016. Vivienne Medrano. Medrano. Vivienne. March 2, 2016. YouTube. VivziePop. My SVA 3rd year film! Yes I've been doing Hell-cartoons this long haha!.
  22. Web site: Cruz. Larry. January 10, 2013. ZooPhobia: Fear of an animal planet. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210327195733/https://www.cbr.com/zoophobia-fear-of-an-animal-planet/. March 27, 2021. March 27, 2021. CBR.
  23. Web site: Short. Dan. October 5, 2020. ZooPhobia: Bad Luck Jack. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210120184811/https://animatedviews.com/2020/zoophobia-bad-luck-jack/. January 20, 2021. March 27, 2021. Animated Views.
  24. Web site: Voting. Ursa Major Awards. March 2, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210301150205/https://ursamajorawards.org/voting2020/. March 1, 2021. dead .
  25. Web site: dronon. Voting opens for the 2020 Ursa Major Awards. Flayrah. March 14, 2020. March 2, 2021. https://archive.today/20210302202119/https://www.flayrah.com/8291/voting-opens-2020-ursa-major-awards. March 2, 2021. live.
  26. Web site: O'Reily. Rod. The Ursa Major Awards for 2020. InFurNation . Flayrah. May 2, 2021. May 3, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210503132052/https://www.flayrah.com/8351/ursa-major-awards-2020. May 3, 2021. live.
  27. Web site: TheChainedWolf. Ursa Major Awards 2009: predictions and forlorn hopes. Furtean Times . Flayrah. March 14, 2020. March 2, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20201129073716/https://www.flayrah.com/3293/ursa-major-awards-2009-predictions-and-forlorn-hopes. November 29, 2020. live.
  28. Web site: Patten. Fred. Fred Patten. The Ursa Major Awards. Cartoon Research. July 21, 2013. March 2, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20150920162525/https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-ursa-major-awards/. September 20, 2015. live.
  29. Web site: Recommended Furry Art and Literature List. Ursa Major Awards. March 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210203232450/https://ursamajorawards.org/ReadList.htm. February 3, 2021. live.

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