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Hayop Ka!
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Wikipedia article
'Hayop Ka!' (, a profanity meaning "'you animal!"' in English), also known as 'Hayop Ka! (You animal!)', 'Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story', and 'You Animal!', is a 2020 Philippine adult animated romantic comedy film directed by Avid Liongoren. It features a voice cast topbilled by Angelica Panganiban, Robin Padilla, and Sam Milby. Panganiban voices Nimfa, an anthropomorphic feline who works as a perfume salesperson and whose boyfriend, a mongrel named Roger (Padilla), is employed as a janitor. When Nimfa meets Iigo (Milby), a wealthy dog with a career as a high-profile entrepreneur, she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle.
Produced by Rocketsheep Studio and Spring Films, the film was released on October 29, 2020 on Netflix in select territories. The film receives generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its humor, animation, and voice work, but criticism for its runtime and unusual plot.
'Hayop Ka!' was announced as an official selection for main competition at the 2021 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. CNN Philippines and director Avid, announced that film's sequel is in development, naming it 'Hayop Ka Din!'
Plot
In Manila, a feline named Nimfa Dimaano visits Manghuhula, an octopus fortune teller who divines that Nimfa will fall in love with two men at the same time, as well as have wild sex in the future. Nimfa works as a perfume salesperson at a mall department store, and is dating a muscular mongrel named Roger Europeo, a janitor who lives with Nimfa and frequently has sex with her. That night, Nimfa and Roger eat stew at a kiosk that they frequently visit. Roger casually proposes marriage to Nimfa and she declines, noting their lack of money. He suggests that Nimfa, who pays for their rent, stop paying for her sister Linda's school tuition, but she refuses, saying that she does not want her sister to be a dropout like she was.
While selling perfume at work one day, Nimfa is approached by Iigo Villanueva, a wealthy dog with a career as a high-profile entrepreneur but also a secret sex addict. Nimfa helps Iigo pick out a luxury perfume to give to his mother as a gift for her birthday. Iigo suggests that he and Nimfa go out on a date, and gives her his business card. After work, Nimfa finds herself irritated by Roger, and rejects his sexual advances that night. At Iigo's mother's birthday dinner, Iigo gives her the present, which she unwraps to find a cheap cologne. Realizing that Nimfa gave him the wrong item, Iigo finds Nimfa on social media and messages her about the mistake while she's in bed with Roger. They arrange to meet and have the cologne returned, and after doing so, Iigo drives Nimfa home.
For their anniversary, Roger takes Nimfa to the stew kiosk. Nimfa ignores her meal, instead texting flirtatiously with Iigo; the attention she gives to her phone causes Roger to feel suspicious. Later, Iigo visits Nimfa at her job to pick up the correct perfume. He is accompanied by a hot female poodle named Marie, which makes Nimfa jealous. Iigo senses Nimfa's jealousy, and discovers he is in love with both women. Despite this, he texts Nimfa again that night, telling her Marie is just a good friend, and invites her to go on a little trip with him the next day, which she reluctantly accepts. However, after Iigo finishes with her, he joins Marie for champagne in his hot tub.
The next day, Iigo brings Nimfa to a lavish seaside property in Batangas, wanting her to be his secretary for the day. Nimfa becomes so enticed by Iigo, she even gets a nosebleed when he reaches across to buckle her seat belt, thinking he's trying to grope her breasts. When he insists that she spend the night, Nimfa calls her friend, a rabbit named Jhermelyn, and asks her to tell Roger that she is staying with her that night. After dinner, Nimfa walks in on a shrine of Iigo's most recent girlfriend, Irene, who dumped him after he had an affair with Marie. Nimfa starts to reconsider her feelings towards Iigo, but after she walks in on him while he's showering, the two become aroused by seeing each other naked and end up having sex.
The following day, Iigo flies with Nimfa back to Manila in a helicopter. They visit Iigo's mother and give her the correct perfume, and Iigo drives Nimfa back home. Roger angrily confronts Nimfa for cheating on him, as Jhermelyn told him that Nimfa was not with her the previous night. Nimfa kicks Roger out of the house, feeling that making love to her is all he cares about. The day after, Nimfa arranges to meet Iigo at the high-rise building where he works. Roger appears and pummels Iigo's car, believing Iigo to be inside it. In reality, Iigo's valet, a frog named Jerry, was the only one in the vehicle. Roger is placed in a prison cell, and Nimfa arranges for him to be released. She then visits Jerry, who was brought to a hospital.
Nimfa travels to the countryside for an unannounced visit with her sister Linda and their mother. There, she discovers that Linda has not been going to school at all, and is instead raising a baby with her partner Ramil. Upset at both the lies and the fact that her sister followed her path, Nimfa abandons her family, returns to Batangas with Iigo, and sleeps with him again. Feeling nauseous the next morning, Nimfa checks in at a hospital and learns that she is nine weeks pregnant. As her affair with Iigo lasted for only three weeks, she realizes that Roger is the baby's father. She visits Jhermelyn and is stunned to see Roger coming out of Jhermelyn's shower, indicating they are sleeping together. After calling a radio show to talk about her problems, Nimfa visits Iigo's building. Upon seeing him making out with Marie, she and her get into a fierce fight which Nimfa wins. When Iigo suggests they both can share him, she promptly rejects and mercilessly knocks him out of a window.
After leaving the building, a recovered Jerry sees Nimfa and takes her to the stew kiosk for a meal. Some time later, Nimfa gives birth to her illegitimate offspring, and opens up her own sari-sari store.
Voice cast
* Angelica Panganiban as Nimfarella "Nimfa" Dimaano, a cat who works as a perfume salesperson
* Robin Padilla as Roger Europeo, a muscular mongrel who works as a janitor, and Nimfa's boyfriend
* Sam Milby as Iigo Villanueva, a wealthy dog with a career as a high-profile entrepreneur
* Empoy Marquez as Jerry, a frog that works as a valet for Iigo
* Arci Muoz as Jhermelyn, a rabbit who is Nimfa's best friend
* Piolo Pascual as Papa George, an ox who is a DJ that gives love advice on his radio show
* Eugene Domingo as Manghuhula, an elderly octopus fortune teller
* Yeng Constantino as Linda, Nimfa's sister
* Moira dela Torre as Iigo's Sister, also a wealthy female dog
* Joyce Bernal
* Claudia Enriquez
* Juliene Mendoza as Marie, a poodle
Production
'Hayop Ka!' marks their first adult animated film produced in the Philippines according to Liongoren, it was first conceptualized after the production of the film 'Saving Sally', serving as its "thematic opposite." He also said that it took three years to produce 'Hayop Ka!', and described it as "light and comical". Avid Liongoren, the director of the animation, stated the hope for creating a "Filipino style when it comes to cartoons" and noted that the Philippines has a huge animation industry "that does work for foreign projects." He also hoped it encourages "more local productions" and work for Pinoy animators.
Release
On September 21, 2020, Netflix announced that the film is set to be released on October 29.
Reception
Pre-release
In September 2020, 'Hayop Ka!' garnered a mixed reception from netizens. Some demanded that Netflix recast Robin Padilla, who voices Roger in the film, due to Padilla's support of Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte; however, others urged the general public to support the film by watching it for the sake of the Filipino animators and filmmakers behind the project.Post-release
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 8 reviews. Chris Sawin of Hub Pages gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "'Hayop Ka!' is this unusual yet entertaining animated film driven by a sexual frenzy with an insatiable appetite. The film is a romantic smorgasbord of lust with a final act that is smashed between a triple cheeseburger of twists."Oggs Cruz of Rappler gave a mixed review and wrote "'Hayop Ka!' is mostly bark, and barely any bites. Its sure to give those who want their entertainment laced with skin-deep novelty a jolly good time. However, theres hardly anything underneath its bawdiness and boisterous gags."
Awards
'Hayop Ka!' was nominated for a Ursa Major Award in the Best Motion Picture category. The Ursa Major awards are given in the field of furry fandom works and are the main awards in the field of anthropomorphism.In 2021, Hayop Ka! was announced that subsequently screened at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, where it was nominate Best Feature Film but lost to 'Flee'.
Cultural References and Easter Eggs
* When Nimfa is talking to Roger inside the police station, there is a poster (possibly a wanted or a missing poster) of Pepe the Frog, which is a popular internet meme.
** There is also a written text in the wall below behind Roger in his prison cell, that says "JoJo X Erina", which is a ship reference regarding Jonathan Joestar and Erina Pendleton.
* When Iigo Villanueva and Riri are having a conversation about his tesla helicopter, they mentioned the CEO, "Eelon Mask", which is a parody of Elon Musk.
* When Roger and Nimfa are talking on their rooftop, there is a billboard that says "SUB 2 PDP", which is a reference to the fellow YouTuber, PewDiePie. The billboard's background is also PewDiePie's pattern.
*When Iigo is searching for Nimfa's Facebook, there is a recent post by "Mark Zuckerbird", which is a parody of Mark Zuckerberg. In here, Mark Zuckerbird is a anthropomorphic bird.
* When Nimfa and Jerry are having a conversation in the pares stall restaurant, there are 2 posters behind her of Giorno Giovanna (as a yellow dog) and Josuke Higashikata (as a brown dog), indicating the famous, JoJo reference.
* When Nimfa and Roger are at the pares stall restaurant, at the beginning, there is a likely computer shop in the background that has sign above that says "Porknite", which is a pun of "Pork" and the online game, "Fortnite".
* The pares restaurant also has few gas tanks under the counter, with a symbol resembling a poop, which below says "Mootoot", which is a obvious pun of "Utot", which is Filipino for "Fart". This reference is clearly a toilet humour joke.
References
Buy Hayop Ka! now from Amazon
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