Deaf Crocodile

[MichaelB]

I gather the reason is that they're disproportionately expensive to manufacture on a per-unit basis and this is a business in which margins are inexorably tightening all the time. And Deaf Crocodile is already operating within decidedly niche territory in terms of what they release.

See also the fact that they're being very selective about what they put out on 4K UHD (which also sends the per-unit manufacturing costs sky-high), although happily that still includes the likes of Krakatit. Whoever would have predicted the first UHD release of a Czechoslovak film to be of an obscure Otakar Vávra film from the late 1940s rather than something far more obvious from a couple of decades later?

[Adam X]

I mean, the change being made for reasons of expense seemed pretty self-evident, even if certain members of that other forum are unable to accept that (even after a detailed post from someone involved in making the decision). The increased move toward custom packaging and sales gimicks in recent years feels very much like the comic book industry in the ‘90’s before its bubble collapsed. Scaling things back right now feels like the only sensible decision if you’re interested in maintaining a label long term.

[pzadvance]

Deaf Crocodile have added an OOP Booklets section where you can download PDFs of several limited edition booklets

[MichaelB]

Happy to confirm that you don't have to be resident in North America to take advantage.

[ianthemovie]

Does anyone know which one of the DEFA fairy tale films features the cat pictured next to a bucket on the front cover of the case (not the slipcover)?

[TechnicolorAcid]

Does anyone know which one of the DEFA fairy tale films features the cat pictured next to a bucket on the front cover of the case (not the slipcover)?

Mother Holly

[ianthemovie]

Thank you!

[TechnicolorAcid]

Demigod: The Legend Begins

"My friend, I'm not sure if you're pulling me into the abyss or helping me," muses white-maned hero Su Huan-Jen as he confronts a spectacular mystery filled with occult manuscripts, palace betrayals, kaiju-like Qilin monsters, incredibly-choreographed wuxia sword battles – all performed by puppets – in the struggle to control the Five Mountains and obtain the Limitless Celestial Book.

Twenty years after directing the epic LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE (also released by Deaf Crocodile) and building on the long-running “PILI” TV show in Taiwan, director Chris Huang returned with this amazing fusion of traditional budaixi glove puppetry, wuxia martial arts storytelling ala CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and wildly imaginative fantasy filmmaking in the vein of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER and THE DARK CRYSTAL.

The serpentine plot revolves around the murder of the Lord of Globe Castle and Huan-Jen’s quest to prove his innocence and unmask the killer, and involves (we kid you not) secrets like the Needle of Roaring Snow (a mystic power summoned by acupuncture!), puppets perspiring and spurting blood, the Seven Words Poison, lovable con men named Shark Qin and Three Dots, and priceless dialogue like "Dumbass! You betrayed my teachings for a book!" and "Why would Evil Brink attack the Fantastic Academy??" In other words, a pure joy from start to finish for fantasy and wuxia martial arts fans! With voice performances by Vincent Huang. In Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles.

Special Features:
• Pt. 2 of a new video interview with director Chris Huang (Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles)
• New audio commentary by puppeteer & filmmaker Ben Wolf Page, Associate Editor of The Puppetry Journal for the Puppeteers of America
• "Innovation Within Tradition: How Pili and Demigod Synthesize Millenia of History" - new visual essay by film historian Evan Chester (17 min.)
• Original trailer and 6 making-of featurettes (21 min. with English subtitles)
• Trailers for the PILI TV series “PILI FANTASY: War of Dragons” (2019) “PILI FANTASY: Doom of Dragons” (2020) and “PILI FANTASY – Doom of Dragons II” (2022)
• Blu-ray authoring by Vital Passenger
• New art by Beth Morris

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:
• Slipcase featuring new artwork by Richard Cox
• 60-page illustrated booklet
• New essay by Fantasia Festival programmer Rupert Bottenberg
• New essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)

Hayop Ka!

From one of the most inventive and irreverent voices in Filipino and World Animation, director Avid Liongoren (SAVING SALLY, the upcoming ZSA ZSA ZATURNNAH), the utterly delightful HAYOP KA! is inspired by the beloved telenovela genre of romance melodramas. Nimfa (voiced by Angelica Panganiban) is a perfume saleswoman kitty in Manila, who receives a prediction from a fortune teller that she’ll fall in love with two men (er, dogs) simultaneously. One is her long-time boyfriend, likable but unambitious canine janitor Roger (voiced by Robin Padilla). The second turns out to be high-powered top dog (literally) executive Iñigo (voiced by Sam Milby), who sweeps her off her paws and forces her to ask what’s more important: True Love, or Wild Hot Sex + Lots of Bling?

Featuring an irresistible style that’s both retro and Cartoon Network modern, HAYOP KA! (which roughly translates as “You are an animal!”) is one of the few Filipino animated films both made in the Philippines and about its life and culture. The Philippines has long been an animation powerhouse, but primarily churning out product for US and Japanese producers - until the arrival of a new generation of animators led by Liongoren’s Rocketsheep Studio and films like HAYOP KA! In Filipino with English subtitles.

Special Features
• 48-page illustrated booklet featuring new essays by film critic Walter Chaw and Fantasia Festival programmer Rupert Bottenberg
• New audio commentary by filmmaker Avid Liongoren and co-writer/co-producer Manny Angeles
• New visual essay by film historian Celeste de la Cabra
• New video interview with filmmaker Avid Liongoren
• 6 short films by Avid Liongoren: “Robuboy,” “Momo,” “Muning,” “Josephine,” “Our Forgotten Friends” and “Jepoy” (2011-2018)
• Teaser trailer for Rocketsheep Studios’ new animated film ZSA ZSA ZATURNNAH and rare concept artwork
• Original trailer
• Blu-ray authoring by Vital Passenger
• New art by Beth Morris

[Captain Paranoia]

Deaf Crocodile have added an OOP Booklets section where you can download PDFs of several limited edition booklets

Talk about what is exactly something I long wished labels would do. I propose a petition for the likes of Arrow, Indicator, Eureka, Radiance, you name it, to follow suit.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Deaf Crocodile is kickstarting their own video store

[TechnicolorAcid]

Felidae is an absolutely filthy noir dressed up in the clothes of light cartoon animation (do not show this to your kids!) Unfortunately, once the shock of its sexual content and violence wears off, there's not too much to chew on here - intriguing characters are introduced and discarded way too quickly, and the ones that stick around are bores or boars or both. I really wanted to like this, but if you're going to take yourself this seriously (totally appropriate on the genre front), you should back it up with a more interesting narrative trajectory

I decided to give this one a revisit and I’m curious to know what others think about this but (and I thank my prior experience with the English dub for making me understand this more on a second viewing) I think this is less of a noir than it is just a straight-faced cat riff on the Giallo film, from the DIY detective tossed into the almost incoherent plot to the various characters introduced before almost immediately getting discarded to the emphasis of sex & violence to the obvious red herring serving as a distraction from a twist villain to the emphasis of style & atmosphere over story feeling more in line with Giallo than noir, not to mention the fact that cats are essentially THE animal of the Giallo film. And I mention this because I think that does excuse a lot of the shortcomings that the film has, especially in how scattershot and unengaged the film is with its central mystery and why a lot of the interesting characters keep just being dropped, simply because that’s what Giallos love to do (at least in my experience with that subgenre) and it overall allowed me to have a lot more fun with the film, even if I still think it never reaches any of the greatness of the genre it’s emulating.