Filipinos urged their fellow Pinoys to watch the first Filipino animated film for mature audiences on Netflix as it premiered on Thursday to support the local animation industry.
Avid Liongoren‘s “Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story” dropped on the streaming giant on October 29, a few days before Halloween.
The animated film is produced by Rocketsheep Studio and Spring Films, Piolo Pascual’s production company which produced “Kita Kita.”
Rocketsheep, meanwhile, is the studio behind “Saving Sally,” a Filipino film that mixed live-action with 2D animation.
“Hayop Ka” tells the story of a salescat caught in a love triangle with her mongrel boyfriend and a bourgeoisie business dog.
It is a romantic-comedy with a refreshing look at societal expectations, personal aspirations and the classic love triangle.
The animated film stars Angelica Panganiban as the voice of Nimfa, the salescat working in a department store, Robin Padilla as Roger, Nimfa’s macho boyfriend working as a janitor and Sam Milby as Iñigo, the high-society dog whom Nimfa meets.
It is also the first animated movie from the country that will be available across Asia in Filipino or English or “Taglish” as “You Animal!”
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Meanwhile, fans are sharing their comments on the film as it begins to stream on Netflix.
“Everyone moots… hope you can watch an all Filipino-made animated film titled ‘Hayop Ka’ in Netflix… it was 3 yrs in the making… thank you!” a Twitter user wrote.
“WATCH THE FILM FOR THE FILIPINO ANIMATORS THAT WORKED ON IT. Don’t let this down. The PH animation industry needs you more than ever. Support them,” another online user tweeted.
“Just saw ‘Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story’ on Netflix. Ang saya! Watch it y’all!” a different Twitter user wrote.
An artist who claimed to have worked on the animated film likewise urged her fellow Pinoys to support the movie.
“I’m so grateful to be a part of this project. Please watch it!!! SUPPORT FILIPINO ANIMATION,” she wrote with starry-eyed emojis.
“Hayop Ka,” according to the director, took over three years to develop.
He also dedicated it to Filipino animators.
“While our main goal is to elicit a few laughs, our advocacy is to encourage local animation production. In the global animation industry, the Philippines is a go-to nation for outsourcing animation services. We are home to thousands of talented animators but sadly, we are not known for ideating and producing our own work,” Liongoren shared.
“There have been less than 10 animated feature films in the entire 100-year history of Philippine cinema, and we want to continue adding to that, while also hoping that little by little, someday Filipino animators can be known as not just service providers, but creators as well,” he added.
