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Directed by Written by Chracter created by Starring the voices of Presented by Unrated
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TOFU
THE VEGAN ZOMBIE:
The rise of the zombie genre over the course of the past few years has brought horror to an all time high, and zombies themselves are household names. We’ve seen the good (28 DAYS LATER, DIARY OF THE DEAD), the bad (the RESIDENT EVIL trilogy), and the ugly (HOUSE OF THE DEAD). We’ve seen some new variations of the old age genre such as faster zombies and even seen some video games (STUBBS THE ZOMBIE), but none are as quite unique and enjoyable as the short computer animated film ZOMBIE DEAREST starring Tofu, The Vegan Zombie. An homage to horror films of days past mixed in with the antics of Looney Tunes with a dash of social commentary and you get Tofu, a cute child zombie who has a piece of tofu for a brain, which curbs his appetite for eating flesh, eating organic foods instead. He is the creation of Professor Vost (voiced by Billy West and looking eerily similar to Peter Lorre) and lives in the Professor’s mansion with his goth daughter Addie and his favorite lab animal known as “Lab Monkey #5.” ZOMBIE DEAREST is according to Tofu’s website, the first of many short films on Tofu and if there is any indication, this should be an enjoyable series. Armed directly at the kids’ market but with enough to satisfy adults, ZOMBIE DEAREST is an eight minute short that does a well balanced job of introducing all the characters well. Tofu is introduced in a sly homage to Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING and wants to get into Professor Vost’s lab, but is stopped by the Professor himself. Curious, Tofu would like to go inside but the room is locked. Enter Lab Monkey #5 who allows Tofu in the room. Inside is Vost’s latest experiment, revitalizing his late wife Fiona. The two accidentally release the zombie, still with an appetite for brains, and she’s moving around the house, while Addie is on the first floor. The 3D animation is superb and extremely well drawn, with Tofu just adorable. The short is a comedy but has some moments of scares as well, primarily in the introduction to Lab Monkey #5 and when Fiona is let loose around the house. There’s a lot going on in its short run time, and its clip, now available on YouTube (here’s the link), goes by very fast. The voicework, though stellar, isn’t the key point of the short. Billy West voices both Professor Vost and Lab Monkey #5, and with his voice of Vost (along with the look), you would think that Peter Lorre himself returned from beyond to be in this short. It’s a terrific homage. There’s also a sweet nod to WALLACE & GROMIT in one scene. Ellen Muth provides the voice of Addie and also does very well here. Tofu is the creation of William Vaughn and special credit must be given to the animation team who helped create this short gem. The direction by Lee Stringer and script by both provide an enjoyable, old school approach to dark humor. The film doesn’t delve too much into Tofu’s origin but a link to Tofu’s official website gives you all you need, and the creation of Tofu is very clever. Its message of going vegan is also done very well here, going into insights on veganism without (no pun intended) shoving it down your throat, as most organizations (and people) do on you. In all, TOFU THE VEGAN ZOMBIE: ZOMBIE DEAREST was refreshing to watch; a unique short filled with satisfying homages to the horror genre of days past as well as some clever plot devices to give a whole new perspective of the zombie genre. Look out as I anticipate big things from Tofu in the future. I will certainly be paying attention. TOFU THE VEGAN ZOMBIE: ZOMBIE DEAREST: 5 Out Of 5 Maggots (Click here to view the movie!)
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