Deaf Crocodile’s “Hayop Ka!” Blu-ray booklet review
Written by Matt Long
This booklet is included as part of Deaf Crocodile’s 2026 Blu-ray release of Hayop Ka! (2020).
Professionalism and production quality
This forty-eight page saddle-stitch booklet is part of Deaf Crocodile’s new (as of 2026) line of booklets coming with their standard releases instead of being exclusive to the limited deluxe editions. The font size and layout made the booklet easy to read, though the pages themselves are somewhat flimsy compared to the former booklets, but that trade off works fine for me. The images stand out in this one, likely because of the modern animation style translating well to the printed page. A very attractive booklet. I’ll note that the essays are not left aligned rather than fully justified like they usually are, which gave a different feel that I actually liked, feeling like it improved readability, but it’s odd that it’s not consistent with the other booklets.
Grade: A-
Text-to-image ratio
There are twenty-five pages with images and twenty-eight pages of text (not including the title on the cover). This booklet is somewhat stills-heavy, but the two essays included are substantive and given room to breathe, plus one of the sections of content is essentially an image gallery, so that justified the high number of images.
Deaf Crocodile’s Hayop Ka! slipcover, which was limited unlike the booklet, which this collector is thankful for.
Grade: B
Content
The first essay, by Rubert Bottenberg, is called “Watch the Fur Fly: The Headaches, Heartbreaks, and Hot Takes of Hayop Ka!” Bottenberg offers a playful, well-written analysis of the film that covers the film’s main themes along with essential background material about the production and the animation studio behind Hayop Ka!, Rocketsheep Studios. Bottenberg also covers how the film came out at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and was subsequently caught up in “cancel culture” due to one of the actors far-right political affiliations. This essay covers what makes the film special in a very simple and compelling style. It’s a great read.
The second essay is “Hayop Ka!” by Walter Chaw. It’s a denser read compared to the previous essay with Chaw going deeper into some of the films themes, specifically focusing on how the film conveys dualities through cats and dogs. Chaw has some stunning insights, with some quotes truly sticking out to me. It’s even somewhat confrontational about what some readers or viewers assumptions or biases might be about some story elements.
Finally, there are a few pages with “concept art from the upcoming Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah,” which is exciting to see included because of the art style, the inherent interest in seeing stills from an unreleased work, as well as the likelihood that this is teasing a future Deaf Crocodile title.
Grade: A-
Creativity
Apart from the preview of the new film, which earns it some points, it’s a well-written but rather standard booklet, especially with the Deaf Crocodile standard of having a Chaw contribution. But given this is a (as of writing) modern film of deceptive depth, the booklet didn’t necessarily need more than these two essays.
Grade: B+
Grade summary
Professional and production quality grade: A-
Text-to-image ratio grade: B
Content grade: A-
Creativity grade: B+
Final thoughts
Though I wish the essays were a little more distinct from one another, they’re both well-written with lots of insight. I loved the stills from a future film, which was a nice bonus. These new Deaf Crocodile booklets are quite nice so far, so I’m grateful they’ll remain available for future fans.
Overall grade: A-
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