Deaf Crocodile’s “Toomorrow” booklet review
Written by Matt Long
A review of the booklet included as part of Deaf Crocodile’s Blu-ray release of Toomorrow, which was originally released (in an extremely limited run) in 1970. The physical booklet is included only with the limited edition deluxe pressing of this film.
The front cover of the booklet for Toomorrow, released by Deaf Crocodile in 2026.
Professionalism and production quality
The text and pictures throughout are well laid out, and the font size and leading make the text nicely readable, though some readers might want the font size to be just one point bigger. The pictures are all printed in high resolution. The cover of this perfect bound 60-page booklet features a fun cosmic still from the film on the front that continues and lightly becomes a collage on the back, matching Toomorrow’s goofy energy.
The booklet overall was well-edited, with nothing standing out as confusing. Overall, this is a strong, very professional booklet.
Grade: A-
Text-to-image ratio
There are 37 pages with images on them and 26 pages with text (not including the table of contents or cover), several sharing pages with one another. The photos are used well to punctuate the essays. For such an engaging and highly visual movie, this spread makes sense, but I would have preferred if possible another short essay or something more substantive than stills from the film were included.
Grade: B-
The slipcase of the Deaf Crocodile deluxe edition release.
Content
The booklet features two essays and a transcript of a Q+A moderated by Deaf Crocodile co-founder Dennis Bartok with director Val Guest. The first essay, “Val and Yo,” is also written by Bartok. He became friends with Guest and Yolande Donlan, Guest’s wife, in their later years, and this is a touching portrait of their friendship along with an interesting examination into how the film was made and then lost for so long. Guest’s remarkable career is characterized by how willing he was to try different things, which is demonstrated in Toomorrow, a co-production from then Bond film producer Harry Saltzman. Although decidedly past the age of the cast of characters in the film, he handled it with aplomb. The best part of the essay is understanding what it’s meant to Bartok to screen this film over the years and to now be able to release it on his label. He also recounts how he saw Guest on the day he died. That’s the definition of a story that only Bartok could tell. His affection for both Guest and Donlan (Val and Yo) is infectious and genuine, and this piece is a fitting way to share this tribute.
The second essay is an essay by Walter Chaw titled after the film. Chaw shares his affection for this film that he says filled him with nostalgia even though he didn’t see it until his fifties. That’s a great way to explain his feelings. Chaw zooms out further than the previous essay with a heavy focus on Olivia Newton-John played into the film. The essay also explores the role of musical numbers in the film, which is one of the main charms—I couldn’t get the theme song out of my head for days after watching.
Finally, there is a transcript of a Val Guest Q+A from September 20002 at the American Cinematheque, moderated by Bartok. I thought this was a lot of fun to include. Guest had just seen the film for the first time in 30 years, so being able to engage with an audience about the film was a genuinely new experience for Guest, who would have been 91 at the Q+A. Guest provides long answers that don’t repeat what we had already read in the other essays.
Grade: B+
Creativity
This was a nice package that was well-handled by the Deaf Crocodile team. It’s obviously a sentimental favourite of Bartok’s, so the choice of including his personal essay and their Q+A from nearly 25 years ago serves as a wonderful way to share why they are adding this film to the catalog. Chaw provides helpful context to the film and his writing is always interesting, but an essay from him alone won’t earn high marks for this category because he is part of every release.
Grade: B+
Grade summary
Professional and production quality grade: A-
Text-to-image ratio grade: B-
Content grade: B+
Creativity grade: B+
Final thoughts
Similar to the film, I had a good time with this booklet and plan to return to it even if it might not be a masterpiece of the form. The limited edition is now sold out, but Deaf Crocodile has been adding PDFs of their out of print booklets to their website, so watch out for that.
Overall grade: B+
The Toomorrow limited edition is sold out from Deaf Crocodile but may still be available at your favourite independent retailers, including Rough Cut Video or Peak Books in Canada. A standard edition (without the booklet) is available as well.
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