Planet Zoo

Are you a fan of animals? You are? Good. Then you’ll love what Planet Zoo can offer. A whole zoo just for you, and it’s up to you to build it. It’s the ultimate zoo simulator that offers the freedom of a sandbox mode with a dash of clever strategy throughout.

And it’s not like it’s my first time that I’ve written about our furry friends. Garfield, the grumpy, lazy cat was a great topic to write about, and so was Scart from the Ice Age franchise. Seriously, both Scrat and Garfield are some of my favorite characters ever. So if you’re a fan of them as well, I’ll link those posts again for you.

But what’s with the game? What does it entail? What’s so special about it?

What’s Planet Zoo All About?

Well, firstly let me mention that aside from the base Planet Zoo game we do have plenty of other content to pick and choose from. We have Planet Zoo Australia Pack, Planet Zoo South America Pack, Planet Zoo Arctic Pack and of course the Deluxe edition. Most of them are currently on sale here at IndieGala, so hop in.

Developed and published by Frontier Developments, Planet Zoo is an intriguing zoo sim game that allows you to create unique habitats and vast landscapes. You also get to nurture your animals as you construct and manage the world’s wildest zoos. Planet Zoo’s powerful piece-by-piece construction tools let you effortlessly make your zoo unique. Not to mention it offers you a chance to meet the wildest and colorful animals out there.

You can build a zoo, with 68 species in the base game, and 12 new species becoming available through three separate DLC packs. From playful lion cubs to mighty elephants. Every animal in Planet Zoo is an individual with a distinctive look and personality of their own. Nurture those animals and reap the awards.

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Planet Zoo And Some Awesome Zoo Movies

However, are there some good movies that feature the zoos? Well, you’d be surprised but there are. Several in fact and they’re more or less contemporary. What I mean is that they’re not 5-6 decades old. Every single one of the movies on this list was made in the past decade. Which movies I’m including in this post? Scroll down to find out.

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Zoo

Indeed. Every single one of the movies on this list has the word Zoo in the title. And 2017’s Irish movie Zoo is no exception. Surprisingly most of them are based (or inspired) on real-life events. But Zoo, it’s probably the most charming one of all. Set in Belfast during WW2, it’s a movie about the salvation of the newest addition in the Belfast zoo.

The elephant by the name of Buster. The group of unlikely allies will hide and save Buster from certain death. And in the most unlikely places too. But this is a fantastic movie. It will make you laugh and cry at the same time, and you’ll be charmed by this lovely and selfless act centered in the middle of the story. It goes without saying, but you’ll love this film if you’re already a lover of animals. It’s heart-warming and charming, and I highly recommend it.

Zookeeper’s Wife

Similar time period, and similar plot development. However set in different countries. But Zookeeper’s Wife really does tell a similar story, however with very different people. It’s a story about Jan and Antonina Żabiński. A couple who rescued hundreds of Polish Jews during World War II just by hiding them in their Warsaw zoo. The movie is a bit slow and rather depressing but I guess that comes with the nature of the plot.

However, the narrative is focused more on the Jews, the owners of the zoo and of course on the horrors of the Nazi regime. Rather than on the animals, but I really liked this movie nonetheless. And of course, Daniel Bruhl once again shines, even in another Nazi role. A lot less generic and one-dimensional but still. The man cannot escape the Nazi typecasting, I’m sad to say. But it’s a perfectly decent movie, although it barely scratches the surface not just of the actual events, but on the entire war. It felt a bit too formulaic, but I suppose it’s understandable since it’s coming from Hollywood. You almost expect it to be.

Secret Zoo

Moving away from Hollywood and I’m transferring to South Korea for this particular movie. And Secret Zoo it’s just about that. A secret Zoo. Let me explain. It’s also about Kang Tae-soo (played by Jae-hong Ahn). He’s a temp at a law firm, and early on he will be forced to run a failing zoo, for a couple of months.

To get permanent employment in the firm of course. However there are no animals in the zoo, no money to buy them, and he will just have to make them. Kinda like Build A Bear but with tigers, giraffes and lions. Secret Zoo is a hilarious movie that I discovered at the start of this year, and I loved it. However, a warning is in order: Find yourself decent subtitles for this one. The ones I found were not that good, so a good portion of the jokes and dialogue flew by me without even noticing them. But it’s a good movie nonetheless.

We Bought A Zoo

And I’m back to Hollywood. And with the oldest movie on this list. Another movie inspired by real-life events, but this time with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in the lead roles. Damon plays Benjamin Mee. A widower with two small children who buys a zoo. OK, a house that comes with a zoo, but still. A zoo. I never knew that you can own exotic pets (let alone zoo) but after watching Tiger King for exactly 1 episode, I know that it’s possible. But, I never understood the bad rep that this movie got back in 2011. It’s not that bad.

It’s both a family drama and cinematic adventure at the same time. Not to mention, it’s a visually stunning movie with fairly decent acting from Damon and Johansson. Although I can’t still picture these two romantically, they work here to a certain degree. Also, there are no fireworks in their chemistry repartee but their charisma makes up for the lack of… well everything else. I might even stipulate that it’s Cameron Crowe’s last decent movie. But I know I will get a lot of flack for that.

Planet Zoo: Tell Us Your Picks

Which are some of your picks? Tell us about your favorite movies that involve zoo’s Which are they? We’d love to know.

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