Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kickstarter, plush, toys, zombies

"I Love Zombies". But Even More When They Are Plush Animal Zombies.

Published Sun, 08 Sep 2013 09:00:27 -0500

Ashley Yeates writes;

My names Ash, and I love zombies. I know what you're thinking, "he's stuck in 2005", but truth be told zombies are still alive and kicking. Well, dead and biting, and given we have a relatively long and unknown future ahead of us, who knows, maybe one day there could be some minor-realism behind the zombies phenomena! One only need watch Jeremy Kyle to realise how scarily close we are!

I also love animals – not just cute ones though! Animals don't have to make me go "awww" or perform tricks to validate themselves (granted, it helps) – mammals and crustaceans alike get my attention but for many species the future looks bleak. Some might even suggest that in the future, the only Elephants or Sharks we might have are tusk-less and fin-less zombies; see what I did there? I combined two of my passions! I also like pizza and ice-cream, but thankfully I've managed to avoid creating a chocolate chip cookie dough, ham & pineapple slice.

So what would the World be like without many of our finest creatures, and just zombie versions in their place?

I'm glad you asked because that's where my Animazomb plushies come in – the only problem is, they're pretty damn cute instead of horrifying and zombie-like, but never-mind! Crafted with love, my Animazombs are possibly the best thing to ever happen to the World – that's a bold claim, sure – but think about it? No seriously, take a moment to think about it…

And when you have an answer to that statement, e-mail me or post it on the Animazombs Facebook page and I'll update this article – I may have gotten carried away, sorry.

In all honesty, the Animazombs were not borne out of a desire to stop them from being poached from existence or to stop them being de-finned and discarded back into the oceans to die, even though this is something which I would certainly fight for, but since starting my Kickstarter campaign, many people have come to me and said how great the message is behind the Animazombs, and that perhaps the future is, at best, zombified animals or no animals. When you think about it, the message is quite clear – and whilst the Animazombs are perfectly happy as they are (you've seen Thom dancing, right?) it does make you think. Since starting my campaign, I've discovered that within 10 years it's highly likely that we may never see a wild Elephant again? That mantelpiece ivory sculpture doesn't quite seem as attractive now… oh, and although I've not tried it myself, I've been told that Shark fin soup is extremely bland and tasteless; perhaps we could try salt and pepper as a seasoning instead.

With all this in mind, why not enjoy zombie animals in the cute plush form of the Animazombs – they seriously are cute – and if you feel the need to remove their brains or guts, go wild, that's what they're there for! But also, why not take two moments to see what you can do to help ensure the survival of our animals – it's easier than you think.

As a side-note, the Animazombs have become much more to me that just a fun product of things I love. I'm now trying to talk to WWF and other related organisations to see how the Animazombs can help promote awareness in any way at all – someone has even suggested taking the mascots on a school travelling show to show children what their future could be like if attitudes don't change. If my giant Animazombs costumes don't engage children, I don't know what will…