The film is part of the 2012 solo exhibition devoted to the oeuvre of the animation duo at New York's Museum of Modern Art, presented along with their elaborate sets, puppets, sketches, graphic designs used by the brothers in their films and rare moving image works, coupled with a film retrospective.
The exhibition, on between the 18th of August 2012 - 7th of January 2012, is an attempt, perhaps, to reclaim the brothers as American artists after more than 30 years of cinematic activity and inspiration in Europe, particularly with regard to the masters of Polish literature - Bruno Schulz and Stanisław Lem - and puppet animators - Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Svankmajer. Crocodile Street is inspired by the collection of short stories by Bruno Schulz of the same title, said to be inspired by Schulz's own childhood and upbringing, however the flourish of the pen brings about a dreamlike vision of reality, using metaphor and colourful language to blur the line between life and death, the real and the imaginary in a time of impending onslaught of fascism. The short film by the Quay Brothers was selected by director and animator Terry Gilliam as one of the ten best animated films of all time.