Zootopia (2016)

Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrance, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira

Screenplay: Jared Bush, Phil Johnston

108 mins. Rated PG for some thematic elements, rude humor and action.

• Academy Award Nominee: Best Animated Feature of the Year [Pending]

IMDb Top 250: #183 (as of 8/6/2016)

 

You want proof that miracles can happen? Look no further than this year’s Zootopia.

Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin, TV’s Big Love, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Never Beast) grew up being told by just about everyone that she wasn’t fit to be who she wanted to be: a police officer in the big city of Zootopia. But she proves them all wrong. When she gets to Zootopia, however, she discovers that it’s going to take a lot of hard work to prove herself. Then, she comes across a dangerous mystery involving animal members of the society going stark-raving mad, so Judy enlists the help of con-fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman, Horrible Bosses, Central Intelligence) to help her discover who or what is responsible.

Let’s just discuss the problems that Zootopia faced. After Disney/Pixar faced issues with both Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur as far as production went, they immediately went into a film like Zootopia that faced major backlash after the initial test screenings. The original version focused almost entirely on Nick Wilde, who became downright unlikable. The entire film was overhauled in favor of Judy Hopps. Then, the decision to bring in so many heavy issues like Race and Class discrimination. Zootopia should’ve failed.

But it didn’t. Zootopia is a rare animated film that has major appeal for both children and parents (and no, I’m not just referring to the strange Breaking Bad reference). It puts together an interesting case for the heroes to solve, but Zootopia also faces issues like racial discrimination and class treatment head-on, as well as issues of assumed gender roles. In the film, Judy experiences discrimination from Chief Bogo (Idris Elba, Pacific Rim, Star Trek Beyond) over her appearance. The world treats Judy that she was born a bunny, so her place is on the farm. The major themes of Zootopia may be simple (Don’t judge a book by its cover), but its underlying subtext is real heavy.

And that’s fine. The adult material is easily related to viewers of all ages. And the kids get something out of all this too. They see a funny little scene involving sloths. We as adults see a hilarious satire of the DMV (you know the scene). It works so well on multiple levels.

Now, Zootopia isn’t perfect. It runs on a little too long and doesn’t have all that rewatchability that most Disney films have, but these are minor issues overall.

The fact of the matter is that Zootopia is a gorgeously animated film that surpassed all of my expectations. It will easily be on the roster of best animated films for this year. If you haven’t seen it yet, this film comes highly recommended.

 

4/5

-Kyle A. Goethe