Film Review: "Zootopia"

Christian Burns
For The Clock
cab1031@plymouth.edu

What would happen if animals lived like humans? It’s not really a new idea.

Animals with human characteristics living in human-like societies can be traced back to several different mythologies. They are prevalent throughout our common cultural consciousness, ranging from the White Rabbit in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” to Moley, Ratty, and Mister Toad in “The Wind in the Willows,” to the many animals in George Orwell’s sociological examination, “Animal Farm.” We have often used animals to reflect our own experiences as a species.

The most recent example of this is Disney’s newest film, “Zootopia.” Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), a rabbit, always wanted to be a police officer in the great animal city of Zootopia. But every step of the way, she is told that small animals like rabbits cannot become real police officers. Despite this, she succeeds and becomes the first rabbit police officer, only to be constantly marginalized by her peers and boss, an African buffalo named Bogo (Idris Elba).

When animals start disappearing in Zootopia, Judy takes it upon herself to solve the case. To aid her, she recruits a con artist fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to aid in her investigation. Despite being natural enemies, the two work together to try and solve this mystery.

The actors do an admirable job in bringing these animated characters to life, but they aren’t really the stars of the show. The star of the show is Zootopia itself. Divided into several districts based on habitat type, the world of Zootopia is amazingly innovative and unique. Gigantic engines siphon heat from Tundra Town, where the arctic animals live, into Sahara Square, a huge desert district covered in sand.

That type of ingenuity is seen throughout the movie, and makes the movie constantly interesting to the viewer. The main portion of Zootopia seen in the movie is the urban portion, which at first appears to be a generic city, but still shows huge amounts of ingenuity. The setting allows many fun jokes and situations, as well as several animal puns (“Preyda” instead of “Prada”, for example). The setting is, quite simply, one of the best parts of the film.

That said, the rest of the film is nothing to shrug at either. The acting is well done, which isn’t unusual for a Disney animated film. The writing manages to aim towards adults and kids in its complexity, and the plot’s extremely mature tones will resonate with all audiences. Which bring us to the elephant in the room. Literally.

Disney has always reflected the world around, as well as its changes “Snow White” (1938) was injected with women’s roles at the time. Her only actions during the film consist of cleaning, cooking, running away, and eating an apple. “Mulan” (1997), on the other hand, joined the army, and became one of its best warriors, shunning the roles placed upon her by society.

Most recently, “Frozen” (2013) turned the Disney princess stereotype on its head. In a similar way, “Dumbo” (1941) showed African Americans as either laborers (via the circus roustabouts) or entertainers (in the form of the infamous crows).

While this view certainly evolved throughout Disney’s various projects, race relations had not truly been addressed in a blunt, outright fashion… until “Zootopia.”

Yes, portrayals of race have vastly changed for the better throughout Disney’s history, but societal and institutional racism has never truly been addressed. “Zootopia,” however, has institutional prejudice and racism as a main underlying plot point.

The movie does so very well, especially in light of recent current events. Said events in our society are likely partially responsible for this movie’s existence as it is.

Unlike nearly every movie before it, “Zootopia” actually seeks to address underlying sociocultural trends directly, rather than simply being a product of those trends. But despite this, the movie manages not to come off as too “preachy.” It manages to creatively blend this commentary with a good story, a compelling mystery, and excellent characters and development.

While it may occasionally be too frightening for younger children, this movie is one of the best movies in Disney’s recent release lineup, and is highly recommended for all ages. As Shakira sings in the movie’s extremely catchy theme song, “Zootopia” reminds us all that we should “try everything.”

COURTESY PHOTO