One of the things that Walt Disney Pictures is known for is filling their films with anthropomorphic characters and creating entire worlds that are populated only with animals. However, in the past few years, Disney has mainly been focusing on telling stories with human [or human-like] characters (i.e. "Tangled", "Wreck-It Ralph", "Frozen", "Big Hero 6") so seeing them going back to their roots was very charming. We all saw the hilarious teaser trailer right before "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" involving two of the main characters entering a DMV run by sloths. Judging by that teaser and the following trailers that were released shortly after, "Zootopia" seemed like an innocently simple film that mainly kids will enjoy. But will the parents like it as much?
"Zootopia" stars the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Tommy Chong, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate, and Shakira, and is directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore [and co-directed by Jared Bush]. The film takes place in a fictional world populated by anthropomorphic mammals as a young rabbit, Judy Hopps, becomes the first of her kind to be a police officer. After graduating at the top of her class, she heads over to Zootopia, a New-York-esque city where predator and prey supposedly get along, to join the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD). Once there, she realizes that she may have bitten off more than she can chew and, in an attempt to prove herself, takes on a case involving a missing mammal, along with a reluctant partner. Thankfully, "Zootopia", by far, is the best [non-Pixar] Disney film produced in recent years. Not only is it irresistibly cute and charming, the film is satirical, deep, warm hearted and [for the most part] successfully teaches children concepts that are very important in our modern society.
Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman (Officer Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde) are both instantly charming, likable and funny as the two main leads. With Goodwin playing the good natured, determined bunny and Bateman playing the cynical, wise cracking fox, the two have excellent chemistry and thankfully don't fall into the typical Disney cliche of falling in love or having any romantically charged scenes together. Bateman's voice work as Nick Wilde was especially sharp and memorable, making his character one of the best aspects of the film. Without giving too much away, there are several emotion scenes that really do pull at your heart strings and provide these two characters with much more depth than most Disney characters. Although these two are not game-changing or iconic individuals, they are always cute and always engrossing.
With an out-there concept like a world filled with anthropomorphic mammals, you would expect many interestingly colorful characters and "Zootopia" is filled with them. With actors like Idris Elba and J.K. Simmons voicing some of the character, you can expect some very funny and memorable supporting characters scattered across the film.
However, it does disappoint me that a film called "Zootopia", mixing the words "zoo" and "utopia", doesn't have more unique or creative animal choices. The animals that we see in the film are the kind of the animals that you see in children coloring books. Exotic animals that look and feel more creative and distinguished are not present here, which is a great loss. The animal world is filled with amazing creatures and the filmmakers only chose the ones your kids can name at home. I understand that the audience can easily recognize their figures and shapes right off the bat but the film doesn't break any new grounds when it comes to character designs, which is real shame.
Also, the exclusion of fish, insects, amphibians, reptiles and birds was definitely a huge mistake. Again, the film is called "Zootopia" and the creative team behind the film neglected to include some of the most beautiful, fascinating and alluring creatures on the planet. If the film was called "Mammal-topia" or "Mammal City" it would make sense but to call your film "Zootopia" and not include the other animal groups is misguided, especially in a film that tries to promote diversity and tries to put an end to xenophobia.
Although "Zootopia" lacks creatively when it comes to choosing what animals should appear on screen, the story is more intricate than your usual Disney romp. The trailers market the film as a simple and cute film that kids will enjoy but "Zootopia" provides adults with a much more mature and [at times] grounded film. Taking a lot of the elements of buddy cop films of the 80's, the filmmakers cleverly take certain issues that most animated films would never touch. As a lover of police dramas and procedurals, I couldn't help but enjoy myself when sitting in that theater and watching Hopps and Wilde go on this crazy adventure together.
In a time when everyone points fingers and shouts words like "racist" or "sexist", it really is pleasing to see a film like "Zootopia" come along and teach kids that it's okay to be different but not okay to be stereotyped. While most Disney films have a strong message of "dream hard to get your wish" or "you can do anything if you don't give up", this film chooses to discuss issues of xenophobia, racism and stereotypes, which is quite refreshing. Having different species of mammals at odds with each other or judging each other was a clear, simple, yet effective way to portray how horrible racism is to children. However, there is a catch...
While "Zootopia"'s message is important and covered to a certain degree, it does falter in a few parts of the film. Xenophobia is a difficult topic to teach your kids and the writers/creators of "Zootopia" tried their darnedest to make it simple and easy to understand, but the impact of said message didn't feel as profound as it should have been. While a film like "Inside Out" proves that you can express extremely complicated emotions and messages to children in a simple and clever way, it seems that "Zootopia" tried to over simplify it, thereby making it less impactful and meaningful. By the end of the film, you don't remember the message as much as the charming characters or situations. The simplification of the message doesn't hurt the film's plotline or overall flow, but it would have been nice for the filmmakers to put just a little more thought into how to convey such a difficult yet crucial issue. Today, we still live in a world where racism and sexism flourish in our society and kids all over the world should hear this message loud and clear. In "Zootopia", the message is loud but not clear.
On a side note, there was one small thing I've noticed [that honestly is trivial but important at the same time] in the film that literally broke the rules of its own universe. The universe of "Zootopia" is a world inhabited only by anthropomorphic mammals. There is no other evidence of other groups of animals living in said world. No fishes nor insects nor amphibians nor reptiles nor birds. However, the character Yax (voiced by Cheech & Chong's Tommy Chong) is constantly surrounded by a cloud of flies, which clearly doesn't make sense since insects are not a group of animal that exists in this universe so how is Yax always covered in flies...? It saddens me that the filmmakers weren't thinking too carefully about the world they created.
Overall, "Zootopia" is a very well rounded, cute, funny and adventurous film that everyone should see. Although it does have a few flaws concerning the universe it creatives, the certain lack of creative choices and its message, the film is insanely enjoyable and fun for your kids. Without a doubt, "Zootopia" is miles ahead of "Frozen", "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Tangled". Take your kids (or yourself) to see the film in theaters today because I'm giving it a 8.5 out of 10.
Go see it in theaters in 2D, Real-D 3D and IMAX 3D today!
