In Zootopia, "anyone can be anything." That is, according to the adorable, optimistic heroine Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a small town bunny with big city dreams. Fair, honest and just, Hopps is a strong female character that drives the central plot of "Zootopia" and dazzles the audience with her tenacity and charm.
The film follows Hopps as she goes through a hero's journey. After leaving her hometown to pursue her dream of becoming the first bunny cop, she attends police academy and graduates at the top of her class. She's hard working and driven, but above all, naïve. She arrives at Zootopia with high expectations and rose colored glasses. These expectations are shattered almost instantly after she's assigned the demeaning role of meter maid and isn't taken seriously by the police force. True to herself, she decides to take matters into her own hands and takes on a case without authorization with the unlikely and initially reluctant aid of Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman)—a fast-talking, scam-artist fox. Hopps and Nick help to uncover a plot of animals who have "gone savage"—predators that have reverted back to primitive impulses such as eating and attacking prey.
It's the voice talent in "Zootopia" that contributes to this overall liveliness and authenticity of the film. Bateman and Goodwin who voice Nick and Hopps respectively, have excellent chemistry and achieve some real moments of love and friendship by the end of the film. Their chemistry is only enhanced by the exquisite work of the animators. The character design from set features to dynamic facial expressions is reminiscent of the classic '60s and '70s anthropomorphic Disney films such as "The Jungle Book" and the inspiration for Nick's physique and character: "Robin Hood."
"Zootopia" is a Disney film that is true to its roots visually, but is more modern and thought-provoking than their mid-century 2D features. The film's plot and themes spark a deeper conversation about human life and global issues more so than "Wreck it Ralph," "Tangled" or even "Frozen." "Zootopia" is about prejudice and hate through the eyes of predators and prey, which is a euphemism for racial discrimination. In America we like to think of ourselves and politically correct and hyper-tolerant but similar to Zootopia, we don't always practice what we preach. The prevalence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement or Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall on the Mexican-American border reminds us discrimination is alive even if we pretend it's not.
Is "Zootopia" a perfect animated movie? No. Often times it relies on a certain level of cheap humor and a few gimmicks for laughs, but this deters the film from achieving some real, poignant moments. The film inspires the next generation to be free of prejudice and living in a non-fiction world where anyone, regardless of race or background truly can be anything.
Reach Staff Reporter Sarah Kassel here.
Annenberg Media