Zootopia

Zootopia

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate

Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore & Jared Bush

The Story:
In Zootopia, predator and prey now live in peaceful co-existence.  It's through this harmonic backdrop that  Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny, has a dream of being a cop in the big city of Zootopia, but is discouraged by her parents (who are carrot farmers) as well as her fellow classmates, because no bunny has ever been a cop before.  However, this doesn't deter her, and years later she's recruited as a Zootopia Police Officer, and she thinks she's finally made it.

Then Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) makes Judy a traffic cop, despite having fourteen missing animal cases in the city.  Even though she's discouraged, she doesn't let it get her down and she sets out to be the best traffic cop there is.  She meets fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), and after initially helping him, discovers that he is a crook and con-artist.  She decides to take the case of a missing Otter, and enlists Nick's help to find him.  The two embark on a journey through the darkest sides of Zootopia to find the missing animals, and also find a reason why it seems predators seem to be returning to their natural killing instinct.

The Synopsis:
For many decades, Disney has been the go-to for animated children's movies that also tell a message adults can appreciate.  Be it Mulan's lesson to be strong and independent to Dumbo's message that what makes you different is also what makes you special, there's an abundance of important life lessons you can learn form Disney films.  With "Zootopia," its biggest lessons are never giving up and understanding and defeating stereotypes.

The story is part buddy comedy and part crime drama, as mismatched pair Judy and Nick work together to find the missing citizens of Zootopia.  Judy is by-the-books cop with a positive attitude and friendly demeanor, and Nick is a con-artist fox who looks out for himself and maintains a pessimistic attitude toward life.  As usual with these types of movies, the two learn from each other how to balance themselves out and be more well-rounded, as well as solidifying a strong friendship that breaks the bonds of predator (Nick the fox) and prey (Judy the bunny).

However, solving the missing person's case is only the beginning, as the two are then plunged into an even bigger mystery - the predators are resorting to their ancestral animal instincts and attacking prey, something that hasn't happened in Zootopia before.  Is it because the predators really are embracing their old nature, or is there something more nefarious afoot?  The film takes some wild twists and turns that's as fun for adults as it is for children, even if the themes of the film go above the wee little ones' heads.

As I've said before with children's movies, the best ones are those that hold a deeper meaning than simple entertainment for children whose parents have to painfully pass the time watching it.  "Zootopia" fits the bill for a children's movie - lavish, colorful animations, funny characters and a heartwarming tale.  However, it also is a film adults can see without children present, as it also tells the story of persistence and resistance, of friendship and perseverance.  Plus there's a lot of movie references (especially "The Godfather") that children wouldn't understand, but that adults could appreciate.

The biggest adult themes in the movie deal with never giving up on your dreams, and dealing with stereotypes.  Judy, as a young rabbit, wanted to be a cop.  Bunnies couldn't be cops because they're smaller and weaker than their predator counterparts, and it seemed like an impossible dream.  However, Judy worked hard, entered the police academy and used her wit and prowess to rise to the head of her class, and earned a spot at the Zootopia Police Department, something she had dreamed from an early age.  She was able to make her dreams come true, but not because she simply wished it - she also pushed herself to the limit and beyond to reach her dream, and is something that we all need to learn.  If we are to fully bring our dreams to reality, we cannot just...dream...it, but we have to put in the hard work to make it happen.

What makes "Zootopia" really amazing is how it's able to use animals to tell the story of stereotypes we see in our human world.  Even though they live in the same city, they differentiate each other based on what type of animal they are - bunnies are cute and serve as carrot farmers, foxes are sly and distrustful, sloths are slow (although its the most humorous running gag of the movie since they work at the DMV and the main sloth's name is Flash), and a lion is the king (or mayor) of the town.  Yet Judy in particular vows to break those stereotypes by being a tough-as-nails cop despite being a bunny, and still the stereotypes exist especially after the predators turn primal and threatens to maintain the stereotypical mold in the city.  "Zootopia" teaches us - not that we need to learn it - that stereotypes are bad, and we shouldn't allow what we're told we should be to be what we should.

The Summary:
With a heartfelt message, important life lessons, beautiful animations, thrilling action, comedic gold and well thought out characters, "Zootopia" joins the ranks of Disney classics and serves as another knockout hit for the company.

The Score: A+