For my birthday my wife and I went to see Disney’s latest animated movie, Zootopia.
The movie is set in a world where every mammal has gained human intelligence.
Predators and prey get along and everyone lives as equals in a near-future society. Humans are absent and never mentioned.
Of course even though everyone is equal, prejudices, stereotypes, and predispositions about species still lend a heavy paw in deciding an animal’s role in society.
Our heroine, Judy Hops, is a young rabbit who dreams of being a police officer.
Judy achieves this dream despite bullying by the neighborhood fox and the unsupportive nature of her parents who follow the traditional rabbit lifestyle of carrot farming.
Judy graduates top of her class and goes off to the city of Zootopia to protect citizens from criminals.
The first job Judy gets is writing parking tickets. She quickly discovers that she and other species are often judged based on prejudicial ideas of what they are capable of.
Judy teams up with a small time criminal fox named Nicholas Wilde to solve a missing person case. Plot ensues and I won’t spoil it.
The movie’s content is excellent. Timely commentary on racism told through animals. Plenty of jokes and references to other movies (Alan Tudyk reprises his role as Duke of Weaselton from Frozen, only now he is an actual weasel named Duke Weaselton). Good buddy cop material suitable for children as well.
The movie’s music is also very good. Shakira plays an animal pop star version of Adele named Gazelle that provides a decent amount of the film’s great soundtrack.
It’s honestly harder for me to think who would dislike this movie than who would like it. Zootopia appeals to a wide range of audiences with elements of comedy, action, mystery, and family movies all mixed in.
If I had to pick someone who wouldn’t like Zootopia it would be someone adamantly against cutesie characters.
If that doesn’t sound like you then I think you should see this movie. It’s got something for everyone proving that Disney’s new direction is really working out for them.
-GoCorral
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