Zootopia (2016) review

You’ve heard me say it a bunch of times these past few years but I’ll say it again; Walt Disney Animation is currently in the middle of what can be referred to as either their second ‘Renaissance’ period or their ‘Revival’ period, the latter term I’ve recently come across online. After a string of lesser-received films from both a critical and commercial standpoint following the conclusion of the first ‘Disney Renaissance’, the studio finally started to get back on its feet once the duo of Pixar’s Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were brought in as the studio’s new President and Chief Creative Officer, respectively. Under their supervision, the studio has regained a lot of the creative clout that had been missing from some of their early 2000’s films and as a result, they have achieved much more success thanks to films like Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph, Big Hero 6, and of course their $1.2 billion behemoth Frozen. So what’s next for the House of Mouse? Well, this year will see them coming out with not one but two new animated features, a first for the studio since 2002. But as Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur proved last year, one film usually ends up getting more attention than the other early on. And in the case of Disney Animation’s 2016 releases, that film was Moana, their South Pacific-themed fantasy adventure that will come out this November. But, as me and my pal Kyle over at Kyle’s Animated World would argue, hopefully that didn’t take too much away from the first of Disney Animation’s films this year, Zootopia. And seeing how this film currently graces an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, which at the moment makes it the best-reviewed film of the year, suddenly Zootopia isn’t looking like the ‘lesser’ film anymore (which, for the record, is nothing against Moana. I’m sure that will be terrific too). And rightfully so as Zootopia is not only a well-made and well-animated entry in the Disney canon, as per usual, but also a strongly written tale with a timely message that we can all take note from.

In the world of Zootopia, those who are usually predators and those who are usually preyed upon live together in peace having evolved from following their natural instincts in order to coexist with one another. It is in this metropolis that rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) from the town of Bunnyborrow dreams of becoming a police officer. But even after she is instated as the first rabbit officer in a force full of ‘predator’ animals, she is disappointed when her superior Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) assigns her to the mere position of meter maid. While all of this is going on, the police are investigating into a series of disappearances all over the city. And while she is kept off of the investigation at first, Judy manages to get the opportunity to ‘be a real cop’ for once when she volunteers to help find the husband of Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer), one of the missing animals, on the grounds that she resigns from the force if she doesn’t solve the case in 48 hours. In order to find Mr. Otterton, Judy is forced to team up with fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a con artist who not only gypped her previously but is part of the species that is meant to be the ‘enemy’ of rabbits like Judy. However, Nick also happens to be one of the last to see Otterton before he disappeared, hence why Judy ends up having to enlist his help in order to find her missing person. Soon though, the two uncover a devious plot involving animals reverting back to their savage nature that poses a severe threat to the harmonious nature of the city of Zootopia.

Being a Disney animated film, the animation is of course terrific and very well-detailed as exemplified by the various districts of Zootopia, from the frozen landscapes of Tundratown to the district of Little Rodentia in which the main characters are giant-sized compared to the residents of that area. The film also maintains a solid energetic pace throughout and is full of hilarious moments, including the now famous scene from the trailer where Nick and Judy get the ID for a plate number at the DMV (‘Department of Mammal Vehicles’), where all of the employees are super slow sloths (a perfect analogy to real life as I’m sure many of us would agree). But what really makes Zootopia stand out is its writing. This is arguably Disney Animation’s most maturely-written script in years. It’s already great enough that the film is a fun and zany buddy cop comedy but then the film goes the extra mile by tackling issues like race relations (or ‘species relations’ in this case), prejudice, and bigotry. Right from the very beginning, the film establishes what will become a major point of conflict in regards to Judy and Nick’s relationship by showcasing the bigotry that rabbits have towards foxes, right down to Judy being given anti-fox spray (in other words, mace) by her parents. And all throughout the film, we see several instances where characters’ prejudices and bigoted attitudes come into play, with the primary example being, obviously, the ‘relationship’ between predators and prey. As a result, the character who is established as the villain of the story, who I won’t reveal here to keep this review spoiler-free, is a pretty darn well established villain in terms of their motives and the overall conspiracy that they’re master-minding. In short, everything in the plot comes together perfectly for a well-constructed tale of acceptance and how even the nicest people around can sometimes resort to stereotyping.  

Aside from its excellent writing, Zootopia is also full of great characters backed by a superb voice cast. Originally, Nick Wilde was meant to be the main character of the film before the filmmakers decided to shift focus to Judy, the small-town bunny who moves into the big city. Judy is a terrific protagonist whose optimism and ‘never give up’ attitude make her a very endearing character to root for, all of which is perfectly imbued through Ginnifer Goodwin’s performance in the role. Equally terrific is Jason Bateman in the role as Nick as the wild con man’s fast talking nature excellently matches Bateman’s comedic style. And while at first Wilde may seem like a no-good con man only looking out for himself, a key scene in which he reveals to Judy a crucial moment from his past that made him what he is today produces one of the most emotional moments in the entire film. And of course the two have excellent camaraderie which helps make their partnership work as well as it does. They’re backed up by an excellent supporting cast of memorable side characters where pretty much every character is matched perfectly with their voice actor. This includes Idris Elba as Judy’s tough-as-nails police chief Bogo, J.K. Simmons as the noble but occasionally ferocious mayor of Zootopia Lionheart, new Disney regular Alan Tudyk as small-time crook Duke Weaselton (an obvious play on his character from Frozen’s often mispronounced name (“Weselton!”)), and Shakira as Zootopia’s most famous pop star Gazelle, performer of the film’s catchy theme ‘Try Everything’.

It’s one thing to be a well-animated, well-voice acted, and very entertaining animated film. But that’s not all that Zootopia has to offer. Sure, all of those aforementioned aspects on their own would’ve easily made this a highly recommendable film worth checking out. But then this film ends up going above and beyond by imbuing its story with themes that are very much timely for the time of its release. What starts out as a fun buddy cop comedy ends up becoming a fable that combats racism and prejudice, notions that admittedly are still prevalent in today’s society. As a result, this film encourages us all to be more accepting of others and to not let the stereotyping of society cloud our judgement. And because of this, Zootopia is easily one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ finest efforts. After all, one of the main reasons why Disney’s animated films became the classics that they are today was because they managed to overcome their own ‘stereotype’ of being seen as nothing more than ‘films for kids’ by managing to appeal to both kids and adults with their great and colorful animation, their superb storytelling, and the classic characters that inhabited these stories. That’s why the classics of the studio’s early days (e.g. Pinocchio, Cinderella) still very much hold up today and why their more recent films (e.g. Frozen, Big Hero 6) have allowed the studio to once again establish itself as one of the best animation studios in the film industry. And as a result, Zootopia is yet another excellent addition to the Disney canon.   

Rating: 5/5!