Disney Animation has now entered the same pantheon as its friendly rival, Pixar. Since John Lasseter became involved with the studio, the production company has not missed: I mean, Wreck-It-Ralph, Big Hero 6, and Frozen are some of the best films of the last 5 years. Zootopia, their latest, can proudly stand alongside them. Man, where does Disney find these amazing people?
Zootopia exists in a world where animals are like people, and Zootopia is the megacity where some animals aspire to live. The hero of the movie is Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), the small town girl rabbit living in a lonely world with her simple parents and hundreds of brothers and sisters. She dreams of being a police officer, and wants to make the world a better place despite her size and physical appearance. With help from assistant mayor, sheep Bellwether (Jenny Slate), Hopps gets a job as the first police rabbit in Zootopia. She gets assigned parking duty from chief Bogo (Idris Elba), where she gets foxed by fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a street con artist. However, his street smarts come in handy when predators start going missing; Hopps enlists Nick to help with the investigation.
Surface level, Zootopia is beautiful as expected. The train ride introducing the city showcases the power of CGI; the color cacophony is nothing short of majestic, reminding me of my first rides into Chicago. We also see the various regions of the city, from frozen tundra to desert areas. Each area is fully realized and utilized within the story, when those little details could have easily been ignored. There is a chase throughout the entire city that also builds these little neighborhoods within Zootopia, giving the city a personality more than just a generic place. When you see smoothie elevators for giraffes, sloths running a DMV, and mouse tubes used as walkways, you know creative, clever people put a lot of thought into the layout of the world they were creating.
But Zootopia’s real treasure lies beneath the gorgeous CGI surface that will go over kids’ heads. For a long time, when it comes to people, the word “predator” has become a very loaded term. Zootopia makes it literal, and quotes about predator behavior take biting dual meaning for adults. Generalization is attacked viciously by Zootopia, using a few predators behaviors to justify extreme counteraction against ALL predators. All because it is how they behave. This satire is pointedly driven home by Nick Wilde’s arc. As cute and heroic officer Hops is (and she is laughed at for *cough* female qualities *cough*), Nick’s arc is tragically emotional, especially when people who are supposed to be on their side carry appearance and historical prejudice. Zootopia pulls no punches, and will end up being one of Disney’s better satires for it.
I thought the early release date was a sign that Disney did not think too highly of Zootopia. I am happy to report how wrong that logic is. Disney Animation continues to prove to us again it can compete in Pixar’s ballpark, and I for one will anticipate any new release from them eagerly. I do have one GIANT complaint though: really Disney? A fox is one of your main characters, and at no point does one character point at him and say “What does the fox say?” Shame.