It might not come as much of a shock that Disney’s newest
animated film, “Zootopia,” features a cast of adorable anthropomorphized
animals who can talk, wear clothes, and take on real-life occupations like
police officer, farmer, and even pop singer. But what may be a bit more
surprising are the clever ways in which directors Byron Howard (“Tangled”) and
Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph”) utilize this bright, zippy, and happy little
world to tell a tale about the evils of institutionalized racism, sexism, and
the role of a police force in modern society.
The
narrative follows idealistic Judy Hopps (a charming Ginnifer Goodwin), who’s
dreamed since childhood of becoming the first-ever rabbit police officer. A
plucky go-getter, she makes it through police academy training at the top of
her class, and earns a job in the gleaming metropolis of Zootopia. With
distinct neighborhoods made up of artificially created ecosystems (from frozen
tundras to damp rainforests), the city is a place where predator and prey live
together in relative harmony. But when the chief of police (Idris Elba) makes
it clear to Judy that she’s just a minority hire, she begins to grow
discouraged.
Luckily,
Judy’s given the chance to prove herself more than just a “token bunny” when
she’s tasked with solving a missing person (err, otter) case. She follows a trail
that eventually leads her headlong into a vast conspiracy that requires her to
team up with sly, con artist fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).
From here,
the film morphs into a noir-ish crime tale, complete with references to “The
Godfather,” “Chinatown,” and a bit of “Breaking Bad,” while offering an
entertaining variation on the mismatched buddy cop formula. Judy must face her
latent prejudices about the shifty fox — at one point, she even condescendingly
praises him for being so “articulate” — while Nick learns just as much from
her.
Utilizing
the animal kingdom’s fear of predators turns “Zootopia” into a rather smart
allegory about prejudice and stereotyping, though admittedly the message gets a
little muddled when you stop to consider that in the natural world, prey
actually have very real reasons to fear predators. Still when the result is
carried out with such imagination and ambition, it’s easy to play along and
accept the rules of the movie’s world that have been established by the film’s writers.
The movie has a surprisingly dense plot, particularly impressive when you consider
that the plots of most children’s movies can fit on a cocktail napkin.
The message
couldn’t be timelier; as the citizens of Zootopia are pitted against one
another — with a police-incited panic that results in 90 percent of the
population living in fear of the other 10 percent — it’s not hard to see the
parallels to our own world and its systemic racism against minorities. Reports
told of a major shift occurring during the film’s production, and I’d be
curious to know how much was a result of incorporating these elements, which
could have been ripped directly from the evening’s news.
The detailed
world-building is impressive, and I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked to hear
about Disney greenlighting a sequel; there are certainly plenty more stories
one could tell with the pieces that have been set up here. The imaginative,
beautifully-rendered environments look great. Though I saw the film in IMAX 3D,
the format isn’t really necessary: it’s the characters that make the movie pop.
Playing off
their own personas, Goodwin and Bateman are great together; Hopps and Wilde are
instantly appealing characters in a movie that’s loaded with them. The rest of
the eclectic voice cast is rounded out by Shakira, J.K. Simmons, Jenny Slate,
Tommy Chong, Octavia Spencer, Bonnie Hunt, and Alan Tudyk. The film
incorporates its goofy animal-based humor to great effect; a sequence involving
the sloth employees of the DMV is a masterwork of comedic timing.
Loaded with
heart, “Zootopia” is relevant when several of our presidential candidates are
deliberately appealing to the very worst ideals in our country’s population.
You may consider its “racism is bad!” storyline as kid’s stuff, but this
election cycle has made it abundantly clear there are plenty of adults out
there who never got the message. A Disney animated feature is highly likely to
be seen by a lot more people than the evening news, giving “Zootopia” the
unique opportunity to preach not just to the choir. And that makes it something
truly special.
This article appears in Mar 9-15, 2016.
