MOVIE REVIEW: Zootopia (2016)

Zootopia (2016)

Animation, Action, Adventure

Directed By: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush

After revamping the studio in the past half decade, Disney Animation has made itself quite clear; they are no longer to be considered second tier to Pixar. After allowing the digital animation studio to dominate the game for over a decade Disney has finally found itself back in the forefront of the business that made them famous in the first place. Starting with Wreck-it-Ralph back in 2012 and then following up with Frozen and Big Hero 6 the following years they quickly regained their notoriety in the animation world. They are keeping that train rolling this year with the release of their newest film Zootopia, a quirky buddy-cop comedy that takes place in a fictional world inhabited by intelligent animals.  It seems they are taking a few pages from Pixar's book too, as this movie takes a turn into some more mature themes than we are used to with Disney.

Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a small bunny with big aspirations, despite the fact that there has never been a "bunny cop" she has made it her life goal to be the very first one. She succeeds, but not without her share of naysayers and when she gets assigned to Zootopia, the biggest city in their world, she has no choice but to prove she belongs there. She is thrown on traffic duty immediately upon arrival but determination soons leads her into the biggest case plaguing the city. She is given 48 hours to solve the case or turn in her badge, lucky for her she has a solid lead. The only problem is he is a fox (Jason Bateman) and her family, as well as society, have trained her to believe a fox can never be trusted. She must try to outwit the sly fox into helping her solve the case, or lose everything she has worked her entire life for. 

On the surface the film works brilliantly as a buddy-cop movie, Hopps and Nick start the movie as seemingly polar-opposites and slowly realize they are actually a solid team. What helps make this into something a little more substantial than your average Disney flick is the clear racial undertones. Creating a fictional world inhabited by all different kinds of animals is clearly going to raise racial issues and the film, to its credit, doesn't shy away from addressing them. They reflect the current state of our society and how many people get treated because of generalizations and stereotypes. It doesn't get much deeper than that but when you consider it a kids film this seems like an appropriate lesson to teach.

Much like any great film, Zootopia creates a highly interesting world populated with characters you only want to know more about. The city is divided into different types of ecosystems allowing the animals to live comfortably in their natural state while also creating some fun locations for the movie to go to. The movie tries to realize a whole slew of different ideas, some landing and some not but what really matters is that this world feels real, you believe that if this place existed this is exactly how it would be. 

I typically am against celebrity voice casting, as it is usually for audience draw rather than being best for the part, but Disney seems to have a handle on their voice actors as this film features a lineup of great talent. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are fantastic as the two leads and familiar names like Idris Elba, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Jenny Slate, and Alan Tudyk populate the background and all do wonderful jobs voice acting. They each lend a hand in making this world feel authentic, creating the personalities that makeup the population of Zootopia.

While they could have gone a little deeper into the racial undertones the film is still another solid outing for Disney Animation. The film is sure to be loved by kids all over the world and there are more than enough "adult themed" jokes to keep anyone else entertained throughout. It's a cute movie with a good message that any sensible parent would be happy to teach their child. If you are looking for something fun to see before the onslaught of summer blockbusters comes than check this one out before it leaves theaters. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!