Zootopia (Zootropolis) (2016)
Disney Animated Classic Number 55
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence & for absolutely no reason Colombian singing sensation Shakira
Directed by: Byron Howard & Rich Moore
Rating: ★★★
Currently raking in the dough from eager audiences and being praised by critics, Zootopia, confusingly known as Zootropolis in the UK, has already gone down in both Disney and cinema history instantly becoming a massive success.
 |
| Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are on the case. |
And to think it was only ten years ago that Disney released the abomination that is Meet the Robinsons. We are well and truly out of the Disney Dip people.
 |
| Officer Judy Hopps. |
But even though Zootopia/Zootropolis may not be as terrible as some of its fore bearers, it still ranks as one of Disney’s more mediocre entries.
Similarly to the setup of last year’s Disney/Pixar’s disaster The Good Dinosaur, animals- although in this instance, only mammals- have evolved differently, and can now walk and talk and behave exactly like humans.
 |
| Can a rabbit be a cop? |
Also echoing The Good Dinosaur, our protagonist Judy Hopps (Goodwin) is a farmer, but luckily for everyone, this is where the similarities between the two films end, as Zootopia/Zootropolis is not about either agriculture or parental abandonment, but is instead a crime adventure about the mysterious disappearance of various citizens in a diverse mammalian city.
 |
| The transport system serves everyone. |
Not only does Judy overcome all the odds to become the city’s first ever rabbit police officer, she also teams up with Nick Wilde (Bateman), a con artist fox who she forces to assist her on the missing animals case. Although they begin as enemies, the two quickly learn that deep down they aren’t quite as different as they first thought, and through investigating hate crime and after almost being murdered by a shrew, they learn to get along.
 |
| Can you trust a fox? Well, based on past Disney foxes, yes. Yes you can. |
So unlike The Fox and the Hound, in which the two main characters realise that apartheid is a good thing, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame in which the guy does not get the girl because he’s, you know, deformed, this is one Disney Animated Classic in which prejudice surprisingly does not triumph.
 |
| Luckily for us, there's no fox sex in this film unlike The Fox and the Hound. |
And that’s the very obvious, very deliberate, very in your face moral of the movie- that prejudice is wrong. Thank you for that lesson, Disney, but I already knew it.
And similar to the action scenes in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the message here is smashed into your face until you feel like you’ve been bludgeoned to death. There’s no subtly here folks: Disney is most certainly pushing a more people pleasing positive agenda to make up for lost time. No whales are harpooned in this movie, thank goodness.
But it’s hard to ignore the fact that, unless every single predatory mammal is a vegetarian, the prey do actually have a reason to be prejudiced against their more dangerously equipped neighbours. But of course this is ignored because, you know, this is a movie in which animals can walk and talk and drive cars and solve crimes so let’s not really think about the implications that if Nick is still eating meat he’s probably eating another walking, talking animal so yes, he would technically be a murderer and so would all of the other carnivores BUT let’s not make an issue out of this even though it completely destroys the entire point of the movie.
 |
| Zootopia/Zootropolis in all its glory. |
Putting aside these minor major issues with the morality of the tale, Zootopia/Zootropolis is an, entertaining adventure movie that is guaranteed fun for all the family. The plot may feel a bit ‘samey’, the message forced and the idea doesn’t really cover any new ground, but the leads are incredibly endearing and make the movie very watchable. There are also a lot of good jokes, some great action sequences and a rewarding finale.
 |
| Flash gets some great jokes... |
As people reading my Disney Daze will know, I’m not really as much as fan of the ‘animal’ based classics, so I guess I’m slightly biased in my opinion of this film. The idea of a city full of mammals is fun, but there are a lot of inventive features that are never really full fleshed out, which is a shame. Just like Big Hero 6 Disney takes an interesting, original concept and plays it entirely safe- even though they probably think they didn’t- which is annoying as the film ends up being ‘good’ rather than ‘great’.
 |
| Even sheep can do paperwork... |
With seven writers and an additional director brought on to the project (the director of Wreck-It Ralph), there must have been issues with the development of the film, but in spite of this, the result is a solid, well-paced, well plotted harmless family film with an important (albeit aggressive) message.
 |
| Shakira's hips don't lie, even when's she's a gazelle... |
Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are brilliantly likeable central characters who propel the movie forward. The supporting characters are, on the whole, inoffensive enough, although Shakira is a gazelle called Gazelle for absolutely no reason and awful actor Idris Elba struggles to convincingly voice the Chief of Police, Chief Bogo.
 |
| Oh Idris- why do you even bother? |
There’s a terrible comic relief character, a fat cheetah called Officer Clawhauser, who serves no purposes and is reminiscent of that dreadful robot from Treasure Planet.
 |
| No one is lolling at the reveal of Mr Big... |
Nick’s introduction in an elephant ice cream parlour is great, the fennec fox dressed up as an elephant is super cute, the action scene in the tiny village is clever and exciting, and the different climates of the city are used to good effect.
 |
| Finnick dressed up as an elephant is incredibly cute... |
There are some frightening moments, but it never really goes as dark as I would have liked. I think they missed a trick by not making Zootopia/Zootropolismore of a film noir/traditional detective story, but this is a Disney movie, and as Disney movies go, this is standard Disney filler that I’m sure would strongly appeal to children and those looking for an easy and enjoyable watch.
Unlike other less deserving movies, Zootopia/Zootropolis is a film that probably should have a sequel or TV series based on it, because it has so much scope and possibility. And since the film is now a huge success, will it get a spin-off or sequel? Let's wait and see...
0 Yorumlar