Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Movie Review: "Zootopia" (Byron Howard and Rich Moore, 2016)

A RABBIT, A FOX, AND A CITY by Mo Shaunette

Above: a scene from “Zootopia.”  Photo ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

In 1988, the Walt Disney Company released “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” a decidedly off-beat kids feature that cast the Disney brand in an unusual light.  It was hit with audiences and critics and helped kick start what is today known as the Disney Renaissance: a period lasting through the 1900s, during which the House of Mouse turned their animated film production into a finely-tuned machine, cranking out blockbusters annually and pulling from unusual sources like Arabic folktales, Chinese history, and Greek mythology.

Today, audiences find themselves in a resurgence of the Disney Renaissance.  Not only does Disney now own two of the biggest movie franchises of our time (“Star Wars” and the ongoing Marvel superhero saga), but it is also creating strong animated features again—award-winning hits like “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Frozen,” and “Big Hero 6.”  Their latest, “Zootopia,” continues the trend with a funny, poignant, and decidedly modern take on anthropomorphic animals.

The world of “Zootopia” is less an animal kingdom than an animal democracy, where mammals of all shapes and sizes have evolved to match modern humans in intelligence.  Their crowning achievement is the titular city: a teaming, technologically-advanced metropolis that’s equal parts New York, Los Angeles, Dubai, and Disneyland.  There, eager young bunny Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) becomes the first rabbit to join Zootopia’s Police Department, but soon finds that she’s underestimated by her more physically powerful colleagues, who don’t think a bunny can make it as a cop.

Through sheer determination (and belligerency), Judy thrusts herself into investigating the latest in a string of missing animal cases, and conscripts con-artist fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to help her.  Together, the unlikely predator/prey duo uncovers a vast conspiracy that threatens the stability of Zootopia.

Their adventure molds “Zootopia” into a mishmash of several different film styles.  The film certainly has roots in earlier Disney hits (it’s inspired by talking animal features like 1973’s “Robin Hood”).  Yet it also features “Shrek”-style pop culture shout outs and clever moral lessons that echo the films of Laika (“Coraline,” ParaNorman,” etc.).  

Still, “Zootopia” has a conceptual audacity all its own.  Halfway through the movie, the film’s extended tour of the city ends and the plot shifts to the missing animals mystery.  It’s here that “Zootopia” truly defines itself.  The film’s theme of characters overcoming prejudice and stereotypes takes center stage here, as the distrust between animals who were historically predators and their former prey takes center stage.

While Judy herself fights against the expectations of her peers, Nick also reveals that he took up the life of a shyster because that’s what everyone expected of him.  It’s a surprisingly poignant revelation because it forces the characters not only to overcome others' prejudices against them, but to acknowledge and own up to their own flawed beliefs (e.g. despite Judy's progressive idealism, upon meeting Nick she compliments him by calling him “articulate”).

Unfortunately, not all of the movie’s elements mesh well—viewers may find themselves getting whiplash as the film goes from playful animal jokes to “kid’s first noir” and lessons about racism.  This may be evidence of changes to plot and story that occurred partway through production (early press releases and trailers highlighted Nick as our main character, while the finished product has Judy front and center).


Yet “Zootopia” is still a triumph: fast-paced, energetic, glorious to look at, funny, sharp, and timely.  Its message of setting asides prejudices to create a better world may seem obvious or schmaltzy to some.  But since certain presidential candidates I could name haven’t internalized that message, it’s vital that we remind ourselves that at the end of the day, we’re all animals who have to share this world with each other.

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