Review of Zootopia (2016) by Boogie B — 21 Sep 2016

Disney Does it Again With Zootopia!

The Disney film Zootopia is set in a world where animals have evolved and now live much like humans do. The film Zootopia centers on the rabbit with a big dream, the up beat, lovable, Judy Hopps, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line, Once Upon a Time). Judy Hopps was a small town rabbit with dreams of being a respected and loved police officer, who moves to the city Zootopia. While Judy is indeed successful in becoming a cop, notably the first ever rabbit to do so, she is still overlooked by everyone, including Police Chief Bogo, voiced by Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, The Jungle Book) and assigned to parking duty.

However, Judy takes it upon herself to begin an investigating. A series of local disappearances, Judy needs the help of Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman (Starksy and Hutch, Horrible Bosses), a con artist fox she had previously encountered. With her job on the line, the two begin to discover the disappearances in Zootopia are tied into a conspiracy and a cover-up involving some locals.

"The Big D", better known as Disney has 80 years or more of experience making animated films, so saying that Disney has made another family film is not anything particularly noteworthy. It is what we have come to expect. While best known for their musicals, princesses, and prince charming, Disney animation has been on a roll of late with animated movies with a message. Like the Academy Award winning Big Hero 6 and Wreck-It Ralph. However, Zootopia is not simply another fun Disney animated movie. It is one of the greatest Disney animated movies I have seen in the last ten years.

From a technical standpoint, Zootopia is top notch. The animation is gorgeous. All of the animals look spectacular. Each creature looks alive, real, and emotional on screen. Action scenes are fun, exciting, and a joy to watch. I have not seen Disney to great-animated action sequences like this since Toy Story 2. The action scenes will have you gasping, on the edge of your seat, and invested in the moment. The world is so colorful, bold, and a world you actually want to invest in. Accordingly, the voice cast works well. In addition to Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman we get the talents of J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Whiplash), Idris Elba, and musical artist Shakira, among others. Every actor and character is perfectly matched!

To Heavy of a Message for a Kids Film?

The story is so much more than just a buddy cop film, between a fox and a rabbit. The film is clever, has great inside reference jokes, there are a lot of jokes for adults that will go way over kids' head (references to The Godfather, the DMV, and Breaking Bad, for instance), but there's plenty for younger audiences to laugh at, too, and it all comes wrapped in great messages about courage, empathy, tolerance, teamwork, and the dangers of reducing others to stereotypes. I know this is a kid's movie, and this may not be politically correct. But, this movie has cojones (I'm talkin' 'bout balls)! For a kid's film to tackle on the subject of race, stereotypes, relations, profiling, discrimination and bullying is really brave.

Everyone can connect to this movie, and that what makes it beautiful. You can view it multiple times, and still learn something new. Something new about yourself, something new about society, some new jokes, overall something amazing every time for kids and adults. My only complaint about this film is, for a kid's movie, it is a little lengthy. Also, I am not sure if kids will understand the entire message, and laugh as much as they would like to.

So these are my final Bitchin' Buddha thoughts on the film Zootopia. It is Clever and heartwarming, it has vibrant visuals, an amazing storyline, and a message for the world. A message that we as a society cannot fully grasp, but an animated movie helps us along the way. This is why I like movies. They teach, inspire, and make us connected. Also, Shakira plays a singing pop star Gazelle in the movie. I thought I would never say this, but that was a sexy gazelle! I believe the Disney film Zootopia earns a...

5/5!

Thank you all for reading and or viewing, and I hope you all have an amazing day as always. :).