Review of Zootopia (2016) by Fred A — 05 Sep 2016

Zootopia features not only wonderfully imaginative and joyfully expressive animation, but also contains consistently smart humor and instantly lovable and interesting characters, and remarkable commentary on race and culture far beyond simple representations of praising diversity. It has some of the best world building I've seen in a very long time and no who's being honest can say otherwise!

Animation:

From a technical standpoint Zootopia is top notch! The animation is spectacular. All of the animals look amazing. In close-up, each creature looks truly alive. Each animal hair looks like it was individually animated to react to its environment. To give you an idea a single giraffe has more individual hairs on it-nine million-than every single character in either Frozen, Big Hero 6, or Wreck-It Ralph! Another example is Elsa's hair in Frozen had about 400,000 strands. But Zootopia pushes that further. A mouse in Zootopia has 480,000 hairs, while a giraffe has about 9 million. That means crazy computing power was needed, to animate and render each individual frame-and some took up to 100 hours to do, once they were fully realized.

Real looking fur also has a lot to do with ambient movement. When an animal is running, obviously air is moving in a very specific direction. But if the character is just standing there, there's movement too, it's just much more subtle. For Zootopia, software called xGen was given a whole new set of tools that built in an ambient, natural movement into the scenes. It worked on hair, as well as the environments, so that everything in the film that can move, is always moving. This is something that was impossible just a couple of years ago! So in fact Zootopia is pretty groundbreaking technology wise!

Zootopia also has 64 different species of animals, that break down into about 800,000 different character models. And not a single one was a copy of the other. The amount of time and attention to detail in this film is just amazing! Take a look again when Judy comes into Zootopia and just look at all those characters! It's a city full of life and this is something that's pretty amazing!

Zootopia has a message everyone needs to hear:

Inside Zootopia real look at what happens when different people and cultures find themselves crammed together in the same space. It's not always peaceful, and it's not pretty. Bias, and outright prejudice, exist. Some is overt, much is born from fear, and some comes from the most well-meaning of places, from those who simply don't think their actions through.

It has a strong anti-bulling message:

Bellwether:

Bellwether reveals that Lionheart bullies her with a derogatory name, and actually sees little to no value in her. To him, she is just an insignificant, under appreciated prey. Little does Lionheart know, Bellwether is also incredibly underestimated. The sheep is later revealed to be the antagonist behind attempting to plunge the city into chaos. She does so under the belief that she can avenge the victimized prey and eliminate predators entirely. She hoped to use fear to turn others to destroy her bullies, ultimately grouping predators into the same, demonized category. .

Bellwether allowed bullying to break her. She decided that the best form of payback was vengeance. She took the law into her own malicious hands, and it ultimately led to her downfall. She became the bully she sought to punish, and it brought her to ruin.

Nick:

The audience first sees him as a conman, scheming to illegally profit from the inhabitants of Zootopia. As we later learn, Nick has a very pessimistic approach on life. He has a very pessimistic outlook on life, and it stems from the trauma he endured as a child. In his youth, Nick was going to be the first predator boy scout. However, his dreams are shattered when the rest of the troop hazes him. They shove and hit him in the darkness before fastening a muzzle to his face. All of these traumatic actions are inflicted while one of the prey verbally abuses him, saying that he will never be more than an untrustworthy predator. The incident ends with Nick ripping off the harness and crying.

While Nick does allow this incident to corrupt him, he does not incite violence as Bellwether did. Instead, he turns on himself. He believes every negative opinion about himself and decides to live under the label he was given. If the world would always see him as nothing more than a untrustworthy fox, there was no reason to even try and be anything else. He is cynical and degrading towards Judy, who has just moved in. In a sense, he sees himself in her. He sees that eager young face that believed in possibility, and is under the illusion that is he cannot succeed, no one else can. It would later take Judy's persistence to help him find the confidence within himself. Nick exemplifies those who choose to let others set their standards.

Judy:

Judy is someone who will never say die. She faces the most trials in the entire story. If anyone had a right to quit under pressure, it would be her. From her youth, Judy ignites a dream to become the first rabbit police officer in the history of the world. At the beginning of the story, we see her parents persuading her to settle down and give up such dreams. Her father does not enforce resilience at all, and stresses to stop trying and stay in comfort zones. While this is not necessarily bullying, it is a moment that defines Judy. Sometimes parental advice is not in the best interests of the child. While some may be like Judy, and choose to ignore such words, others may believe them. Many people have their dreams crushed because they believe every limit and enforcement that parents label him or her with. .

Moments later, Judy stands up for weaker children getting bullied by Gideon Grey, a hulking fox. He shoves her to the ground, and she ends up hitting him back. As much as Judy stands up for herself, Gideon ends up slashing her across the face, and traumatizing her by saying that she will never be more than a stupid bunny. This incident resembles Nick's boy scout hazing. Unlike Nick, Judy refuses to let anyone define who she is except herself. She remains true to her passions and refuses to believe anyone else. She understands that someone's opinion does not have to become a reality. This understanding allows Judy to overcome the odds and make history as the first officer.

Her trials continue in the workplace, where Police Chief Bogo immediately discriminates her. He disregards her academic achievements and assigns her to parking duty. He openly admits to not caring what Judy has done or where she comes from. Rather than hope to exact revenge on the chief or believe his label, Judy strives to disprove him. He says she can mark one hundred tickets, so she does two hundred. She embodies the belief in performing your best regardless of your position in life. Prior to her breakthrough moment, Judy is nearly discouraged by her own parents and Nick. Still, she is able to stay true to herself, and ultimately save Zootopia. In the process, her actions are able to inspire Nick to overcome his fears become a police officer.

Judy does not let bullying define her. She acknowledges it, and moves forward to prove to herself what she is capable of.

Why Zootopia matters:

Zootopia deserves all of the credit it gets. I believe it is a breakthrough film with the potential to help children and adults alike better understand the world. And it is my hope that those who watch this film find the courage to move on from past pains and insecurities. I hope they make the world a better place. The time of competition and envy is over, such as this ongoing argument that Kubo is the better film! As Judy puts it at the end of the film, change starts with us. Help people and believe in all that you are. You are not limited by what others tell you. You are the valiant result of endurance and progression. You are still here. You are still valuable. Make this world a better place, and try everything to do so. Whether it's helping one person or a thousand. Whether it's proving you can achieve the impossible, or you fought to get up this morning. You matter. Others see it, you should too. .