Review of Zootopia (2016) by Valerie S — 01 Jan 2018

I'm actually a bit surprised Disney took a stab at a movie with this kind of weight. Maybe it's because I watched Hidden Figures yesterday or that headlines each day remind me of the great dichotomy of "us vs. them..." Zootopia is a movie about race, and I don't expect it to be the last one I watch in this year's Academy lineup.

Rather than addressing race on, Zootopia is wise in the way many newer Disney movies have made commentary through analogy. "Predators versus prey" is something we teach all children, but framing race as Zootopia does allows parents to have a much-needed discussion with the next generation of global citizens. It's especially poignant that in this classic crime story, the case - and the racial inequality - is solved by small-town residents unaware that their own actions have a meaningful impact on the equality of the world. Like I said, hats off to Disney.

As a nominee for the Best Animated category, it's still too early to say if Zootopia has the chops to take out its Disney sibling Moana or the other movies on the list. There are some stunning examples of animation, especially with falling rain, waterfalls, and other liquids - that's one area of animation I often forget is animated.

It's hard not to fall in love with each character in Zootopia, and the animation does everything to support (and nothing to detract) from that process as a member of the audience. Though it seems like a bit of a sleeper among their animated lineup (especially with the early March 2016 release it had), I'm excited that Zootopia will get seen by a few more children - and a few more adults - as a result of its nomination.

Zootopia will probably end up on my shelf when I have kids, if only for how well it handles race relations. I'm still wondering whether I'm 'predator' or 'prey,' and if I even want to be.