 One Sentence Synopsis: In the city of Zootopia, predators and prey live together in perfect harmony, but when police officer Judy Hopps (played by Ginnifer Goodwin) and sly con-man Nick Wilde (played by Jason Bateman) discover a conspiracy that could put that balance in danger, they must overcome their differences and get to the bottom of the mystery. |
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“This is good… but not great.”
Furthermore, the film’s share a key reason as to why I felt this way— story. Frozen’s female empowerment and supposed overcoming of Disney tropes were heralded as this innovative step forward for its storytelling department, but the more I thought about it, the more I saw it as merely Disney finally understanding its audience and their longing for complex, evolved narratives.
In other words, just because Disney decides to evolve, that doesn’t make them innovative or unique, it just means that they are finally catching up with everyone else.
We find ourselves in a similar situation with Zootopia, except it’s probably worse.
Zootopia is inarguably a film about our current political landscape, despite intention or lack thereof; several moments in Zootopia feel like direct parallels to a variety of conflicts that society is currently facing today: civil rights, racial profiling, post-feminism, police brutality, drug use, and the list goes on…
...but you know this already because everybody has seemed to pick up on that. In fact, the film is being showered with praise for addressing these ideas, and for the record, I am all all in favor of this as well. The dangers of prejudice and stereotyping are very real, and it’s good to expose children to this in a way that they can digest.
...but you know this already because everybody has seemed to pick up on that. In fact, the film is being showered with praise for addressing these ideas, and for the record, I am all all in favor of this as well. The dangers of prejudice and stereotyping are very real, and it’s good to expose children to this in a way that they can digest.
However, instead of it feeling like a well-intentioned, mature dialogue, Zootopia’s lack of subtle allegory makes its messages come off as distractingly blatant. One specific exchange in the film involves such a direct, line-for-line corollary to the n-word that I almost did a double take. I am all for good-hearted messages, but if you’re going to have a serious discussion about these themes, then do so with some subtlety and nuance. But that’s just the thing: this isn’t really much of a discussion. Zootopia features clear good guys, and clear bad guys, and unfortunately, that simply isn’t how it works. The kinds of themes explored in this film are not merely black and white; these are topics that can be approached from multiple angles. Alas, this movie doesn’t seem to have any interest in exploring those intricacies. Here, we see another situation where Disney decided to attempt a more complex story in their movie, and are being praised for raising the bar when, ironically, the complexity seems to be absent.
I wouldn’t be spending so much time discussing this aspect of the film if it weren’t so important. This is a defining characteristic of the film that simply doesn’t work. I understand this is a children’s film, but that does not excuse it from mishandling an elaborate topic. It’s also worth discussing at length because, narratively speaking, it’s really the only thing that makes Zootopia stand out from any other Disney film up to this point; you’ve undeniably seen this story before, and you’ve undeniably seen these characters before. Disney Animation Studios does not shy away from recycling with its plot, but thankfully, they manage to make up for this in other departments.
The world of Zootopia is easily one of its best qualities. Of course the animation is gorgeous, as that basically goes without saying when you’re dealing with any Disney production, but it’s really the creativity when it comes to the world-building that impressed me. The concept they are working with, animals acting like humans, is a comedic gold mine in and of itself, but the film goes out of its way to create an entire universe with this idea, and the result is one of the most thoroughly believable locations I’ve ever seen in a Disney movie. It really says a lot about execution when even the simplest of visual gags have you curious to explore the environment you happen to be immersed in, and that is what's accomplished here, with flying colors.
Zootopia’s voice cast is spot-on. A particular standout is Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde, who’s voice almost fits the character all too well. Ginnifer Goodwin is also great as Judy Hopps, and the several different talents sprinkled throughout the film’s minor characters (J.K. Simmons, Idris Elba, Alan Tudyk, Jenny Slate, hell even Tommy Chong) offer fantastic variety. It’s important to stress that none of these characters are particularly inventive, yet they are nonetheless relatable and fun to watch, something that only Disney manages to get away with in the Animation world.
The only other notable aspect to discuss is the comedy, which has its moments. If you are at all invested in the film’s marketing, you know that the scene involving sloths at the DMV is easily the highlight, and while the film never really gets to that same level of hilarity throughout, there are many chuckles to be had otherwise. As mentioned previously, the world-building gives us plenty of visual gag, and while some are more subtle than others, a lot of them work and that is what’s important.
Again, Zootopia is a good movie. There’s no denying that it’s a well-made film and is very enjoyable to watch. However, because of it’s subtextual problems and it’s overall narrative blandness, I personally see this as one of the weaker entries to come out of Disney Animation Studio’s rejuvenation. While movies like Wreck-it-Ralph or Big Hero 6 aren’t as complex thematically, at least they manage to tell strong stories because they don’t bite off more then they can chew. Zootopia tackles a lot about society and community, and while I implore more animated films to address these themes head-on, it needs to be a conversation, not a lecture; as the film went on, I felt like I was being overwhelmed with an agenda, and that’s the last thing I want to feel like while watching a Disney flick.
Still, it’s hard to deny that I had some fun with Zootopia when I looked past its politics… but something tells me I would’ve had a lot more fun if I didn’t have to.
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