Zootopia (2016)

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As years pass, 'Zootopia' feels more and more like one of the most important animated films Disney has released in recent years. Not only does it manage to avoid the Disney cliche that is the average "princess" movie, but this is a film that conveys to its viewers, young and old, themes on racism, profiling, prejudice and stereotypes that could easily be applied to everyday life, and it does so by using the way the animal kingdom generally works to its advantage. In its own way, it's a bit of brilliance.

'Zootopia' actually gives us a prime example of why one shouldn't necessarily turn one's nose up at early-year releases, and is one of the few films I recall from the beginning of a year that stayed with me in a big way. I still remember leaving the theatre somewhat awestruck by how well the film was written, offering a sense of depth we can all relate to in some way while still delivering great laugh-out-loud moments. For me, this was what I call "Pixar-level material" for those exact reasons. It's something you leave to give deeper thought to, rather than just saying "that was entertaining."

Zootopia is a bustling city inhabited by predators and prey alike, who have evolved beyond their primal state to live in peace with one another. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a go-getter rabbit from the small community of Bunnyburrow, dreams of breaking barriers to become the first bunny cop in the big city. Although she works hard and finally succeeds, the idea of a bunny police officer is so funny to the ZPD that her supervisor, a strict buffalo named Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), assigns her to parking duty. Although she overachieves in her duties, she still longs to show her full potential.

While on the job one day, Judy leaves her post to make an arrest, which doesn't sit well with Chief Bogo, who doesn't think she's fit for "real police work." However, when Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer) pleads with Bogo to find her missing husband, Emmitt, one of many missing predators as of late, Judy volunteers to take the assignment to prove herself worthy of being more important to the department. Reluctantly, Bogo gives her 48 hours to solve what he believes to be an impossible case, or she'll be let go. Luckily, she knows exactly where to start, and that'[s with a shifty fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).

Nick, one of the last people to see Emmitt, is then forced to work with Judy to find out who took Emmitt and why, through blackmail. As the film unfolds, the pair discover that there's more to these missing predators than meets the eye. Something seems to be restoring them to their feral state. The mere fact that only predators seem to be affected by whatever is going on results in more stereotypical views of the average predator, and this is where a lot of the prejudice enters into it, with details like the citizens of Zootopia not feeling safe having the small population of predators around (they make up about 10% of Zootopia's population).

Although the film's deeper levels offer a more serious message in human behaviour, there's still so much more to it, not the least of which is the mass of voice talent, including names like Tommy Chong as Yax (a hilarious meditative hippie), JK Simmons as Lionheart (the city's mayor), Shakira as pop star Gazelle, Maurice LaMarche as a shrew mobster named "Mr. Big" and several more. I found many of these characters to hold their own charm as they delivered laughs, but no one really does it better than Flash (Raymond S. Persi), a sloth at the DMV, which may be the film's funniest and most adult-relatable scene.

With so much good going on with this film, I can highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who hasn't checked it out yet. Although some may point their fingers at this and accuse it of being "too woke" or something, it's impossible for yours truly to deny how incredibly well done this film was, seemingly offering a little something for everyone. Even at its most basic, the film is about breaking barriers and tolerating others, offering an inspirational film, very much made for "the little guy," which is something I've always appreciated in filmmaking. In all honesty, it's probably one of Disney's all-time bests.

5/5

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