So, Disney has done it again. And by Disney, I mean animation director John Lassiter, whose string of hits continue since his time in Pixar. This guy is one of those great geniuses in moviedom, like Spielberg or even dear old Walt himself, that seems to instinctually understand what makes a great story and brings it out of some of the most talented people who ever lived. Ironic, that his original dream job was to be an animator at Disney and was turned down. He went on to found Pixar, and after a string of a couple of movies you may or may not have heard of (Toy Story 1-3, Cars 1-2, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Monsters Inc., etc), he is now the helmer of Disney's animation department that has made another couple of mid-range hits that include: Bolt, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Big Hero Six. So needless to say, this guy is good. His newest film Zootopia continues this amazing run of great story, characters and humor.
Zootopia is a world where there are no humans and all animals live together in harmony, more or less. The main character is the cute as a button Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a little bunny rabbit who is determined to be the first bunny police officer in Zootopia. Unfortunately for her, the police force is made up of large, mostly predator animals. She is immediately dismissed by her coworkers and water buffalo Chief Bogo (Idris Elba). They immediately make her a meter maid until she discovers a crime that many people want to hush up. The key witness to the crime is a con-artist fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). Officer Hopps and Nick must not only solve the case, but learn how to work together as they are natural enemies (predator/prey).
This movie has a lot going for it. Not only is it utterly charming and very funny, but also, like many great animated films, there's a lot going on underneath. First and foremost, the movie deals with believing in yourself, not matter what the odds. Judy is small and insignificant next to the lions, tigers and elephants that are her coworkers, but she is determined to prove herself as the first non-predator on the police force. The film also deals with prejudice in a very unique and interesting way. See, in the city of Zootopia, predator and prey species live side-by-side in an uneasy truce, with prey animals never fully trusting predators. It is always in the back of their minds that predators will revert back to the natural order of things. Furthermore, animals that are natural enemies (i.e. a fox and a rabbit) are predisposed to be snippy with each other. The movie hinges around this dynamic as it builds the relations between Judy and Nick. Neither particularly like each other at first, but circumstances throw them together and they have to work out their prejudices in order to do what they need to do to solve the crime. Ultimately, the movie is wonderful and fun with great little in-jokes. My particular favorite is that the DMV is staffed entirely by incredibly slow-moving sloths.
This is a great movie no matter what the age. It has something for everything, and pulls everything off almost perfectly. It is thoroughly entertaining and I recommend it highly.
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