Zootopia (2016)

Zootopia, the 55th official animated movie out of Disney Animation Studios, is a surprisingly relevant story with real world analogies that will get adults thinking and teach kids about tolerance. Disney has always been one to poke fun at its own formula as of late, and Zootopia continues this trend by featuring standard tropes with some nice twists.

Set in an anthropomorphic world where animals have evolved beyond their roles as predator and prey, the movie follows Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny determined to be the first rabbit on the police force in the metropolis of Zootopia. Its the same "if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams" angle that is a favorite of the Disney stable, but rarely have they applied it to someone breaking the mold and tearing down stereotypes.

After she graduates as valedictorian and is assigned to ZPD (Zootopia Police Department), she moves to the big city from her humble small town and discovers that the urban environment is not very friendly, and that just because she was the best at her school, she will not get special treatment (her chief is a Ram played by Idris Elba, a great touch). Assigned to parking duty, she eventually snags a piece of a larger case involving missing animals, and sets out to solve the mystery or else lose her job.

The film plays draws interesting parallels to real world racial tensions; rabbits have preconceived notions about foxes as wily, sly, and untrustworthy, so naturally she teams up with a street urchin fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). Nick calls her "cute," and an interesting line she retorts with is, "Other rabbits can call each other that, but you can't." And the dynamic of predator and prey is put in the foreground, as the weaker animals grow fearful of what their more powerful friends could be capable of doing.

It's all fascinating stuff, and the world of Zootopia itself is a wonder to behold. Laid out very much like a theme park, the city features "zones" where different animals of different climates live (a rainforest zone, a snow zone, etc.), surrounding a central city where animals go to work and live a regular 9 to 5 life. An early chase scene moves from the regular city to a mouse sized neighborhood where our heroes suddenly become Godzilla sized monsters.

But, like many films out of the Disney Animation Studio, the film doesn't fully commit to its bold premise. Wreck-it Ralph (2012) has a great moment where the eventual villain convinces our hero that if he helps his friend, it could mean her demise. That's a great, nuanced story, but unfortunately it squanders that storyline for a more traditional villain. The same goes for Zootopia, where the central mystery is a fascinating analogy for real world race relations, but takes a turn I suspected, but hoped it wouldn't.

But that's the price of family-friendly entertainment. Zootopia proves that Disney's output has been overall stronger than Pixar's (although none of their films can hold a candle to Inside Out). But I hope Disney can move past the need for a villain in their movie. Pixar usually employs villains as well, but their motivations make sense and their defeat is sometimes surprising and unique. Zootopia's villain is a lame cop-out that I saw coming a mile away, and was an ultimately unnecessary edition to the story.

Still, this is a fun, delightful, and mostly very smart movie. True to most Disney films, it is one adults can enjoy as well as their kids. I just wish the movie did even more with its bold premise. Disney has been mocking its own formula for quite some time now; its time they actually broke it.