Directed by : Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
Written by : Jared Bush, Phil Johnston
Starring : Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence
Release Date : February 11, 2016
One of the main highlights in "Zootopia" is the incredible world building that this movie brings. The creative team behind such animated hits from Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, to Big Hero 6, have created a sprawling world that imagines what a modern city would look like if it was inhabited by evolved anthropomorphic animals. From places like rural town farms, to the department of motor vehicles, and citizens like elephants working in an ice cream parlor, to a cheetah who is a radio dispatcher at a police station. There's a certain charm to how lived-in Zootopia is, that it just invites the audience to want to just stay in that world.
The main plot of the story involves an under-appreciated but highly motivated rabbit police officer named Judy Hopps; voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, and a clever fast talking con-artist fox named Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman. This is basically a buddy-cop movie, where two characters of very different and conflicting personalities, are forced to work together to solve a mystery, and will learn from each other in the process. Yes, it's not the most original story, and yes it does have it's fair share of expected plot tropes, but it's done very well and is highly entertaining, with some fun comedic sequences as well as good action set pieces.
As it goes with most animated movies, there is always something that young audiences will learn from the story. The typical life lesson of pursuing your dream to be whatever you want to be, despite what other people say you should be, is very much on the nose and obviously present here. However it's the many other thematic subtext that was even more fascinating, as this story deals with subjects such as discrimination, stereo types, social class structures, fear mongering, nature vs nurture, etc... There's definitely some ideological ideas in this movie, as well as certain jokes, that I don't expect the kids to understand at all.
While there are some heavy subject matters that "Zootopia" plays around with, it shouldn't distract from the fact that this is a fantastic movie, with two lead characters that have great chemistry, in a well developed and very imaginative world. It's such a fun movie, and I want to see more!
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