But there's also a case against Zootopia The sloths are slow in Zootopia, and presumably if a sloth wanted to be really fast, it couldn't be. But tell it as a larger metaphor, and it's better able to connect with its target audience. Make this story too specific to human beings, and it runs the risk of being preachy or of having its message shrugged off. But that allows its metaphor to be slippery enough to comment on all sorts of different topics.Īnd as anyone who's listened to fairy tales or fables knows, metaphors are how we tend to offer moral instruction through storytelling. Zootopia might have boiled down a whole bunch of issues relating to prejudice and discrimination into its overarching "predators versus prey" dynamic, oversimplifying itself to a fault. It's a deeply sad moment, and Zootopia directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore turn it into something out of an emotional horror film, all disorienting close-ups and shadows. It was wrong of her to assume something about him simply because he's a predator, especially in her position as a police officer.īut we also see this concept discussed from Nick's point of view, via a flashback to a painful childhood incident where he was invited to join a group analogous to the Boy Scouts, but then was muzzled because the prey animals who were his fellow members considered him too dangerous. And in case kids aren't getting the point, Judy drives it home in a monologue to her friend Nick, a fox. Her message isn't terribly subtle, but that's typical for a film like this. She holds a press conference after seemingly cracking this case, suggesting the drive to attack smaller, weaker beings is simply part of a predator's biology, which causes the minority to suspect and fear the majority. Late in the film, Judy discovers that several animals who have disappeared (the film's central mystery) are all predators who have "gone savage," reverting to their animal roots (which the film posits the animal kingdom has evolved beyond) and attacking prey. The way she's positioned as smaller and physically weaker is a classic example of a character who's meant to gain kids' sympathies.īut even if Judy is a minority in her workplace, she's part of the majority culture of Zootopia in another way: She's "prey." Just like the animal kingdom, the city is 90 percent prey and 10 percent predators, and that means Judy and other prey animals have a lot of unexamined assumptions about the predators in their midst.
Crucially, however, Judy constantly being underestimated will also play well with kids, who might long to do great things but will always be shut out of adult spaces for obvious reasons. She's frequently underestimated, simply by virtue of who she is, and she's more or less seen as a token hire by those who hold positions of authority within the police force. Judy's journey roughly parallels those of women who are trailblazers in any field. But Judy longs to make the world a better place, and she's undeterred by those who think she's not cut out for the job. Over the course of the film, she is continually underestimated and overlooked, because a creature as small and non-vicious as a rabbit could never be a good police officer. The film centers on Judy Hopps, the first rabbit on Zootopia's police force. Disneyįirst, let's talk about what Zootopia 's message actually is.
The case for Zootopia Nick and Judy are just a little suspicious of each other. If you haven't seen the film yet, you can read more about how this works in my earlier review.īut if you have, here are some thoughts on how Zootopia does - and doesn't - tell effective stories about prejudice. It's impossible to escape the idea that regardless of the lessons Zootopia teaches, the idea of some animals being predators and some being prey doesn't track very well against racial dynamics in our own world, thus creating a confusing moral. Overwhelmingly, they praise the film's central message, one that aims to help kids confront issues of prejudice - and maybe even the roots of police brutality.Īnd yet the more you think about that central message, the more Zootopia's status as a movie about a bunch of animals seems to undercut it, at least a little bit. The film's box office has been great too, with an opening weekend of more than $73 million in the US and Canada alone.īut those reviews don't just focus on the film's solid mystery, or its great gags, or even its terrific character work. Reviews of Zootopia, Disney's new animated detective story about a rabbit cop, a con artist fox, and the animal-filled city they call home, have been overwhelmingly positive.