With the success of the movie “Big Hero 6,” Walt Disney’s Animation Studios had to make sure their next film hit the mark to keep their good movie streak going. “Zootopia,” directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush, definitely hit this mark. Going back to the roots of past Disney films, the film focuses around characters that are anthropomorphic. This means that most of the characters are bipedal (walks on two feet) and show human characteristics. With unique characters in an animal utopia, this film has a lot to offer.
The story focuses around the character Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) who has become the first rabbit police officer in the town of Zootopia. However, when she leaves her home to start her job she finds it difficult as the police chief, Bogo (Idris Elba), does not like her due to her size compared to the other police officers. He assigns her to parking duty where she first encounters the second main character of the film, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a con artist fox. After some shenanigans, Judy leaves her current assignment to arrest a thief, Duke Weaselton (Alan Tudyk).
Judy becomes reprimanded and is on the verge of being fired when a citizen, Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer), comes in explaining her husband has gone missing. When it is discovered that many Zootopian individuals had been kidnapped recently, Judy volunteers to take the case. Before Bogo can argue, the assistant mayor of the city, Dawn Bellswhether (Jenny Slate) arrives and shows her excitement for Judy to take the case. Bogo then tells Judy that if she can’t crack the case within 48 hours she will have to resign, and Judy agrees.
The character designs in the film are fantastic with some looking adorably cute, others looking whacky, and all fitting the traits of their respective animal. The size scale of the animal characters is also spectacular due to every character being the size of that animal. For example, Judy Hopps is the size of an actual rabbit, which makes her smaller than most characters, even Nick Wilde.
The background and city landscapes in “Zootopia” are astounding as well. With bright and colorful buildings and unique designs for every animal size, it is clear the team making this film put a lot of thought into small details.
With all the good things about Zootopia being present through visuals and story, there all still some problems with the movie. For instance, the voice acting in the film is not done very well, as the mouth movements sometimes don’t sync with the voice acting. Another issue is the over use of clichés in the film, such as the fat cop that eats donuts, the “fish out of water” gimmick and the buddy cop standpoint.
All in all, “Zootopia” is a great movie for both children and adults. With enough subtle adult jokes to fly over the heads of children and morals for kids to learn through the film, it will most likely became another Disney favorite. This movie gets a 4.5/5.
