Zootopia is an American 3D computer animated comedy made by Disney and directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush. This film is about bias and stereotypes, told through a big adventure. The whole idea of the film is basically about the fear between the predator and prey group of animals. Throughout the movie they have evolved and the deep-set fear about each other was gone, or so they thought. The theme of this film is identity.
The narrative gives the impression to come out of an adult crime thriller, this film is considered one of the best allegories ever. The premise revolves around an animal society where everyone gets along meaning the predators and prey issues have been resolved long ago. This can be interpreted as the sexism and racism issues faced in the real world. These have been resolved from the outside, however, society still deals with them to a certain extent. With the movement “black lives matter” and police brutality, this movie is said to come from a deeper place. The music played throughout the film was upbeat and a song by Shakira “try everything” was played several times.
Rabbit Judy Hopps is the main character in this movie (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin). Her lifelong goal has been to become a police officer. She comes from a farm and moves to Zootopia a city portrayed as similar to New York. Hopps didn’t want to settle as a carrot farmer like her siblings. She is determined to become a police officer and she becomes the first female bunny police office. During the movie she continuously has to remind Zootopia’s Cape Buffalo Chief, Bogo (Idris Elba) that she was the first female bunny in the academy. Despite her efforts he doesn’t believe in her "bunny skills".
Zootopia has a lot of serious issues addressed but its animation makes it very eye catching and smooth, making it a family friendly film. The editing is done naturally, it doesn’t jump from one scene to the next without introducing a change, it is a linear film. When Rabbit Judy Hoops finally becomes a police officer she is assigned parking tickets and she tries to prove herself as much more than just a parking ticket officer. She believes she can solve crimes and deal with the bad guys but because she is seen as a “fake cop” bunny and a female, she is judged by the other the animals.
When she was on duty placing her parking tickets she was manipulated by a con artist fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) then ends up reprimanded. Cape buffalo Chief Bogo is forced to send officer Hopps on a crime investigation, she is given 48 hours to resolve the case of missing citizens. Ironically Nick (con artist) helps Judy with the case. Although she cleverly black mails him with a tape recorder. This event leads to Judy and Nick becoming very close. Nick’s characterization is as if he is the bad guy in society. In the city of Zootopia Foxes aren't held accountable, compared to human world where people hold racism stereotypes. With Nicks help she then realizes Zootopia is not what she thought it was. She discovers an underground conspiracy and also abuse of power. All this turmoil is presented full of color and animation.
This film holds a subjectivity in the emotion of Judy Hoops in a scene she cries hysterically asking for Nick’s forgiveness. Judy hoops had previously said all predators were bound to become savages because it was in their nature and Nick got very offended by it immediately doubting her loyalty to him. He said to Judy that she also had the same perception of him as everyone else. This scene has an objective point of view because the audience sees from the outside (sideline observers not really involved in the action). The camera is placed in an objective way.
The film as a whole has a mix of subjective and objective cinematic point of view. Some scenes the audience sees through the eyes of the character in action and other the audience sees as a third person from the outside of the screen. This makes the film go smoothly and entertaining, also the lighting and colors used to create the mood in each scene. In many scenes the directors use shadows to distract the viewer and make them focus on the character or something else.
When Judy Hoops is crying hysterically, this emotional effect might seem overdone but this film being a kid’s movie had to have some major effects to be able to catch children’s attention. Another aspect is that bunnies were meant to be seen as weak and very emotional so this was emphasized in this scene. While she was crying the fox Nick seemed very cool and collected, he hugged her and said “bunnies are always so emotional”.
This is because he is a fox with a tough exterior. The lightning of this scene was shadowy and the light was focused on the characters, making it easy for the viewer to only focus on the characters involved. Zootopia was a very interesting film because of its content and also the way it was presented. This movie catches the audience's attention all throughout the film with its colors and lighting. When Judy is on the train on her way to the city of Zootopia we can see all the bright colors and a feeling of joy. In this film color creates mood. When Judy is feeling happy and excited everything is bright and colorful. In scenes where mystery and nostalgia were present, the colors were dark (grey, black).
This film has caused much controversy because it touches topics that are very serious to deal with in our society and in this film it is presented in a very clever and animated way. In a scene Judy Hopps says to the front desk “You probably didn't know, but, a bunny can call another bunny cute, but when other animals do it it's a little...” this statement is really implying something else which is true in the world we live in. when humans of the same race call each others a surname it is sometimes okay but when others from a different race do it, they might take it offensive.This film is complex because it makes people wonder about issues we have in real life and it might also teach children to make the world a better place.
Disney has changed its approach about women always being princesses. With Zootopia that stereotype is over and done with. Hopps is very respectful and feminine but nowhere in the movie is she applying makeup or over doing it with her femininity or is being a tomb boy. Overall the way the editing, lighting, and the colors were placed perfectly together, fitting each scene and impacting the audience’s mood. The shifting of the cinematic point of view was also used at the right times, many times delivering a message that couldn’t be detected just by dialogue in the film.
Totally recommend watching this film!
