“In Zootopia, anyone can be anything they want.”
The positive slogan of the titular city of Disney’s newest film is a representative of what not only the fictional city is meant to stand for, but the message bestowed upon the viewers by the many animal citizens. Zootopia is a city created millions of years in the future, when animals have evolved and adapted to take on more human characteristics; walking on two feet, wearing clothing, having careers… As time passed, their deepest animal instincts began to disappear, and predators and prey were able to live together in harmony in the beautiful city of Zootopia. With zones for the rainforest, desert, polar regions, and the main city, Zootopia has a place for everyone.
Our main protagonist, Judy Hopps, is a rabbit from a small town with a dream to become a police officer. Against all odds, she trains hard and graduates top of her class. Despite this, she is immediately assigned parking duty, not taken seriously by any of her colleagues. While working to prove that she can be more than just a meter maid, she catches a runaway thief, but the police chief still won’t take her seriously. In an attempt to prove herself, Judy volunteers herself for Zootopia’s biggest case, finding one of fourteen missing predators. Furious, her chief gives her 48 hours to solve the case or she will be fired.
Proving that she truly can be anything she wants to be, Judy teams up with a con man and fox named Nick Wilde. Travelling from naturalist yoga gardens to the deepest jungles to the DMV, meeting mob bosses and timberwolves and sheepish sheep, Judy and Nick discover something much bigger than just a kidnapping. With the discovery of such a massive secret and its coverup, Judy must decide what is the right decision to make for the future of Zootopia.
Filled with just the right amount of puns and clever references, "Zootopia" is a movie that can bring a chuckle and smile out of anyone. But it’s more than that. With the underlying message of government corruption, of classism, of trusting your instincts… Disney has once again provided something much deeper than just a children’s movie. In the end, however, the true moral of the story is the same.
"Zootopia" is about following your dreams. "Zootopia" is about being what others think you can’t be. "Zootopia" is about being anything you want to be. Judy Hopps can be more than a meter maid, and Nick Wilde can be more than an untrustworthy, sly fox. They can be the most unlikely of partners, and they can save the city from evil. Because in Zootopia, anyone can be anything they want. Even heroes.
