REVIEW: Zootopia

When I go see an animated film from the folks at the iconic Disney Animation Studios, I usually expect something of general quality. In the case of Zootopia, I figured I'd be getting a well-made, well-animated little flick with lots of fun jokes delivered by adorably expressive talking animals. Having seen the film, I can safely say that my expectations were met; however, nothing could have prepared me for the hefty dose of clever, even-handed, and above all topical social commentary that lay within. Below all the impressive art design and Shakira cameos, this is a film with a lot to say, and it gets it all across with subtlety, finesse, and class.

Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a rookie police officer, the first bunny to ever make it onto the force, trying to make a positive impact in the bustling metropolis of Zootopia. After a string of cases involving mysteriously missing mammals spring up throughout the city, Judy teams up with Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a con-artist fox, in order to get to the bottom of what's causing the disappearances. At first glance, this is a standard underdog story with a dash of crime mystery; the cute, fuzzy bunny must prove her worth as a cop by solving the crime with her comically mismatched accomplice. However, it's around the end of the second act when the real meat of the story begins to fully present itself.

In the world of Zootopia, there are two kinds of animals who make up society; predators and prey. As explained in the opening of the film, there was once a time long ago when predators would viciously hunt and kill the prey animals as a food source. As time progressed, so had society; predators and prey now live more or less in harmony. They wear clothes, hold jobs, and build civilizations. Both classes of creature are, for all intents and purposes, equal. However, due to the ingrained unpleasantness of the past, there still remains a constant underlying societal tension between the two. Judy (a rabbit) is initially distrustful of Nick (a fox) simply because of his species. When she first walks into her new precinct, she has to explain to a fellow officer who calls her "cute" that, while it's okay for rabbits to call other rabbits cute, it's offensive when a non-rabbit uses that word. If anyone isn't quite getting it yet, I'll come right out with it; at its core, Zootopia is a film about race relations.

It's somewhat masterful how subtly this film lays the threads of this theme within its own plot; all throughout the movie, the dynamic between predators and prey is evident and called upon, sometimes as nothing more than a joke. It's only later on in the film that it reveals itself as being at the very core of the plot; when a number of animals seemingly turn feral and begin attacking their fellow Zootopians, the one connecting factor between all of the assailants is that they all happen to be predators such as panthers, tigers, and even otters. As disturbances continue, a cycle of equating correlation with causation results in widespread discrimination throughout the animal community. All of this is done in the least ham-handed way possible, mostly because our characters and story are so wholly engaging. It doesn't feel like a film attempting to feed you a moral, but rather a film telling a good story that happens to have a moral seamlessly woven within it.

As much as I adore the maturity and skill with which this film handles its subject matter, I must say that I was slightly surprised at how laid-back its sense of humor was. Not to say it's unfunny (one extremely subtle reference to Frozen had me chortling for a good minute), but it's definitely less jam-packed with jokes than I would have expected; it's a mystery first and a comedy second, but the humor that's there is rock-solid. It manages to bank heavily on referential humor (it's 2016 and children still apparently love it when cartoons spoof The Godfather) and still work, since it never quite resorts to "x scene from a different movie, but with animal puns". I suppose "smart" is a good way to describe this movie. Smart humor, smart plot, smart subtext. Not exactly full of bombastic action or wall-to-wall laughs, but a rewarding experience nonetheless.

Though we're only barely over two months into 2016, I feel confident in saying that Zootopia may turn out to be one of the best films of the year. While it's not the most high-energy entry into the realm of animation Disney has ever produced, it's easily one of the most clever and one of the most mature (in the "rewarding compliment from a parent or teacher" sense, not in the "contains naughty words and violence" sense). Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman have wonderfully layered chemistry together as Judy and Nick, helping cement this as one of the few Disney films I would love to see get a sequel somewhere down the line. If you need anymore proof that Disney Animation is entering a second renaissance after films like Wreck-It Ralph and Tangled, Zootopia should certainly help convince you.