Zootopia is a great movie. Not only is it beautifully animated, funny, and filled will lovable characters and teachable moments, but it is also hugely educational to all the adults forced to watch it by their kids, and the college kids who went to see it because, well, that's what we do. We watch Disney movies. Zootopia is Disney — very calmly, quietly, and politely — screaming at its not inconsiderable audience that racism is still a massive part of our society, and a massive problem. Here are reasons why I think that Zootopia is not a children's movie.
Spoilers ahead!
1. The nudist yoga club, replete with a pleasure room. Yes, all the nudity was simply animals, who are naked all the time anyway, but the scandalized looks on Judy's face made the implication loud and clear.
2. All the innocuous adult jokes: the slowness of the DMV (it was run by sloths, for Heaven's sake!), the Godfather and Breaking Bad references, etc., were all ploys to make the movie inviting for older audiences, the people that Disney really wanted to attract.
3. The violence! Even my Deadpool-loving friends were mildly perturbed by the death of so many mice, gerbils, hamsters, and other small rodents during the Godzilla-esque chase scene in which their tiny apartment buildings and cars were crushed and knocked down. And then there were blatant acts of brutal violence by animals gone "savage," not the least of which was the scene in which we literally see Judy killed by her friend. Granted, that scene was staged by Judy and Nick, but we don't know that until after it's over. We even see a train derail and then explode. The mobsters threaten their enemies with certain death!
4. The drugs! For heaven's sake, the entire plot of the movie revolved around a corrupt government cooking and then shooting a minority group with a drug to force prejudice by the majority.
5. Finally, last but not least, the racism. Judy fights racist beliefs, instilled in her by even her own parents, that bunnies can't be cops. Sher herself displays racist tendencies against foxes, after having been taught that they are evil her whole life. Predators, in general, are discriminated against, even from a very young age. Nick Wilde describes being bullied and forced to wear a muzzle as a little boy simply because he is a fox, a predator, and explains the lesson that taught him: "If the world is only going to see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else."
Zootopia is not a children's movie. It is scary, surprisingly violent and very philosophical. It is, however, the movie that we need right now. I believe that after watching Zootopia, a lot of people are reconsidering the way we live our lives. After all, "we may be evolved, but deep down we're still animals."
