Zootopiawas number one in the box offices during spring 2016, and there's a good reason why.
When Zootopia first came out on March 4, 2016, I thought nothing of it. Being that I'm sixteen, many Disney animation movies are no longer advertised to me, so I didn't even give Zootopia a second glance. I, like many others my age, thought, "It's probably just some silly kids' movie. I won't find it entertaining."
However, Zootopia seemed to be following me everywhere, calling my name. I saw advertisements for the movie before almost every YouTube video I watched. I saw some of my favorite teen/college/young adult YouTubers rave about the "depth" of the movie on Twitter. I saw that Zootopia had climbed to the top of the box office ladder, taking its place as the king of the movies. Suddenly, I found myself thinking, "Hm, if this movie is that popular, it must be somewhat good."
So, on a seemingly uneventful spring break day, I made the life-altering decision to go see Zootopia in theaters.
Remember how I thought Zootopia would just be a "silly kids' movie?" Boy, was I wrong.
A tale of unlikely friendships, discrimination, and beating the status quo, Zootopia is a very relevant, important story for all people of all ages. Here are the highlights of this amazing film, and if by the end of this article you aren't convinced to go buy Zootopia on Amazon right now, I've done tthe entire franchise a disservice.
1. Zootopia opens your eyes to the wrongs of racial profiling.
Judy Hops, a bunny from Bunny Borough, has never wanted to be a carrot farmer like the rest of her bunny family. Instead, she always dreamed of being a cop and making the world a better place in the big city of Zootopia, where anyone can be anything. The problem? There's never been a bunny cop, and Judy's peers make sure Judy knows that. Nonetheless, Judy defies the odds, graduates as valedictorian of her Zootopia police force class, and begins working for the Z.P.D. -- the Zootopia Police Department. However, on her first day, while everyone else is getting assigned to the missing mammal cases, she's assigned to working parking duty because no one considers Judy the bunny cop as a "real cop," simply because she's a cute little bunny.
Judy goes home from her first day "living the dream" feeling like her goals really were just a dream. Nonetheless, Judy gets up and sets her mind to defeat the odds, no matter what others who look down upon Judy say.
To quote Officer Judy Hops, "A bunny can call another bunny cute, but you can’t" (Zootopia).
On a similar note, the other main character, Nick Wilde, a fox, faces animals not trusting him simply because foxes are "known" to be shady, sly tricksters. Thus, bunnies carry around fox repellent, other animals are rude to foxes, and an elephant ice cream shop even tries to deny service to Nick (as shown in the picture above) just because he is a fox.
Though Nick did play some not-so-honest games, he wasn't a terrible animal at heart simply because he was a fox. Nick, like other foxes, had been hurt and discriminated against by other animals, forcing Nick to feel as if he had no other option but to play his pre-determined species role. Once Judy and Nick meet, however, two worlds that feared each other unite forces, showing that a bunny can fight crime, a fox can be good, and animals aren't limited by what society says they are.
2. Zootopia is for all ages
What makes Zootopia brilliant is not its cinematic value (although that helps a lot), but instead its widespread appeal. A movie with both fun and depth, both children and adults will leave the theater with a new perspective on life.
In life, we sometimes almost go cross-eyed with all of the complex issues surrounding discrimination and racial profiling of people. However, with Zootopia's spin of on this issue by explaining the problem with different animals of various shapes and sizes, Disney successfully simplifies the issue of racial profiling without running into oversimplification.
A fox and a bunny may be different animals with different personality tendencies, but all foxes and bunnies are not the same, nor is one species better than the other. Those who are Black, White, Asian, Native American, etc. may grow up with different cultures, but no one race, no one person, is ultimately better or worse than the other simply because of skin tone. At the end of the day, animals are all animals, and people are all people. We each are here for a unique purpose, but until we stop assuming people are one way or another just based off their outer appearances, those unique abilities will have no time to shine.
3. The animals are SO cute!
Who doesn't love a story completely told with animals? As an animal lover, I felt the fun and depth in this movie tripled simply because of the cute animals factor. Plus, a story told with animals makes anything comprehensible for any age.
When I first saw the scene from the GIF above, I was nearly brought to tears because of how cute it was. I may or may not have gone home afterwards and downloaded every photo of this scene I could find.
Okay, I did.
Ultimately, Zootopia is a fun movie with a deep meaning, as with many Disney movies, and is, to me, one of the most socially important movies to be created in awhile.
As soon as the DVD version came out on June 7, 2016, I can assure you I got my hands on a copy. If you thought Inside Out gave you enough "feels," Zootopia just may turn your "feels" themselves inside out (no pun intended).
