Zootropolis continues on the recent Disney Animation Studios monopoly. Films such as Big Hero 6 and Frozen are still very much engrained into our minds (as well as the seemingly endless churning of ‘Let It Go’), but with their latest effort we are presented with a beautifully realised world that is teeming with fantastic characters and humour, creating for us a very human story – about animals.
Judy Hopps is a helplessly hopeful bunny who dreams big and works her way into the city’s police force, only to find that she isn’t as helpful to the force as she wants to be. Judged and berated for her size, Judy’s admiral optimism is the only thing that keeps her afloat, and counter-comments the age old witticism of ‘size matters’. With her unflappable self-worth intact, Judy takes to the streets and, before she knows it, gets drawn into a conspiracy involving a series of missing animals. Teaming up with Nick Wilde, a conniving fox battling to overcome his societal mistreatment, the slapdash duo does their best to dig up the dirt on a scandalous story that unravels at pinpoint pacing, never lingering too long on scenes regardless of their comical worth.
And there is a lot to be said for the humour in this film – from the Sloth DMV to the Yak-lead Nudist Colony, there’s a level of ingenuity in the comedy, albeit with a surprising layer of depth to them. The concept of acceptance and harmonious living is toiled with and laid on in paste throughout the film. It’s not always subtle, but it gets the point across to the younger audience, and it never comes off too preachy or sentimental – instead, it’s said with a curiously raised eyebrow and a knowing smile, allowing for the audience to reflect.
Bold and brash colours are thrown at us in waves throughout the film. And it would have been easy to paint the picture of Zootropolis, a magnanimous cityscape that features varying weather and environments, without having to focus too heavily on visiting each district in the story. But what writers Jared Bush and Phil Johnston do so well is fit the narrative around the world it inhibits. It’s laden with references to the crime-genre it utilises – from The Godfather to Breaking Bad, there are plenty of nods to films and TV shows that give the adults an extra few chuckles, even if it goes straight over the heads of the kids
A Visually vibrant extravaganza, Zootropolis breathes more life into the Animation genre. Utilising elements of Film-Noir and blending in accessible humour helps, but the rhetoric that lines each and every scene is one that you can’t help smiling at, against better judgement. Zootropolis offers up a message of acceptance, dreaming big and being an individual in a world dominated by trends. It’s a wonderful message to pass on to a generation of children, even if its sincerity could be questioned by the monopolising animation studios behind it, and the relentless nature of their franchising and making a business out of bright distractions for audiences.
4/5
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