An animated animal film about today's social and racial issues that hits the right spots

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2016)

Imagine a world like the one we people live in, only we are all animals. And not just some animals, all animals together. Zootopia is one of Disney's films from this year and it has really become an international success. In this world of animals, a lot of them grow up into already decided places and positions. If you are a bunny, you should become a carrot farmer. Judy Hopps is exactly that kind of bunny, born and raised outside of the city of Zootopia. She decides at an early age to become something more. After graduating from the police academy as the first bunny ever to do so, she moves to the big city. She soon discovers that it is a long way to the top and not everyone in the animal world is getting along as well as she thought. She is quickly drawn into kidnappings that go higher up than anyone in Zootopia could have imagined. Great voice actors lent their voices for the film, such as Jason Bateman, Idris Elba and Ginnifer Goodwin.
Firstly I got to say that I was positively surprised. Partly due to the fact that the film was awesome, but also because it really wasn't at all what I expected. Sure it is a family film but forget the standard family film formula. We are talking Swedish Beck and Wallander combined with American police films. Sometimes the film is actually scary and exciting, but most of all it is well thought out. We follow mostly Hopps and and Nick Wilde the fox, as they struggle to discover who or what's behind the mysterious kidnappings. We are even offered some plot twists and just when you thought we were getting close to the end, the film takes another turn and becomes something else. Very strong and bravely done by Disney.
Zootopia's strongest points lies in the relationship between the animals. It is a "the small person against the big" film. Hopps is a small herbivore among predators that for a long time ago used to eat animals like her. Anti-racial messages and tolerance is clearly visible in the film. It does not try and hide the fact that we may all look different and have various preferences, but we are all equal and deserving of a chance in life. When you sometimes think that the film will end, the filmmakers does not hesitate to twist it one more time and deliver another punch to our heads about moral and value. Zootopia could be Disney's most political and strongest equality praising film to date. It will certainly remain for a long time in my memory because it dares to ask us these difficult questions and also to venture outside of the frames of the family film genre and sometimes become almost a thriller. Very high level of surprise and entertaining for a family film. Disney Animation Studio's best animated film in years
David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se