Zootopia Movie Review: Best Movie for All Ages

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2017)

A world where animals walk on their hind legs, speak English, and have various occupations is a world just like the one we know now. These animals have feelings, dreams, and motivations just like us humans. They experience hardship and persevere even when something seems impossible. Is this world even possible? Some may say so. For the animators of Zootopia, it was completely within their grasp. "Zootopia" is not only an animated movie to entertain children, but also an art form from which people of all ages can learn the true importance of enduring and pushing through hardships.
Zootopia is the kind of feel-good movie that both children and adults can enjoy. It stresses the importance of working through the hard times and making the best of a situation. The main character, Judy Hopps, demonstrates this multiple times. In the beginning of the movie, Judy is depicted as a small, child bunny who has big dreams of becoming a police officer in the big city. However, many people doubted that this feat was even possible, especially for a tiny rabbit like Judy. Even her family discouraged her from pursuing her dream. Despite the doubters, Judy disregarded their harsh words and went to the police academy. Here, Judy grew into an amazing police officer and became top of her class. By proving her doubters wrong, Judy was able to show that she could accomplish the impossible. This is an incredibly important lesson for children to learn. There will always be a time in a person's life where things aren't as easy as we would like them to be. Zootopia provides an excellent example of what we can do when we are faced with obstacles. It is important that this lesson is embedded into young children's minds because they can learn early that hardships occur for everyone and it often happens more than once in a person's life, but despite how hard or how many they come along, you should always push through because the outcome will be worthwhile.
The second hardship that Judy faces is from her boss. After Judy finally accomplishes getting a job in the big city, she is prepared for anything her boss is willing to let her do. However, her first task is to be the parking maid. Judy is upset, because she had worked so hard to be recognized for her skill, but because she is a tiny rabbit, she was not given the same opportunity that her larger counterparts were given. Taking her task and making the best of it, she decides to double the number of tickets she is expected to give. While on the job, she manages to come across a food market robbery. She chases and catches a weasel who has stolen "nighthowlers." After turning him into the police station, her boss still does not recognize her skill. Zootopia presents yet another lesson to be learned: you do not need others' recognition to acknowledge your own skill. Judy knew that she was a skilled police officer and was determined to show her boss just how much she deserves her job. In order to do this, Judy takes on a huge challenge: find a missing otter.
Judy goes out to find this missing otter who apparently had gone "wild," and along the way, she found all of the other missing predators. Judy makes the mistake of publicly announcing her theory of this "savageness" being in the predators DNA. Her statement offends her close friend, Nick Wilde, whom she met while she was still a parking maid and had supported her the whole way. Judy realizes the depth of her mistake and at first gives up her dream job. She goes back home to her parents' boring carrot farm, however, on this farm, she discovers the true reason for the predator's' "savageness." She apologizes to Nick, knowing that she would not be able to save Zootopia without her best friend. Judy realizes the importance of friendship and the power that apologies have. I feel that this is one of the most important lessons for children to learn, because we need a world of forgiveness and kindness. Too many people in the world are cruel; we need more kindness.
Zootopia not only provides an entertaining couple of hours for children but also a learning vessel for people of all ages. Through this animation, many important values are expressed. The one that is stressed the most, however, is the value of perseverance. In order to succeed in life, one needs to know how to persevere in spite of challenges that may arise. Zootopia does an excellent job of making this lesson the one that everyone takes away from the movie.