Funny, heartfelt, creative, and teaching a strong lesson in prejudice, Zootopia roars as one of Disney's strongest films.

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2016)

When one thinks of animation, walking and talking animals come to mind. Even at the start of animation, characters like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat were human-like animals that were the stars of the genre as they could speak to everyone and still be as entertaining as any human. Warner Brothers has the Looney Tunes, which is full of anthropomorphic animal-characters that perform vaudeville routines like a regular human comedian. MGM has Tom and Jerry, the ultimate battle to the death as a cat and mouse should, yet still make their slapstick comedy relatable enough for people to connect with. Now Disney has an interesting note with walking, talking animals.
Despite having a mascot that's anthropomorphic, Disney haven't made much content with human- like animals. 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp and The Jungle Book has such creatures, but live in a world full of people that are the dominant species. In the case of an entire world of animals, I can only think of Robin Hood (which I really like) and Chicken Little (which I consider one of Disney's worst) that have pulled that off. Zootopia takes that same idea, but really takes advantage of the environment it creates to create something really unique.
Judy Hopps (played by Ginnifer Goodwin) is a bunny who has always wanted to be a cop. She's constantly told by everyone, even her parents, that bunnies cannot be police officers due to their size and cute look. She proves them wrong and passes the police academy first in her class and a position in the metropolis of Zootopia. Though promised that she would receive the same treatment like her fellow officers, her police captain Chief Bogo (played by Idris Elba) assigns her parking duty. Rather then complain, she takes her new assignment with excitement, hoping her work effort will lead to something better.
After arresting a thieving weasel, she given a chance to find a missing otter within forty-eight hours or risk having to resign. The only clue she has is a photo from where Emmet Otterton was last seen. She finds a clue that leads her to a sly, con artist fox Nick Wilde (played by Jason Bateman). Though she has a prejudice against foxes (due to her past), they team up to find the otter. Their various clues take them to a nudist club run by a Yak (played by Tommy Chong), a DMV run by sloths, and even a crime boss shrew named Mr. Big in order to discover the bigger mystery within the city.
When I heard about Zootopia, I wasn't sure if more could be offered to the anthropomorphic animal setting. I was not only proved wrong, but this blew me away. The folks at Disney should be city designers as Zootopia feels like a legitimate city with it's various sections. From the desert to the tundra and even a section for rodents, the city could rank up with Los Angeles in Blade Runner or Gotham in Batman. I'll be surprised if something from this movie is not incorporated into the Disney Parks.
The voice acting is simply perfect with Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman as a good set of buddies in this cop story. Speaking of mysteries, the case to be solved was very intriguing and manages to pull off a moral that's perfect with the recent news stories of racism and gender discrimination. I assume that Disney had wanted to tell a story on racism and prejudice for a while and Zootopia should get the adults to think while keeping the children entertained with some great slapstick that remains fast and essential to the plot.
I'll give this ten Nick Wildes out of ten. While Frozen may have been the major Disney movie that people wouldn't stop talking about, Zootopia has a chance to divert that attention as it already has for me. I highly recommend this for everyone, especially for adults, even if they claim they don't like animation.