The jewel of Disney's 'second renaissance'

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2016)

As someone who has been an enormous Disney fan all my life (the only films that don't do much for me are 'Chicken Little', 'Home on the Range' and 'The Black Cauldron', if it counts also 'Planes'), Zootropolis may not be as good as the best of classic Disney or the 'big four' of the Renaissance era.
However, it is for me the jewel of Disney's 'second renaissance' (their return to form era starting with 'The Princess and the Frog', and if it counts -might not as it is Disney Toon Studios- their only misfire from that era is 'Planes'). Despite a couple of issues 'The Princess and the Frog' was still enormously entertaining. 'Tangled was Disney's best since 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (not sure how much of a popular opinion that is though), until the even better 'Wreck it Ralph' took that title. 'Winnie the Pooh' was immensely charming and sweet with its one problem being that it was too short. 'Frozen' despite what people say to me was the best animated film of 2013 besides 'Ernest et Celestine' (and the amount of hate it gets and the detractors' attitude towards those who loved, or even liked, the film has been blown way out of proportion). And 'Big Hero 6' was fun and touching with one of Disney's most endearing characters in recent years in Baymax.
Onto the review properly for 'Zootropolis' now. The animation is fantastic with rich colours, vivid, beautifully designed and colourful backgrounds and lovingly designed characters whose movements flow fluidly and never robotically. Some of it is even very inventive and imaginative in the set pieces. Michael Giacchino's score is cleverly orchestrated, energetic and catchy, not as good as his scores for the ones for the Pixar films 'Up' and 'Inside Out' but it complements 'Zootropolis' very well indeed.
'Zootropolis' has some very smart and hilarious writing, cleverly balancing sly references, witty humour and also genuine pathos and heart with few if any awkward tonal shifts. The visual gags are similarly inventive and a joy to watch. The story is so consistently well paced and involving and is told with such energy, charm and heart that some may forget the storyline being predictable. To me, it had enough originality to not make it matter that much. What was also impressive about 'Zootropolis' was how it dealt with such heavy and wholly relevant themes and issues, one of most daring along with 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and deal with it with a light touch. Some did find the message (one that's easy to identify with) forced and heavy-handed, it wasn't an issue to me at all, to this viewer it was incorporated well and respectfully.
The characters in 'Zootropolis' are interesting - all serving a point to the story- with colourful personalities, none of them felt bland, none felt shoe-horned in, none felt annoying and none felt unnecessary. Love the sassiness and charm of the protagonist, and while the twist wasn't a surprise as such the villain did serve a good threat and more interesting than the recent Disney twist villains. The voice acting is just terrific from all, especially from Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman. Can't go wrong with Idris Elba, JK Simmons and Maurice LaMarche either.
All in all, with the one small exception of the forgettable and slightly grating main song from Shakira (which was not enough to bring the film down personally) 'Zootropolis' was a superb film, not only of Disney's post-2009 films but also one of their best post-Tarzan and towards the top end in the Disney animated film ranking. 10/10 Bethany Cox