Zootropolis

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2018)

This Disney animation, retitled 'Zootropolis' in Europe, is set in a world without people; instead it appears that all other mammals have evolved to live like people... and not eat each other. Our protagonist is Judy Hopp, a rabbit who has always dreamt of becoming a police officer despite the fact that a rabbit has never been in the police. She exceeds expectations and becomes the first rabbit to serve in the Zootropolis Police Department. She is disappointed to be given traffic duties rather than 'proper' police-work but then an otter comes to the station saying her husband is missing. Her boss isn't interested but she insists on taking the case... he says she can do it but if she doesn't solve it in forty eight hours she will have to quit. With no access to police resources she has only one lead. This takes her to Nick Wilde; a fox who is quick to work a scam... after a little blackmail he ends up her unlikely partner and the two learn that there is a darker truth behind the disappearance; a truth that could end the peaceful coexistence of predator and prey species in Zootropolis.
This film was a lot of fun... far more so than I expected. It starts well with a play featuring a young Judy which explains how predators and prey used to interact in this world but now live in peace. We then see that not all live up to the ideal. After this prologue the story proper gets started; this nicely spoofs cop-shows before the mystery gets started. This proves to be a surprisingly good mystery which is likely to keep viewers, young and old alike, guessing. There are moments that could scare younger viewers but these rarely last too long and ultimately things are resolved in a way that shouldn't leave youngsters worried. Most of the funny moments are aimed at all ages but there are some references to things children probably won't have seen such as 'The Godfather' and Breaking Bad'. As one might expect from Disney the animation is of a very high standard and the voice cast does a really good job bringing their characters to life. Overall I'd say this was a really fun film that can be enjoyed by all ages with the possible exception of very young children... if the opening scene doesn't bother them they should be okay.