Zootropolis (Zootopia)

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2016)

I saw the trailer for this Disney computer animated film, it looked like both a good laugh and simple but clever idea, then I saw it was rated five out of five stars by the critics, so I was definitely up for giving it a go. Basically in a world populated by anthropomorphic mammals, in rural Bunnyburrow, Judy Hopps (Once Upon a Time's Ginnifer Goodwin) is a rabbit who achieves her childhood dream to become a police officer, graduating top of her class. Judy is the first rabbit to join the police department in the nearby city of Zootropolis, but despite her achievement, she is excluded from handling top-priority cases, specifically for missing predators, Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), a cape buffalo, doubts her ability and assigns her to parking duty, during one of her shifts she meets partners in crime Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a red fox, and Finnick (The Fifth Element's Tommy 'Tiny' Lister), a fennec fox. Judy abandons her shift to arrest thief Duke Weaselton (Alan Tudyk), who stole nothing more than some onion bulbs, Bogo reprimands her, but Mrs. Otterton (The Help's Octavia Spencer), an otter, arrives pleading that someone finds her missing husband, Judy volunteers and Assistant Mayor Bellwether (Jenny Slate, a sheep, informs Mayor Lionheart (J.K. Simmons), a lion, of the news. Bogo reluctantly gives Judy 48 hours to solve the case, on the condition that she will resign if she fails, she finds Nick and blackmails him to assist her with the investigation, having recorded his confession of his tax evasion. Judy and Nick determine that Otterton was last seen entering a limousine, to get one over on Judy, Nick deliberately chooses the DMV (Department of Mammal Vehicals), filled with working sloths, the slowest of animals, to track the licence plate, they track the plate number to Tundratown crime boss, Mr. Big (Maurice LaMarche), an arctic shrew. Mr. Big informs the pair that Otterton was his florist, he had "gone savage" and reverted to a feral state and attacked his chauffeur Mr. Manchas (Jesse Corti), a black panther, he tells Judy and Nick that "black howlers" were responsible for Otterton's behavioural change, soon after Manchas himself becomes savage and tries to attack them. Judy calls ZPD to help them, but by the time they arrive Manchas has disappeared, Bogo demands Judy resigns, but Nick defends her and reminds Bogo they still have 10 hours to solve the case, as they leave Nick tells Judy how he was bullied as a youngster for being a fox, which explains why he became a con artist. Judy and Nick consult Bellwether for access to the city's camera system, they see Manchas was captured by wolves, they assume this is what he meant by "night howlers", Judy and Nick locate Otterton and the other missing predators, who have turned savage, at Cliffside Asylum. Judy and Nick also witness Lionheart consulting about the predators' condition, they escape with the evidence and the mayor is arrested, having developed a friendship Judy requests Nick join the Zootropolis Police Department, he happily considers. However during the press conference Judy suggests a biological connection between savaged animals and predators, Nick walks out angry, and fear against predators spreads across the city, with protesting breaking out, feeling guilty Judy resigns and returns to Bunnyburrow. Back home Judy works with her parents, Bonnie (Bonnie Hunt) and Stu (Don Lake) as a carrot farmer, she learns from her former childhood bully Gideon Grey (Phil Johnston), a red fox, that "night howlers" are flowers that have a severe psychotropic effect on mammals. Judy returns to Zootropolis, reconciles with Nick, and finds Weaselton who confesses he collected night howlers for a ram named Doug (Rich Moore) at a secret laboratory, there they find Doug and his team of sheep creating a serum with the flowers, this has been injected into predators via a dart gun to make them savage. Judy and Nick race to the ZPD with the evidence, but Bellwether reveals herself as the mastermind of the species-supremacist conspiracy, she attempts to take the evidence, and shoots Nick with a dart, he turns savage and attacks Judy, but this was an act, they swapped the serum for blueberries, and recorded Bellwether's confession. In the end there is enough evidence for the ZPD, Bellwether and her accomplices are arrested, Lionheart says he did not know about the plot, but admits imprisoning the savaged predators for the "right reasons", Judy is reinstated, the savaged mammals, including Otterton and Manchas, are cured with an antidote, and Nick joins the ZPD as the first fox police officer, and all animals of the city enjoy a performance by Gazelle (Shakira). Also starring Tommy Chong as Yax, a laid-back yak, Nate Torrence as Clawhauser, an obese cheetah, Raymond S. Persi as Flash, a three-toed sloth and Futurama's John DiMaggio as Jerry Jumbeaux Jr., an African elephant. The cast all do their voice parts well, the animals chosen for the parts suit the personalities and their animal traits, and it has fantastic animation, on the surface it is a film with all species of talking animals coexisting in a metropolis, it makes you laugh and has a good mystery to go along with, but is also makes good points about cultural sensitivity and political correctness, it is a well crafted and enjoyable animated comedy adventure. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature Film, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Animated. Very good!