Zootopia is no Utopia

Rating: 10/10 (10 March 2017)

Having seen this film multiple times since first seeing it in theaters last year, I have to say that this is honestly one of the most satisfying films to come from Disney in a long time, not to mention one of the most relevant to the real world. While it does take place in a fictional world populated solely by anthropomorphic animals instead of humans, it's quite clear from the very first scene, that many of the societal issues that plague our world are paralleled, quite cleverly I might add, in the world of Zootopia, regardless of whether it's some "carrot choke podunk" like Judy Hopp's hometown of Bunnyburrow or the supposedly progressive, cosmopolitan, city of Zootopia where everyone gets along and discrimination is virtually nonexistent.
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is an adorable little bunny from Bunnyburrow who has big dreams of being the first rabbit police officer in the city of Zootopia, however her more traditional-minded parents aren't strongly supportive of her ambitions, feeling she would be much better off being a carrot farmer, which I suppose, is the traditional occupation of rabbits in the small rural community in which they live. However, once growing up, she ultimately decides to go for it anyway, and moves to Zootopia to become a police cadet, ultimately succeeding in proving both her parents and society in general wrong, and becoming a full-fledged officer of the ZPD (Zootopia Police Department). However, she still has many obstacles to overcome, as most of the cops in Zootopia, quite believably, are both male and predators, leaving her a small, female "prey" animal, seem even smaller than she normally would.
In addition to racial prejudice in the form of "predators" and "prey", there are also nods towards sexism, particularly against females employed in "masculine" occupations such as police officers. However, she soon finds herself wrapped up in a mystery involving missing mammals, all predators, who have recently gone missing in Zootopia. Despite initially being forced into being a meter maid by her hard-headed boss Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), she soon finds herself on the case of solving the mystery of the missing mammals alongside a sly, devilishly handsome, con-artist fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). Unlike the more optimistic Judy, Nick is far more pessimistic, seeing no reason in attempting to dispel the stereotypes surrounding foxes that they are untrustworthy. Despite their differences however, they soon discover that they both need each other more than they ever thought, not only to solve the case, but to learn more about themselves, with their friendship allowing them to face, head-on, whatever biases or prejudices they may hold, perhaps without even realizing it.
Overall Zootopia is an extremely impressive film on all levels. The animation and character design is absolutely gorgeous, with insane levels of detail in just about every way conceivable, a real step up from even previous Disney 3-D animated films, from the textures and design of the fur, to the wrinkles and folds on the clothing, and the fact that everything is constantly in motion, just like in the real world. The message and overall themes revolving around prejudice and bigotry is also very relevant in modern day American society, which unlike how many try to claim, is not post-racial. However, the film also works incredibly well as a comedy, mystery, and drama film, seamlessly blending in hilarity and thought- provoking satire with heartrending emotional drama and even some pretty decent action scenes. Zootopia also throws in many clever nods and references to other films, both new and old that only more mature viewers are bound to recognize, thus allowing both children and parents to enjoy the film on different levels.
Zootopia shows that a film with cute little talking animals can be more than just a film for little kids, but people of just about any age can watch it and find something to relate to or at least learn from through viewing it. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend watching it ASAP! You won't be disappointed!