Claim: Zootopia was directed by Byron Howard.

Zootopia -LRB- known as Zootropolis in some territories -RRB- is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated buddy comedy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures . It is the 55th Disney animated feature film . The film was directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore , co-directed by Jared Bush , and stars the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin , Jason Bateman , Idris Elba , Jenny Slate , Nate Torrence , Bonnie Hunt , Don Lake , Tommy Chong , J. K. Simmons , Octavia Spencer , Alan Tudyk , and Shakira . The film details the unlikely partnership between a rabbit police officer and a red fox con artist as they uncover a conspiracy involving the disappearance of savage predator inhabitants of a mammalian metropolis .   Zootopia premiered at the Brussels Animation Film Festival in Belgium on February 13 , 2016 , and went into general theatrical release in conventional 2D , Disney Digital 3-D , RealD 3D , and IMAX 3D formats in the United States on March 4 . The film received wide critical acclaim . It opened to a record-breaking box office success in several countries and earned a worldwide gross of over $ 1 billion , making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2016 and the 28th highest-grossing film of all time . The film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2016 , and won the Academy Award , Golden Globe , Critics ' Choice Movie Award and Annie Award for Best Animated Feature Film , as well as receiving a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film .