Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, our investigation comes to a close as we look at the 2016 Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature as we look at what I have come to consider one of, if not the most mature features from the Walt Disney Animation Studios. I recall, when I left the theater after watching this movie, I came out thinking that this was a Disney movie less for kids and more for adults. Now yes, it is a film that can be enjoyed by all ages and that is a good thing but considering the climate of the world that we currently live in with this guy as our president....
 |
| I'm not posting a picture of the real guy. |
This movie hits on many things that can be seen in our real world and while it might be sad, that it took a movie starring talking animals to reflect where our modern society is. I view it as a good thing, and it is not the first time that talking animals have been used as an allegory for a tumultuous time.
Granted, Zootopia is PG whereas Animal Farm is more PG-13 to R. Unless you watch that weird animated adaption. And Orwell's book is really more concerned with the Russian Revolution whereas Zootopia is more concerned with the climate of Modern America. Now yes, Zootopia is set on an alternate world where humans don't exist but the subjects brought up in this movie are things that we have seen on the news all too often. Just turn on any news program and you'll get a sense that directors, Byron Howard & Rich Moore ripped moments of this movie straight from the headlines that my country has been inundated with.
Initially, I wanted to review this movie focusing solely on the mystery aspect of the film and not get into the political nature of the movie. As I normally try to keep my political beliefs out of my reviews as I want them to be enjoyed by everyone but as I watched the movie for this review, I came to the conclusion that it just wasn't feasible for me to do that. If I may, at the time of my typing this review, Wonder Woman has finally come out and it's a great movie and a lot of people have been saying that it is a movie/hero that we needed right now. In many ways, when Zootopia came out in March of last year, I had a similar feeling about this being the movie that we needed. And I would argue that the importance of this movie has become even more prevalent since the time it came out. Art reflects the time that it is created in and good art can comment on that period of history and that's exactly what Zootopia does. It takes a stand and comments on where the world is. Look, I'm not saying that everyone that watches this movie is going to get the message that it hopes to share but it is a message worth sharing. And while I said that this feels more like a Disney movie for adults, I am happy for kids to see this kind of movie as maybe, they can make the world a better place instead of the shambles that so many people seem to be turning it into. With this long winded introduction outta the way, let's begin.
The Plot
Our film opens on a jungle locale that we soon learn is actually the setting of a children's play exploring the history of this world as we learn that animals used to be more wild but things have changed and we see one young bunny, Judy Hopps, who wishes to be a cop but there has never been a bunny cop before. And nobody seems to think that she can accomplish this as we see her deal with a bully fox, that constantly put Judy down. We skip a couple of years later, we see Judy is on the way to achieving her dream as we see her at the police academy and at first, it doesn't seem as though Judy is going to make it but we see her apply herself more and become a rather competent cop but once we see her get to Zootopia, we see that Judy is having a harder time than she thought as no one is taking her seriously and she is assigned to parking meter duty but she decides to be the best parking meter maid that Zootopia has ever seen. During one of her shifts, she is duped by con-artist, Nick Wilde and we get the first sense of how sly and manipulative, Nick can be and it is quite a sight to behold but as we will learn later on, in the movie it has to do with a tragic moment in his past.
The next day during one of her shifts, Judy unlawfully chases criminal Duke Weselton through the small (heh) town of Little Rodentia as he had stolen a package of plant bulbs known as Midnicampum holicithias. We later see her being reprimanded by her superior, Chief Bogo and it is includes one of my favorite moments in the movie.
It's a small moment to be sure but it's really funny. Soon, we learn that one Mrs. Otterton is looking for her husband, Emmitt. Who along with 13 other predators has gone missing. Personally, I think that she should have asked his judgband.
Yeah, I had to sneak that joke in there. Judy volunteers for the assignment and is about to be fired until Assistant Mayor Bellwether praises Judy and Bogo gives her 48 hrs to solve the case. Judy is able to deduce that Nick was a suspect in Judy's last sighting and blackmails him into helping her solve the case. They are able to track Emmitt to a limo service that was owned by Mr. Big, who Nick had a run-in in the past with and that Emmitt had gone savage and attacked his driver, Mr. Manchas. And Mr. Big suggests that they go see Manchas and they go there to ask Manchas what happened but before, they can get any answers, Manchas in one of the most frightening moments from recent Disney history, Manchas goes to attack them.
Judy calls for backup but as soon as the other cops show up, Manchas has mysteriously disappeared and Bogo demands her badge but Nick reminds the arrogant chief that they still have ten hours left to solve the case. And this is where we get Nick's back story about why he is the way he is. As he wanted to join the Zootopia equivalent of the Boy Scouts and as a Scout, this scene just made me sick as we saw what these young children did to young Nick. It's a scene that you just need to watch.
Yeah, that scene brought me to tears and made me angry but the sad truth is as much as I want to defend the Scouting system, it is no secret that for all the good that they have done and I appreciate it, you still do have those troops that have rather outdated views on things as observed in this clip. Please don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to make this a #Notall ordeal either. I am just speaking from the experience that I have.
They head to City Hall and get Bellwether to give them access to the city traffic cameras and are able to prove the disappearance of the 14 missing mammals. It turns out that Mayor Lionheart had taken the missing animals in the hopes of finding a cure for their strange behavior. With this evidence, Lionheart is arrested and Judy becomes something of a hero and we get one of the most real moments in any Disney movie as Judy messes up big time during the press conference and once again, this is another moment that just needs to be seen.
This scene right here shows that even though, Judy may not have meant to, her speech was rather prejudice and frankly outdated views and I recall watching Andre from Black Nerd in his Spoilers Review of Zootopia mentioned that he felt like this scene was ripped straight from the news. And I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. The montage of protests and unease that follows after Judy's Press Conference once again harkens back to where we were and in some regards, still are here in the United States. Whether it be celebrities coming out and showing concern but hey at least Gazelle didn't make a tone deaf soda ad. But the one moment that truly struck me as a WOW moment is when you see a tiger getting on a train and sitting next to a bunny and her child and you see the bunny pull her child in closer because of fear.
If this isn't a snapshot of the unfortunate reality that my country has seen so often, then I don't know what is. Here you see this tiger that just appears to be a guy going about his day minding his own business looking at something on his tablet but as soon he sits down next to the mother and her child, they become frightened because he is a predator and they are scared because of what the cops and the news have been saying about predators. That prey has a reason has to fear. We as a society like to think that we have progressed and that we are better than the generation that came before us but we still allow ourselves to fall into the trap of the fearmongering that comes from various outlets and that is perfectly depicted in this small moment.
Mayor Bellwether wants to make Judy, the face of the ZPD but feeling guilt-ridden over what she had done, Judy quits the force and moves back home to Bunny Burrow and discovers the Night Howlers, which had been the key piece of evidence in this case are not as she thought wolves but rather a type of flower that cause severe damage on animals as we learn that one of Judy's uncles accidentally inhaled one and as Judy states "Rabbits can go savage". Judy returns to Zootopia and delivers a heartfelt apology to Nick and he accepts in the Nick fashion. They go and find Duke and question him about the night howler bulbs that he had stolen. And this includes a joke that took the Disney fandom by storm.
Okay, perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration but I know that it's a joke that I adored as a Disney fan. Duke after some convincing from Mr. Big reveals to Nick and Judy, that he was delivering those bulbs to someone named Doug and we end up on the set of Breaking Bad. No, really.
I've never seen the show, it doesn't seem like my kind of show but even then I got the reference. Judy realizes that they need to get this evidence to the police but before they can, they are stopped by Bellwether, who is revealed to be behind the Night Howlers and the reason why the predators have gone savage. This line perfectly sums it up.
Fear always works, and I'll dart every predator in Zootopia, to keep it
And you know the sad part about this line is that as much as I am someone that wants to believe that we can be smart and look past fear, that belief has dispelled one too many times. Hmm, that was a bit jaded but yeah...
However, even with Nick darted with the Night Howlers, we learn that it was a ruse and Judy had been recording Bellwether and we see Bellwether get arrested and Nick is accepted into the police academy and becomes Judy's new partner.
Ooh, there is a lot to take in here. This movie... this movie is just amazing. Never has a Disney movie, not even my beloved Tangled left me with so much to think about. Honestly, this movie left me speechless in the best way after I saw it. I remember sitting in the theater by myself watching Zootopia and just being astonished at the subjects tackled in this movie. It was just so amazing to see a movie like this because as I said in my introduction, this is the kind of movie that we needed.
Characters
Main Characters
Judy Hopps voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin
I was already a fan of Ginnifer Goodwin from Once Upon A Time but the less said about how that show had derailed her character, the better. With Judy, you get the sense of someone that is willing to try well. everything. Even, when the world looks down on her for being a rabbit and she only got into the academy because of affirmative action. But as this movie goes on, we see that there is more to Judy, then those around had given her credit for.
Nick Wilde voiced by Jason Bateman
Nick fascinates me as a character. You see, I'm currently taking an Ethics of Friendship course and one aspect of that we discussed in the second week of this course and suppressing your true self and wearing a mask of what society expects of you. And that is what you get with Nick, he gives society what they expect of a fox and suppresses any other emotions. He wears the costume of being a sly jerk and that is perfectly summed up with this one line from Nick.
....If the world's only going to see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in being anything else.
Supporting Characters
Chief Bogo voiced by Idris Elba
Bogo on the surface isn't much more than the gruff chief character that you see in other cop movies that doesn't believe in our heroine and that is the case here as we see that Judy has to prove herself to Bogo and earn his respect.
Clawhauser voiced by Nate Torrence
I feel bad for not mentioning Clawhauser in the plot section but I couldn't find a good place to bring him up. He is just so funny and most likely, who I would be in the world of Zootopia. Sure, he is the comic relief and you don't get a lot of him in the movie but even you get the sense of how the fear of the prey has affected him as they felt that it's no longer the best idea to have him be the first thing you see at the ZPD. Even though, we've come to see him and know that he is a lovable character that would never hurt anyone.
Villain
Assistant Mayor Bellwether voiced by Jenny Slate
I gotta be honest and say that by the point that this movie came out, I had grown tired of Disney's hidden villain trend but after Movie Curiosities' review of the film and responding to my comment, he made the good point that this film is a mystery and that it made sense for this movie. Admittedly, I wouldn't say that Bellwether is one of the most memorable villains but she is the villain that this film needed as she perfectly exemplified how those that have power can use fear to persuade the majority and that is what Bellwether was doing by making the predators act savage with the night howlers.
My Final Thoughts
First off, I want to apologize for this taking so long to come out. This movie is just so good and easily one of the greatest Disney movies that I have had the pleasure of watching and as I've said throughout, this movie came out at the time, when we needed it the most. I hope that you have enjoyed my special event here looking at the various Disney mysteries. And thanks to all of those that have read my reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment