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Ginnifer Goodwin does the Bunny Hop in Zootopia
B+Walt Disney Studios was seemingly built on the back of a cheerful yet plucky animated mouse named Mickey. Some 90 years later, Disney has another major success on its hands in Zootopia, courtesy of another animated herbivore, a bunny with the appropriate name of Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), and a seemingly inappropriate occupation as a police detective.
Actually, Judy’s occupation is the entire point of Zootopia, which is set in a world populated solely by anthropomorphic mammals of all shapes and sizes. Judy becomes the first rabbit member of a police force dominated by larger animals, but her boss, Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) makes her a meter maid. She eventually gets her big chance to investigate a missing person (or, in this instance, missing otter) case, and recruits a streetwise fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to help her.
While today’s better animated films work both as juvenile slapstick and inside humor aimed at adults, Zootopia goes even one step further. There’s plenty of visual humor in the movie, featuring a major city that’s been designed for use by creatures ranging from mice to elephants, and it’s a delight to see the architectural and stylistic contortions needed for this to happen. Further, the “missing otter” case winds up involving a massive conspiracy with noirish undertones that would, minus the animation, make a good adult thriller. Zootopia doesn’t neglect the in-jokes in this regard either, with takeoffs on The Godfather (with a bizarre Mr. Big) and Chinatown. But Zootopia also uses its animal characters to make some very important human points aimed at both young and old, raising issues of stereotyping characters, in this case based on the species, not the individual. Judy fights the cuddly bunny stereotype, while Nick has become a con artist because that’s what everyone expects of a fox. Zootopia makes its points in a generally subtle, albeit inconsistent manner (it’s okay to make jokes about slow-moving sloths working at the DMV) that never gets in the way of the film’s lively visuals, clever humor, and a catchy song by Shakira (who fittingly plays a rock star named Gazelle in the movie). Zootopia lacks the emotional impact of the best Disney films, but it’s definitely one of the brighter spots in a so-far underwhelming 2016 in theaters.
Continue reading on Zootopia: Mini-review
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