Disney's Zootopia

[areaseven]

Zootopia has been under our radar for months, mostly because the trailers weren't that impressive.

However, even before its official U.S. release on March 4, the film is already receiving rave reviews.

"A"

"Definitely Worth Buying on Blu-ray"

Official Site

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 100% - "The brilliantly well-rounded Zootopia offers a thoughtful, inclusive message that's as rich and timely as its sumptuously state-of-the-art animation -- all while remaining fast and funny enough to keep younger viewers entertained."

Metacritic Score: 80 out of 100

[Dobber]

Taking my kids to see it tomorrow, looking forward to it. The one thing I don't get or is bugging me about the advertising for this movie is how they keep hitting on the "In Zootopia, animals are just like people!" Trope like it is something new. Cartoons have done this for decades, why are they acting like it is some big thing now?

Chris

[Negotiator]

looking forward to it, didn't even know it was out

[Dynaman]

Looks like a solid Netflix rental. (not a slam, I don't see many films in the theater and my kids are taller than I am)

[areaseven]

[Dobber]

I loved it! Honestly, I think it is a little more for adults than kids. I liked it more than Inside out....but I usually like the ones that are less popular and just think "meh" for the ones that most people go gaga over like Inside Out, Frozen, Toy Story 3 ect.

Chris

[TangledThorns]

I loved it! Honestly, I think it is a little more for adults than kids. I liked it more than Inside out....but I usually like the ones that are less popular and just think "meh" for the ones that most people go gaga over like Inside Out, Frozen, Toy Story 3 ect.

Chris

Heh, Frozen is great for calming down my little 18 month old baby girl's moods. She loves the CGI characters and singing more than other movies she has seen so far.

Other than that it looks like Disney has made a huge comeback while Dreamworks is falling behind.

[Dobber]

Heh, Frozen is great for calming down my little 18 month old baby girl's moods. She loves the CGI characters and singing more than other movies she has seen so far.

Other than that it looks like Disney has made a huge comeback while Dreamworks is falling behind.

Which is a shame too, I LOVED the How to Train Your Dragon movies. One of the reasons I was kind of down on Toy Story 3 was because everyone forgot about HTTYD that year which I felt was the superior movie.

Chris

[Graham]

Likely won't see this, as my son who is nearly 12 has grown out of Disney cartoons.

I know nothing about this movie, only that on Facebook today, I've been seeing comments that Furries are really into this movie......hahah.

[anime52k8]

I saw this on facebook today, thought it was adorable.

[TangledThorns]

I saw this on facebook today, thought it was adorable.

/snip

Reminds me that I heard a lot of furries saw this movie at my local Alamo Drafthouse...

[areaseven]

Zootopia

Walt Disney Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures, 2016

Directed by Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-it Ralph, The Simpsons)

Written by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush (Big Hero 6), Joshie Trinidad, Jim Reardon (WALL-E, Wreck-it Ralph), Phil Johnston, and Jennifer Lee (Wreck-it Ralph, Frozen)

Running Time: 108 minutes

Rated PG for violence and mature situations.

Cast

Ginnifer Goodwin (Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White in Once Upon a Time) as Judy Hopps

Jason Bateman (James Cooper in Little House on the Prairie, Nick Hendricks in Horrible Bosses) as Nick Wilde

Idris Elba (Stacker Pentecost in Pacific Rim, Heimdall in Thor) as Chief Bogo

J. K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man 1-3, Terence Fletcher in Whiplash) as Mayor Leodore Lionheart

Jenny Slate as Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellweather

Nate Torrence (Lloyd in Get Smart) as Benjamin Clawhauser

Bonnie Hunt (Sally Carrera in Cars 1-2, Rosie in A Bug's Life) as Bonnie Hopps

Don Lake as Stu Hopps

Maurice LaMarche (The Brain in Animaniacs and Pinky and The Brain, various voices in Futurama) as Mr. Big

Alan Tudyk (The Duke of Weselton in Frozen, Dutch in Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as Duke Weaselton

Raymond S. Persi (episode director for The Simpsons) as Flash

Tommy Chong (former half of Cheech & Chong) as Yax

Phil Johnston as Gideon Grey

Shakira (some pop singer) as Gazelle

Synopsis

In a world where wild animals coexist like humans, young rabbit Judy Hopps fulfills her lifelong dream of being a police officer - a job normally occupied by larger animals. Upon moving to Zootopia, she is relegated to parking duty, but after arresting a thief, she volunteers to help find an otter involved in a string of animal disappearances - much to Chief Bogo's dismay. With the help of a swindling fox named Nick Wilde, Judy has 48 hours to solve her case, or she gives up her badge.

Story: A

Originally, I was skeptical about this film because Disney chose the wrong footage for their first trailer. Yes, we get it: Sloths are slow, and so is the DMV. But after reading all of the rave reviews online, I decided to check it out.

And what an amazing film it is. Zootopia may have a bunch of animal jokes we've known since kindergarten, but beyond that is a storyline that completely merits the PG rating. The film touches on regular human issues such as discrimination, bullying, and organized crime. At the same time, the mystery solving plot has viewers completely involved from beginning to end. Because of this, adults now have a reason to stick around and watch this film with their kids.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are awesome in their roles as Judy and Nick, respectively. Idris Elba as Chief Bogo steals the show on numerous occasions, especially when he throws a jab at Frozen. Oh yeah, the DMV sloth scene is more effective in the film than on the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_IkrSTie-Y

Animation: A+

While not as flashy as Frozen, Zootopia really enhances viewers' imagination with its unique layout of the city's different districts and great character designs. The animals, while being humanoid, retain their natural characteristics perfectly.

Soundtrack: A

If you enjoyed Michael Giacchino's score in The Incredibles, you'll like his compositions here, with several hints of jazz music reminiscent of classic police movies and TV shows of the '60s and '70s. The theme song by Shakira isn't bad, either; the Japanese version by Dream Ami sounds better, though.

The Bottom Line

Zootopia is probably the smartest animated film Disney has ever made. Definitely worth the space on your Blu-ray shelf.

"Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and all your insipid dreams magically come true. So let it go." - Chief Bogo

Links

Official Zootopia Site

References

The Internet Movie Database

[Mommar]

I thought the DMV preview was hilarious. It was the rabbit's impatience and the way the fox messed with her that was funny, not the fact Sloths are slow. Though the slowely animated smile they did with the sloth was brilliant.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Mommar

[derex3592]

agreed on all points. Gotta go see this soon.

[David Hingtgen]

Just got back. "Good but not great". Liked Wreck-It Ralph much more, and despite being "just like every other movie that summer", liked Big Hero 6 a bit more.

zootopia is all message, not much plot, if that makes sense.

Frozen and Wreck-It-Ralph are still the best 2 animated Disney movies of the past couple years.

[sh9000]

We'll probably rent this.

[areaseven]

Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Anna in Frozen) does a cameo in the film as Priscilla the Sloth. As it turns out, the sloth is her favorite animal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oohdmBtn4eY

Edited April 13, 2016 by areaseven

[M'Kyuun]

Finally saw this yesterday. It was my wife's birthday, and I took her to see it (admittedly, more for me than her) She liked it, too, so it was all good. Loved Judy and Nick, and the overall positive feel of the movie. The two overarching messages of "respect diversity" and "try, even if the odds are stacked against you" were integrated well enough that kids will get it on the animal level, and adults will, hopefully, get the double entendre. The voice cast did a great job, and I liked the Weaselton character reminiscent of the Frozen character, both voiced by Alan Tudyk. Overall, I thought the dialog throughout was excellent, with a maturity that smaller kids may not get.

I really liked how they showed all the various environments as cities, and how the cities themselves were designed to accommodate different sized creatures. I even liked Shakira warbling the theme song "Try Everything". Not as memorable as "Let it go", but still catchy. (usually Shakira's voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me- I get the same repellant reaction)

Overall, I think I liked this better than Frozen, which I also like quite a bit. The beautiful visuals, the fun and often funny depictions of animal charcters, the humorous product placements, the mystery plot, even a Godfather send-up, wrapped around a message of "don't discriminate" and "try" just worked for me on many levels. Will definitely be getting this on DVD.

[areaseven]

I forgot to mention that there was something noticeably missing: no opening short film? I was hoping for a follow-up to Paperman and Feast.

[areaseven]

[areaseven]

[Black Valkyrie]

Nice movie, some of the CGI landscape very nice.

[areaseven]

Edited July 8, 2016 by areaseven

[areaseven]

The feels...

Man Spends Days Making Zootopia Lego Statue, Child Destroys It in Seconds

[areaseven]

These deleted scenes show that the film went into a completely different direction from its original concept.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82i-0dlgyJg

[TangledThorns]

I rented Zootopia on blu-ray last weekend and while my wife and I really enjoyed the film our almost two year old little girl didn't give it any attention to it all She prefers kids movies with kids (Peanuts) and/or singing and dancing (Frozen).

[mechaninac]

^Just you wait until she's around 4-5 years old... she'll likely be eating up stuff like Zootopia like it's candy.

[peter]

My kid (1yr 9mo) managed to sit through some of it. He's been able to sit through all of Gake no ue no Ponyo and Tonari no Totoro, but so far films like Nemo, Cars and Toy Story haven't worked out.

[M'Kyuun]

Most of the animated films have mature themes running throughout that kids under four will likely not understand; action and cute characters are the draw for them, in most cases. I prefer it that way, as it makes the films perennially enjoyable to all ages. Up, Big Hero 6, The Incredibles, Cars, Zootopia, and many other movies like them will likely become celebrated classics because they speak to all ages.

[TangledThorns]

Yeah, I like it as it keeps my interest too. Kids movies seem to be more original than a lot of the stuff out for the older folk.

[Dio]

My 2-year old constantly asks to watch "Topia," begs to hear the theme song on car rides, and today we even played it on the tablet to keep him calm during a haircut. He has a themed t-shirt for it, loves to ID animals he sees, dances to the music...

For me and mama it's a good flick as well. We love cop shows, the humor is all-ages appropriate (with a few innuendos that fly past the kid radar), and the movie's obvious moral lesson is delivered quite tastefully rather than being heavy-handed or simplistic. I don't mind having to watch it about once or twice a week, though I am still trying to get the little man interested in How to Train Your Dragon, for a little more variety.