Movie Review: Zootopia

It’s not another animation.

“Zootopia” is not a typical animation with common themes like following your dream, believing in yourself, teamwork, family, friendship, loyalty or courage.  There’s a little bit of those, but it’s so, so much more. 

What floors me the most is how ingenious the way “Zootopia” digs into and illustrates contemporary societal issues. It zestily deals with complex issues, such as racism, sexism, discrimination, segregation, bullying, stereotyping, nature vs. nurture.  It cleverly camouflages them behind cute animation mirrors, making them are surprisingly engaging, educational and entertaining.  Not to mention shrewdly humorous.  In particular, watch the memorable DMV mocking scene; it will literally have you in stitches!

An ambitious little bunny grows up a in farm and becomes the first in her family to pass the rigorous police academy and become a rookie cop, to the worries of her parents, as it is a dangerous profession.  With stars in her eyes, she moves to Zootopia.  In this vibrantly rendered, diverse utopia, preys and predators exist harmoniously. This is the place where anyone can be anything they want to be.

As it turns out, reality is more complicated than that.  Unfairly relegated to be a “meter maid,” the ever-optimist bunny has to work multiple times harder to prove herself to the chief and her colleagues (bigger, tougher animals), through smarts and tenacity, that she’s just as capable, if not more, than the rest.

Through a series of unfortunate incidents, the bunny reluctantly teams up with a sly fox (the most unlikely buddy-cop relationship) with a traumatic past.  They end up working on an intricate investigation, uncovering the whereabouts of missing mammals. Some turn up to be predators, who turn aggressive and terrorize the city.  City hall politics are involved, fear campaigns and peace rallies; dividing residents of the city.  Blame game and misdirection abound.   The real villain, may not be what you think it is.

In the end, there is no perfect world.  We all make mistakes.  And sometimes, we don’t always get along.  But we also can try to do our best to make a difference, and in the process, we can make the world a better place.

Imaginatively fresh and very grown-up, “Zootopia” is quite possibly the most brilliant, best animation of all time!

Copyright (c) 2016.  Nathalia Aryani.

Nathalia Aryani is a film columnist and has a movie blog, The MovieMaven(sdmoviemaven.blogspot.com). Twitter: @the_moviemaven. She can be reached at [email protected].