Basic Film Information

• Release Date: March 4, 2016
• Directors: Byron Howard and Rich Moore
• Writers: Jared Bush and Phil Johnston
• Actors: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira

Synopsis

A bunny and a fox team up to find a missing otter and instead stumble upon a government conspiracy instead. The pair investigates around Zootopia, a Utopian city where animals live in harmony, and try to expose the strange happenings in the city. Animals bend the rules and push the boundaries to protect the citizens from who they least expect.

Contemporary Reviews

• Lou Lumenick wrote in the New York Post about his praise for the film’s animation and story. He says the movie “excels on so many levels that it stands with the finest of the Disney classics”
• Rotten Tomatoes offers several reviews on its site, and gives this movie a 98%.

Background and Interesting Facts

• There was an incident involving a real cheetah during the research portion of the film.
• New software was used specifically for the hair on the animals
• This movie is the second longest animated Disney movie

Analysis

Zootopia tackled many critical issues through the telling of an energetic children’s story. This narrative manly tackled the issue of oppression and how the oppressed may be treated on a daily basis by those around them and those in positions of power. The oppression that was addressed in this film could be interpreted in many ways; however, the most common way the oppression is interpreted is through the lens of racism.

From the opening of the film we are bombarded as viewers with metaphors for racism and the stereotyping of different types of creatures. Foxes become a specific source of fear and suspicion for people because of the connotation their species has picked up over the years. As the movie progresses, Nick, the fox working alongside the hero, says “if that is how the world sees me, why should I be anything different?” A sentiment echoed by many racially marginalized communities. Also because the system largely does not offer these communities help, they wind up following the stereotypes of their community anyway.

There are many other aspects of racism that are also addressed in this movie as well. Macroaggression, as defined on Dictionary.com as “a subtle but offensive comment or action directed at a minority or other non-dominant group that is often unintentional or unconsciously reinforces a stereotype”, and is a common theme that is brought up in this movie. Judy, the bunny-cop protagonist, encounters these macroaggressions several times through the course of the story, sometimes calling it out, sometimes not realizing that it is happening.

Towards the climax of the movie the police force begins to become much more fearful and critical of the predator group in the city. This is similar to what is going on in America today. In the police there is implicit bias. According to the National Center for State Courts, “implicit bias is the bias in judgment and/or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes (e.g., implicit attitudes and implicit stereotypes) that often operate at a level below conscious awareness.” This bias is seen throughout the judicial system where, according to the NAACP, black people make up close to half of those currently incarcerated of the United States, even though they do not make up half of the population.

By showing both implicit bias and macroaggressions, Zootopia is showing how one feeds into the other. The existence of macroaggressions can fuel implicit bias by validating some of the things that people in power have thought. The people who have the power to arrest animals like predators begin to do so in higher numbers, and predators, because of increasing negative stigma are pushed out of their places of work and normal routines. This had the potential to become more of a problem, as was evidenced by the public fear caused towards predators.

The fear of predators after being instilled in the public is used as a tool to further political career as well. Assistant Mayor Bellwether becomes the mayor after the previous mayor was forced to step down because of public distrust in predators. She becomes ruthless, continuing to promote the stereotypes against predators to get ahead. We see this fearmongering today in American Politics fairly commonly. At the beginning of his campaign, president-elect Trump stated that Mexicans are “bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” This racial fearmongering is nothing new, throughout history politicians have used it to drive up their support by playing on the public’s fear.

The climax of the story is Judy and Nick finding out that Bellwether was behind the animals going savage the whole time. In this case Bellwether made these instances of violence happen the same way many people in America are forced to violence by the government and the systems of oppression that people of color face. In their confrontation, in classic Disney style, the good guys win and corruption is destroyed. Furthermore, there is no more racial animosity in Zootopia and the day is saved. Unfortunately, that is not how it works in America, but the movie is trying to instill that idealism for the next generation in a more racially diverse future.

As the story progresses from beginning to end, there are many more examples that are brought forward to make the audience think about what part racism played in their lives and the privilege they may have. Have they seen implicit bias? Have they acted upon a specific assumption without questioning whether it was right or wrong to do so? By raising these questions and addressing them through the duration of the film, young and old face these questions and learn not to judge a book by its cover.

Bibliography

IMDb. Zootopia (2016). 2016. Web Article. 16 November 2016.

Lou Lumenick. “Disney’s ‘Zootopia’ is the best movie of the year so far.” Review of Zootopia, by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. New York Post, 3 March 2016

Rotten Tomatoes- Fandango. Zootopia (2016). 2016. Web Article. 16 November 2016.