Zootopia is a movie about social prejudice but it should not be taken as a direct allegory. Indeed any attempt to connect certain groups in the movie with real world counterparts could result in reinforcing paranoia and negative stereotypes. The film avoids this through it's protagonist, Judy Hopps. Judy is a character who, initially, is a victim of stereotyping as she attempts to navigate the Zootopia police force, a world dominated by larger animals. Later though she becomes a perpetuator of the same stereotypes herself when predators begin reverting to their instinctual, "savage" selves and her own deep-seated fears come to the fore. By revealing the protagonists preconceptions and prejudices the film challenges us to look in the mirror and question our own. More broadly the film is a cautionary tale about the dangers of stereotyping and fear which can lead to widespread paranoia and discrimination.
The film commits a bit of a misstep in the climax however. It is revealed that a certain character is responsible for the predators going savage and that this was done in order to perpetuate a conspiracy against predators. On one hand this reflects how political rhetoric and fear mongering can be used to ostracize certain sections of the population. On the other hand this might back fire and lead some conspiracy minded audience members to blame mysterious, nefarious organizations for societies problems instead of trying to recognize and combat their own prejudices and preconceptions about other groups of people. What makes this worse is that everyone involved in the conspiracy is from the same species and there are no positive characters of this species to counterbalance this. (Wow, that sentence sounds really strange)
The movie works pretty well despite this problem. Partly because it handles its themes so well up to that point but also because it has other things going on thematically. The film provides subversive commentary on the idea that you can be anything you want to be (hint: you can't) but offers the optimistic message that you can still be successful and find fulfillment despite your own shortcomings and despite societal forces that try to keep you down.
Aside from interesting thematic elements Zootopia also features solid performances from it's voice actors, eye-popping animation and well written, compelling characters. Ginnifer Goodwin is a perfect fit for the spunky, independent Judy Hopps as is Jason Bateman for the cynical but kind Nick Wilde. Though it succeeds despite it shortcomings, its a bit awkwardly paced in addition to the thematic problem already discussed, and is probably the most inherently political film Disney Animation has ever produced, it still falls short of their best offerings from the Golden Age and the Renaissance, though it does give me hope that they might make another great film eventually.
8.5/10
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