‘Zootopia’ is Disney’s next big franchise

By Jack Ryan, Senior Staff Writer

A young, naïve farm girl who dreams of being a police officer finally gets her chance in the big city, but must validate her status due to workplace prejudice. With nothing but her positive attitude and hustler sidekick, she must weave through gangsters and conspiracies to solve a mystery plaguing her city and earn her spot on the force.

No, I'm not talking about a cheesy buddy cop movie with major Billy Wilder influence. I'm talking about "Zootopia," the latest release from the creative masterminds at Disney, their third in just nine months.

Instead of a simple farm girl, "Zootopia" follows bunny officer Judy Hops (Ginnifer Goodwin), who chooses to pursue a life of fighting crime rather than continuing her family's carrot farm business. The prejudice that reaches her is not toward her gender per se, but rather toward her size, as she pales in comparison to her enormous predatory coworkers - lions, rhinos and a chief buffalo (Idris Elba).

Her sarcastic companion? A fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) who provides a set of sly skills that complement her intelligence, despite his natural status as her predator.

The entire world of "Zootopia" is built on this concept - predators and prey living in harmony - and builds much of its moral backbone by allowing its characters to defy their natural statuses (the small rabbit who wants to be a cop, the chubby pop star-loving jaguar secretary). The detailed world is also built out of animals that have peacefully accepted their stereotypes, such as the lion mayor, the carrot-farming rabbits and, of course, the sloths that work at the DMV.

The only thing comparable to the unique wit and creativity that Disney engineers -in this case directors Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush -bring to their films is the absolute beauty of their animation. Vast landscapes in Zootopia - split primarily into four climate-based boroughs - feel thought out and completely realized, and small details like drops of sprinkler water are individually articulated and lifelike.

The faces of our animated protagonists reflect both human emotion and animal tendencies and blend perfectly with superb voice acting on the parts of the performers, particularly Goodwin and Bateman.

The most breathtaking visual aspect of "Zootopia," however, lies in its sense of scale. As the animal protagonists run through the eponymous city, they jump through various districts, each catered in size and environment to the animal population that lives there, providing us with visual comedy galore - Judy crashing through a mouse-sized town being a personal favorite.

Disney is no stranger to discreetly hiding adult humor amongst their child-friendly movies, but "Zootopia" is one of the most adult-watchable Disney film to date. Locked within are references and not-so-subtle nods to "The Godfather," "48 Hours," and "Breaking Bad," as starters. Even the story and tone of the film resembles a detective neo-noir à la "The Big Lebowski," rather than the simple fantasy of "Monsters Inc." or "Toy Story."

"Zootopia's" biggest strength, its repeatedly restated and insisted moral of diversity and possibilities, is also one of its biggest weaknesses. Disney takes every possible opportunity to lay out the belief that all people are equal and important, but it reaches the point of overstatement rather quickly. However, this is a critical issue in the world at this time, and it's refreshing to see a major studio aimed at young audiences spreading these ideals of equality and respect.

There is something about "Zootopia" that makes it feel like a Dreamworks project or a release from the budding Imagination Studios, rather than a semi-annual blessing from the Disney animation gods. It could be the relative lack of household names in the cast, the lack of subtlety in its moral or just the animation style in general, but it doesn't seem like it's a sibling of "Tangled" or "Frozen," for better or worse.

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"Zootopia" may not necessarily be this year's "Inside Out," but with "Finding Dory" on the way, it's very encouraging to see that Disney is dedicated to more than just their automatic blockbusters. With all the unexplored areas, characters and possibilities created through "Zootopia's" debut, there's no doubt in my mind that there will be a sequel in the near future - and deservedly so.

3.5/4 stars