Zootopia

"Welcome to the urban jungle."

- Tagline

Zootopia (also known as Zootropolis in some European countries and the UAE) is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated buddy cop adventure-comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is co-directed by Byron Howard (Bolt and Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero), and produced by Clark Spencer (Lilo & Stitch, Bolt and Wreck-It Ralph), and it's the 55th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon. It was released on March 4, 2016 in the United States and Canada, and February 10, 2016 in France.

Synopsis
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it's a melting pot where animals from every environment live together — a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when optimistic Officer Judy Hopps arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn't so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde, to solve the mystery.

Plot
Zootopia is a gleaming metropolis populated by anthropomorphic mammals, divided into several districts including Sahara Square, Tundratown, Little Rodentia and Rainforest District.

One day, Judy Hopps, a rabbit from rural Bunnyburrow, fulfills her dream of joining the Zootopia Police Department as the first rabbit officer, however she is regularly assigned parking duty by Chief Bogo. During one of her shifts, she is manipulated by Nick Wilde, a con artist fox. Judy unlawfully arrests Duke Weaselton at Little Rodentia and is reprimanded by Bogo until Mrs. Otterton, an otter, arrives pleading help on locating her missing husband, one of the many recently missing mammals. To Bogo's dismay, Judy volunteers and agrees to resign if she cannot solve the case within 48 hours. With Nick as a key witness of Mr. Otterton's disappearance, Judy locates the fox and coerces him to assist her with the investigation lest he be charged with tax evasion, which he openly admitted and Judy recorded with her carrot pen.

After acquiring Mr. Otterton's license plate number from Mystic Springs Oasis, Judy and Nick track the vehicle from the Department of Mammal Vehicles to Mr. Big, an arctic shrew crime boss in Tundratown. Mr. Big spares their lives after learning that Judy had rescued his daughter earlier, and informs the pair that Mr. Otterton is his florist and had gone savage and attacked his chauffeur Manchas, a black jaguar. Judy and Nick locate Manchas at his home in the Rainforest District. Manchas mentions "night howlers" were responsible for the attack on him before he goes savage and chases the pair before they apprehend him. When Bogo and his reinforcements arrive, Manchas disappears. Bogo demands Judy to resign, but Nick takes a stand, insisting they have 10 more hours to solve the case. As the pair leave the Rainforest District, Judy learns from Nick that he was bullied by prey animals as a pup and resolved to live out the fox stereotype as defiance.

Nick realizes that the city's traffic camera system may have captured how Manchas disappeared, and the pair consult Assistant Mayor Bellwether. They identify the captors as wolves, hence "night howlers". Judy and Nick locate Cliffside Asylum detaining the missing, savaged mammals (including Mr. Otterton) and discover Mayor Lionheart consulting with a doctor about their condition. The pair escape with the evidence and the police swarm the area, arresting Lionheart. Having developed a friendship with Nick throughout the case, Judy requests that he joins the ZPD and become her partner, which Nick happily considers. However, during a press conference, a pressured Judy describes the savaged mammals' condition as them reverting to their natural instincts. This seemingly confirms Judy's bigotry against foxes to Nick, who angrily walks out on her offer. When fear and discrimination against predators spreads across Zootopia, a guilt-ridden Judy resigns. During this time, Gazelle holds a peaceful protest and publicly asks for the harmonious Zootopia she loves and cherish to be restored.

Back in Bunnyburrow, Judy learns that night howlers are flowers that have a severe psychotropic effects on mammals, and that her parents use them to protect their crops. Judy returns to Zootopia and reconciles with Nick. They locate Weaselton and learn that he has been collecting night howlers for a secret laboratory. The pair find the lab and find ram scientists creating a night howler serum which has been injected into predators via dart guns. Judy and Nick race to the ZPD with the evidence, but the rams pursue them. Just short of the ZPD, the pair encounter Bellwether who insists she takes the evidence. Realizing she is the mastermind of the conspiracy, Judy and Nick try to flee but are knocked into a pit by her ram henchmen. Bellwether shoots a night howler dart from the evidence case at Nick and frames a call for help to the ZPD. Nick apparently becomes savage and corners Judy, but it turns out the pair were acting in order to trick Bellwether into openly admitting her species-supremacist scheme to take over Zootopia and rid it of all predators, and that they replaced the dart gun ammo with blueberries from the Hopps's farm. With Bellwether's monologue recorded on Judy's carrot pen, the ZPD arrive and arrest her and her accomplices.

Later, Judy is reinstated into the ZPD. A cure is discovered for the effects of the night howlers and all the effected animals are treated. Months later, Nick joins the ZPD as the first fox officer and Judy's partner. The final scene has almost all of Zootopia attending Gazelle's concert while Bellwether angrily views it on a television in prison.

Cast

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, a rabbit
 * Della Saba as young Judy Hopps
 * Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde, a red fox
 * Kath Soucie as young Nick Wilde
 * Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, a cape buffalo
 * Jenny Slate as Bellwether, a sheep
 * J. K. Simmons as Mayor Lionheart, a lion
 * Nate Torrence as Clawhauser, a cheetah
 * Shakira as Gazelle, a gazelle
 * Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Hopps, a rabbit
 * Don Lake as Stu Hopps, a rabbit
 * Tommy "Tiny" Lister as Finnick, a fennec fox
 * Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton, a weasel
 * Maurice LaMarche as Mr. Big, an arctic shrew
 * Phil Johnston as Gideon Grey, a red fox
 * Raymond S. Persi as Flash, a three-toed sloth
 * Tommy Chong as Yax, a yak
 * Octavia Spencer as Mrs. Otterton, an otter
 * Jesse Corti as Mr. Manchas, a black jaguar
 * Katie Lowes as Dr. Badger, a honey badger
 * John DiMaggio as Jerry Jumbeaux Jr., an African elephant
 * Peter Mansbridge as Peter Moosebridge, a moose
 * Mark "Rhino" Smith as Officer McHorn, a rhinoceros
 * Kristen Bell as Priscilla, a three-toed sloth
 * Leah Latham as Fru Fru, an arctic shrew
 * John Lavelle as Mouse Foreman
 * Rich Moore as Doug, a ram. Moore also voices an unspecified wolf with one line.
 * Byron Howard as Bucky Oryx-Antlerson, a kudu, and Travis, Gideon Grey's black-footed ferret friend
 * Jared Bush as Pronk Oryx-Antlerson, an oryx
 * Josh Dallas as Frantic Pig
 * Gita Reddy as Nangi, an Indian elephant
 * as the Drill Sergeant, a polar bear
 * as a wolf who gets arrested and brought into the ZPD
 * Jackson Stein as Jaguar, the kid who wants to be an actuary, and the main Boy Scout bully kid from Nick's flashback
 * Melissa Goodwin Shepherd, sister of Ginnifer Goodwin, as the angry mouse lady to whom Judy gives a parking ticket
 * Fabienne Rawley as the elephant patron at Jumbeaux's Café and the female snow leopard co-anchor of ZNN
 * Madeleine Curry as Sharla the sheep, Sharla's brother Gareth, and the hippo kid whose mother was given a parking ticket by Judy
 * Pace Paulsen as Boy Scout bully #2
 * David A. Thibodeau as Gary the white timber wolf

Development
According to Howard, Zootopia will be different from other animal anthropomorphic films, where animals either live in the natural world or in the human world. The concept, where animals live in a modern world designed by animals, was well received by John Lasseter, who lifted Howard "in the air like a baby Simba," when he proposed the idea for the film. When first pitched, the film centered a rabbit named Jack Savage, who left the city of Zootopia to explore the South Seas. The film was under the titles Savage City and Savage Seas. The filmmakers were unimpressed with the story, but were nevertheless interested in the concept of an all-animal city, allowing a project centering the idea to go underway.

While the characters are portrayed as anthropomorphic animals, the filmmakers were urged by Lasseter to keep the characteristics that make each animal unique, intact with the animation and movement that would be portrayed on screen. To do so, the film crew was sent to Kenya, Africa, as well as Disney's Animal Kingdom, on a research trip, where they studied various mammal wildlife. Live animals, such as sloths and fennec foxes were also brought into the studio building for further, intimate study.

During research, the filmmakers learned that, in nature, prey mammals outnumber predators, despite the latter group generally being considered the dominant species. In response, the story was tailored to center the relationship between the "predator and prey" group, while reflecting modern day society by having the story serve as an allegory for racism and prejudice. In this version, predators, despite having evolved, were generally viewed as dangerous threats, and were forced to wear electric shock collars as a means to keep their "aggressive natures" under control at the hands of prey. The "tame collar" concept stuck through most of the film's production, even being approved by John Lasseter, but when screened for the team at Pixar, the response was negative. The city of Zootopia, in this state, was deemed too unlikable, and the story too dark, whereas the goal was to create a city that the audience could fall in love with, while making a film that—despite its serious subject matter—can still be a fun family film.

The character of Nick Wilde was the protagonist of this version, but his role was later swapped with Judy Hopps after much discussion, being that the filmmakers felt a closer connection to her character, and the struggles she would have to face in the supposedly utopian, but ultimately broken, society.

The primary issues centering the film, as mentioned, are prejudice and preconceived notions based on stereotypes. To further emphasize this, the creatures that inhabit Zootopia were limited down to mammals, to portray a sense of segregation between animals of predator and prey mentality; animals such as birds and marine life were left out as most, if not all, are consumers of other living organisms, making it difficult to narrow them down within the status quo of the story's conflict. The thought process of stereotypes was also integrated when deciding which familiar species would serve as the film's opposing leads, eventually determined as a rabbit-and-fox partnership.

The city of Zootopia, itself, is comprised of various districts—all of which are tailored to best suit the animals that inhabit the them, both in terms of atmosphere, climate and scale. To accomplish this, the filmmakers assembled an "Environments team", who were tasked to create the unique spaces the characters roam and inhabit throughout the film. Each area was created to look as if it has a sense of history, adding chaos and minor details to bring the world to life. Furthermore, the studio revived the use of the Hyperion rendering system, which mimics real-world geometric complexity, and was first utilized in the previous animated feature, Big Hero 6. Each district was also modeled after various real-world areas. For example, Tundratown, the district consisting of low-temperature mammals such as polar bears, was architecturally influenced by Russia. Sahara Square, an area for high-temperature mammals such as camels, was modeled after Las Vegas. The renderings of the snow and wintry feel of Tundratown was also influenced by the 2013 animated feature Frozen.

In March 2015, Rich Moore, who previously directed Wreck-It Ralph, was revealed to have been working on the film as a director, with Jared Bush as a co-director.

On October 29, 2015, Moore announced that animation on the film was wrapped.

Music
In addition to her voice role of Gazelle, the biggest pop star in Zootopia, Shakira will also contribute to the film an original song, entitled "Try Everything", which will be written by Sia and Stargate.

On November 1, 2015, it was revealed that Michael Giacchino, acclaimed composer best known for his work at Pixar, will be composing the score for Zootopia, marking his first feature entry into the Walt Disney Animation Studios library. The score was completed on November 20.

Home media
Zootopa will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 7, 2016.

Box office
As of April 28, 2016, Zootopia has grossed $318.5 million in North America and $597.5 in other territories for a worldwide total of $910,122,027 on an estimated budget of $150 million. In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggest the film will open to $60–70 million from 3,827 theaters in its opening weekend. It will play in 3,100 3D theaters, 365 IMAX theaters and 325 premium large formats screens. As of now, it is the third highest-grossing film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, behind Frozen and The Lion King.

Taking advantage of school holidays in various markets, Zootopia began opening in a very limited number of international markets in the weekend ending February 14, earning $4.5 million from 3 markets. It expanded to 22 markets in its second weekend, which is 36% of its total international markets and added $31.2 million. It added another $33 million in its third weekend with no new markets added.

In its opening weekend—which varies between markets—it grossed $3.1 million in Spain and an additional $1.7 million in Belgium and Denmark. In Belgium, it scored the biggest ever animated opening for a Disney or Pixar movie. It broke opening records for a Disney animated film in France ($8.7 million) and Poland ($1.2 million). Elsewhere, Mexico opened with $4.6 million and Italy opened on a non-holiday weekend to $3.3 million.

Critical response
Zootopia has received universal critical acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film is "Certified Fresh" with a rating of 98%, based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The consensus statement reads, "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." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Trivia

 * This is only the eighth non-musical animated film in the Disney animated canon, following The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers Down Under, Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6.
 * Director Byron Howard wanted to create Zootopia as a homage to Robin Hood with modern CG technology.
 * Producer Clark Spencer was inspired by The Jungle Book to produce Zootopia.
 * Throughout Zootopia, there are numerous animal parodies of real-life companies:
 * Lululemmings - Lululemon
 * Just Zoo It -, Nike's famous slogan
 * Preyda -
 * Bearberry -
 * DNKY -
 * Snarlbucks -
 * Zoogle -
 * Targoat - Target
 * Some smartphones feature a logo that looks like the logo but it is a carrot instead. There are also devices resembling  tablets but with a pawprint logo and the name "iPaw".
 * ZNN -
 * Mousey's -
 * Lucky Chomps -
 * MuzzleTime -
 * Trader Doe's -
 * Hoof Locker -
 * Molex -
 * PB&J -
 * In the "Have A Doughnut" Preview Clp, the "Mousey's" name does not appear on the Stre Front, though Targoat does appear on Fru Fru's Bag.
 * This the third time where, Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons co-starred in a film together, the first was ' and the second was '.
 * This is also the second 2016 animated movie Simmons has appeared in. He also appeared in 's .
 * Alan Tudyk, Jenny Slate, Maurice LaMarche and Nate Torrence have co-starred in Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
 * Zootopia is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film to be composed by Michael Giacchino and also the second film from that production company to be composed by a recurring Pixar composer; the first was 2009's The Princess and the Frog, which was composed by Randy Newman.
 * Along with Moana, this is the first time since 2002 that Disney releases two animated features in the same year.
 * This is Disney's third computer-animated film to be released in IMAX 3D theaters; the first being Tangled and Big Hero 6, though the first to be released in Domestic IMAX theaters.
 * It is also the first time that Disney released an animated film in Domestic IMAX theaters since Treasure Planet.
 * Zootopia_American_Japan_anchors.png character Peter Moosebridge's portrayal differs based on each region's version of the film. While Moosebridge remains in the American, British (where he was renamed Moosos Alexander and voiced by BBC sports reporter, Veesos Alexander) and Canadian versions, he is replaced by a jaguar in the Brazilian version, a tanuki in the Japanese version, a koala in the Australian and New Zealand versions and a panda in the Chinese version.
 * On Judy's music player, several Disney songs are parodied, including "Let It Go" from Frozen, "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King and "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin.
 * This is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film not to be accompanied by a short film since 2010's Tangled.
 * With a running time of 108 minutes, Zootopia is (to date) the second longest Disney animated film, after Fantasia at 124 minutes.
 * Because the movie and titular city were renamed Zootropolis, the American voice cast (sans Peter Mansbridge) rerecorded their lines to accommodate the change. Despite this, the characters' lips still mouth "Zootopia" when they say "Zootropolis."
 * The only mammals that were purposefully cut from the film were the primates, as the filmmakers felt that the animals looked too human-like when they walked on two legs, especially great apes. Bats were also cut from the film because they were to small to wear clothing and look normal and because they were the only flying animals in the world of Zootopia.
 * During story development, there were other districts in the city of Zootopia that were developed but not used in the film. These include Outback Island, The Meadowlands, The Nocturnal District, The Burrows, The Canals and Happytown. The Burrows may have been a precursor of Bunnyburrow, and Happytown (actually a slummy district) seems particularly geared toward the darker, more dystopian versions of the story that were later abandoned.
 * The missing mammals chart at the police station shows the names of several districts not otherwise seen in the film, including Canyonlands, Meadowlands, Canal District, Marshlands, and a body of water labeled Polar Straits.
 * Many of the events in the movie reflect events that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s:
 * Gazelle's protest to return Zootopia to its natural state reflects the various nonviolent protests that occurred throughout this era.
 * The prejudice the ZPD has against prey is similar to the racism against African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.
 * At the beginning of the film, Jerry Jumbeaux Jr. states that his establishment has the right to "...refuse service to anyone." "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" was commonly found in public areas such as restaurants during the 1960s.
 * At one point, Chief Bogo references "Let It Go" from Frozen. This was not only a reference to the afromentioned film, but also a nod to Frozen 's co-director Jennifer Lee, who served as a co-writer for Zootopia.
 * This is the first of three Disney movies released in 2016 to feature the voice of Idris Elba. He later played Shere Khan in The Jungle Book and Fluke in Finding Dory.
 * Finnick's van plate, which reads HB051986 is a reference to actor Herschel Bernardi, who died in May 19, 1986.
 * The calendars throughout the movie suggest the film's events took place during the month of May.

Cameos

 * On the theatrical release poster for Zootopia, standing behind Yax is a zebra. His son appears to be holding a stuffed Mickey Mouse doll. A Mickey Mouse doll can also be spotted in a stroller being pushed by a hippo in the scene where Nick is driving Finnick in a stroller.
 * In Tundratown, two little elephant girls are dressed like Elsa and Anna from Frozen.
 * The flower emblem on the two plates in Jumbeaux's Café comes from a decoration on Anna's bed from Frozen.
 * On Finnick's van is an antenna ball that resembles Baymax from Big Hero 6.
 * In Little Rodentia, right next to Mousey's is a building called Lucky Cat Café, a reference to the Hamada residence in Big Hero 6.
 * In the same area, there is a building called Hans's Pastry Shop, alluding to Hans from Frozen.
 * The picture on Chief Bogo's calendar in his office is the skyline of San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6.
 * One of the bears scratching their backs in the naturist club resembles Baloo from The Jungle Book.
 * In one scene, Duke Weaselton is seen selling bootlegged films, all of which are animal variants of three of Walt Disney Animation Studios' previous films and three of that in-house studio's upcoming films. Those include:
 * Wrangled - Tangled
 * Wreck-It Rhino - Wreck-It Ralph
 * Pig Hero 6 - Big Hero 6
 * Meowana - Moana
 * Giraffic - Gigantic
 * Floatzen 2 - Frozen 2
 * The deer mannequin Nick shreds apart in the film's climax bears resemblance to Bambi.