Clawhauser

"There you went, you little dickens!"

- Clawhauser

Clawhauser is a supporting character in the 2016 Disney animated feature film Zootopia. He is a member of the Zootopia Police Department, working as a receptionist and a radio dispatcher.

Background
Clawhauser is the ZPD's resident cheetah, and has been under their employment for a number of years, working at the front desk as a receptionist. Because his particular job on the force requires very little mobility, Clawhauser spends most of his time indulging himself in food and media which, after so many years, would result in his hefty size.

He appears to work closely with Chief Bogo, the head of the police department, as it is Clawhauser who regularly keeps the chief up to date with the current events going about at the police headquarters, and during field cases. This is due to Clawhauser's double position as a radio dispatcher, as he is directly contacted by other officers, and visitors to the headquarters, and seems to be the individual tasked with radioing the chief when the latter is needed.

Quite notably, Clawhauser is obsessed with Zootopia's pop sensation, Gazelle. He owns merchandise of the singer, refers to her as an "angel with horns', and has shown great fondness for an app that allows a user to tag an image of their face onto one of Gazelle's background dancers, simulating his apparent fantasy of meeting Gazelle, and subsequently joining her group. He humorously shares this fondness with Chief Bogo; although the latter was seemingly embarrassed by this at first, he and Clawhauser can be seen bonding over Gazelle during the film's end credits, embracing their mutual love for the singer.

Official Description

 * Clawhauser loves two things: pop star Gazelle and donuts. From his reception desk, he greets everyone with a warm smile and a helpful paw—covered in sprinkles.

Development
In 2012 concept art for the film, Clawhauser was a tabby cat named Hugo, and wore the shirt that was eventually given to Nick Wilde. He was eventually changed to a cheetah, and was also friends with Nick and Finnick, rather than serving as one of Judy's first allies. The trio worked together at two separate restaurants, including an establishment in Little Rodentia called Chez Cheese (where Clawhauser worked as a "delivery cheetah"), and another called Bug-Burga.

Personality
Though he works for a department generally filled with rough animals, Clawhauser is incredibly innocent, cheerful, and accepting. He was the first—and for a while, the only—officer to show Judy any amount of kindness or respect. He found her to be adorable, but never underestimated her as a cop, showing that he was above bigotry. Also, he was quick to maintain his image of tolerance; when Judy informed him that other animals calling bunnies "cute" was considered offensive, he gasped and immediately apologized for stereotyping her. Not naïve, however, Clawhauser was more than aware of the prejudices within the system in which he works, and notes to himself, shortly after meeting her, that Judy was inevitably going to face extreme prejudice due to her species.

He is also very social; with outgoing charm, he greets all who enter the ZPD with a warm smile, going as far as to casually mingle with arrested perps that are escorted to the front desk. This can sometimes distract him from his work, even in the midst of a serious situation, but Clawhauser is nevertheless an efficient employee and a significant member of Bogo's menagerie.

Role in the film
Clawhauser is first seen having a bowl of cereal, when he is greeted at the front desk by Judy Hopps, the department's latest recruit, who is notable for being the first bunny cop on the force. The appearance of Judy, and the significance of her role, both shocks and delights Clawhauser, who voices his fondness for Judy's "cuteness". Judy cringes at Clawhauser's comments, indirectly asking him to refrain from calling her "cute", as it can be seen as a slur to a bunny, when it is given from a non-bunny mammal. Clawhauser, being as sweet as he is, immediately apologizes, claiming that he has no right to go around stereotyping other animals, as he is often subject of stereotype himself, being seen as a "flabby, donut-loving cop", although he apparently fits this perception, having a donut stuck within the fold of his neck, and immediately eating it with zeal after Judy points it out. Clawhauser then directs Judy to roll call, and sympathetically comments that, due to prejudice, the bunny is moments away from receiving awful treatment amongst her peers.

Later on, Clawhauser is visited by the distraught Mrs. Otterton, who wishes to see Chief Bogo, though Clawhauser tries to explain that she must wait to be called, like everyone else. Despite this, Otterton manages to bypass Clawhauser, who tries to stop her, only to fail due to how slippery she is. It turns out she is searching for her husband, Mr. Otterton, who has been missing for a number of days. Judy volunteers to find him, despite Bogo's unwillingness to keep her on the force. Judy is then sent to Clawhauser to receive background information on Otterton's disappearance, and unknowingly helps her uncover a key witness to the case, Nick Wilde, by using his drink bottle as a magnifying glass on Otterton's profile image, spotting Nick in the background of the scene.

Judy's investigation leads her to the Rainforest District, where she is attacked by a jaguar that has gone savage due to unknown circumstances. She desperately radios Clawhauser to request backup, but the cheetah is too preoccupied with showing his Gazelle app to an inmate to notice the call, at first. When he does notice, he quickly alerts Bogo.

Clawhauser is contacted again once Judy claims to have found all of the fourteen mammals that had been mysteriously missing for an extended period of time, and rushes into Bogo's office to inform him of the matter. When he does, he finds that Chief Bogo is a closet fan of Gazelle, expressing great excitement in sharing a love for the pop star with his boss. The embarrassed Bogo asks for privacy, claiming to be working on the missing mammals cases, to which Clawhauser responds by informing the chief of Judy's success.

Unfortunately, all of the missing mammals were predators, and all have gone savage for unknown reasons. This causes uproar amongst the city, with prejudice against predator mammals reaching a record number. The events directly affect Clawhauser, who is told that he must work in records, in the basement, next to the boiler, as a predator should not be the first thing an animal sees when walking into the department. The news deeply saddens Clawhauser, who explains his situation to Judy while gathering his things and departing.

Fortunately, Judy discovers that the predators went savage, not because of natural instinct, but because they were infected with a serum created from night howler flowers by Bellwether's henchman Doug, as part of a scheme to ostracise predator mammals from Zootopia, so that prey mammals would rule the city. Once the truth is revealed and Bellwether is arrested, Clawhauser regains his position at the front desk, receiving packages of donuts as tokens of apologies from his fellow officers.

Clawhauser is last seen attending Gazelle's concert performance at the end credits, live, practically glowing with excitement, and dancing alongside Chief Bogo, who also decided to attend.

Trivia

 * On Clawhauser's right cheek are three spots forming a Hidden Mickey.
 * In The Art of Zootopia, concept art of a cheetah child with a Gazelle shirt shown strongly resembles Clawhauser, but whether this is Clawhauser is unconfirmed.
 * Concept art shows that Clawhauser was initially going to wear glasses.
 * While he is only seen wearing his police uniform in the film, Clawhauser's casual wear in concept art often consisted of a green shirt and blue jeans.
 * In early versions of the film, predators were forced to wear electric shock collars to keep them under control at the hands of prey citizens. Concept art shows that Clawhauser was one of the many characters forced to endure this.
 * The "Lucky Chomps" cereal Clawhauser is seen eating during his introduction is a play on the "Lucky Charms" cereal brand name.
 * Clawhauser is easily worn out when running. This is actually accurate, as cheetahs, despite being the fastest mammals alive, do not have much stamina and are easily exhausted.