The film received widespread critical acclaim with many praise directed towards the film's animation, voice acting, characters, humor, screenplay, and themes about discrimination and social stereotypes. The film was also a massive box office success, grossing $1.023 billion worldwide against its $150 million budget and ranks as the second highest-grossing Walt Disney Animation Studios film.
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, damp Rainforest District, and calm little Bunnyburrow, 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.[1]
This film begins with a jungle which fades into a children's play about the history of Zootopia. One day, Judy Hopps, a bunny 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 predators. 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, saying "It's called a hustle, sweetheart".
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 been picked up by his chauffeur Manchas, a black jaguar, to bring him to Mr. Big to talk about something important. However, en-route, Otterton suddenly "went savage" - reverted to a feral state - and attacked Manchas before running off. Judy and Nick locate Manchas at his home in the Rainforest District for questioning. Manchas describes the attack on him and mentions that Otterton had been yelling about "night howlers". However, before he can reveal anything else, Manchas suddenly turns savage himself and chases the pair, but they manage to escape. Judy calls the ZPD for help, but when Bogo and his reinforcements arrive, Manchas is nowhere to be found. Bogo demands Judy's resignation, but Nick takes a stand, insisting they have 10 more hours to solve the case. As the pair leave the Rainforest District, Nick opens up to Judy, revealing that he was bullied by prey animals as a cub for being a fox and subsequently became a con artist, resolving to live out the "sly fox" stereotype, as no one saw a fox as anything else.
Nick realizes that the city's traffic camera system may have captured how Manchas disappeared, and the pair consults Assistant Mayor Bellwether. They then discover that Manchas was captured by wolves, which Judy assumes is what Otterton had meant by "night howlers". Judy and Nick locate Cliffside Asylum, where the wolves have detained the missing predators (including Mr. Otterton), all of which have gone savage, and eavesdrop on Mayor Lionheart consulting with a doctor about their condition, revealing that he is keeping the savage predators hidden from both the public and the ZPD, and that the cause their strange behavior is unknown. The pair escape, inform Bogo and the police swarm the area, arresting Lionheart and those involved. Bellwether subsequently becomes the new mayor.
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 predators' 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 to be restored.
Two to three months later,[2] Judy has returned to Bunnyburrow and rejoined the family business as a carrot farmer. However, she later learns from her parents and reformed childhood bully, fox Gideon Grey, that "night howlers" are toxic flowers that have severe psychotropic effects on mammals. Realizing that the flowers are what Otterton was referring to and that they must be the cause of the outbreaks, Judy returns to Zootopia, where she reconciles with Nick. They then locate Weaselton, who explains that he has been collecting night howlers for a ram named Doug Ramses, who owns a lab hidden in the subway tunnels. The pair finds the lab and discovers Doug creating a night howler serum which he has been exposing to predators via paintball-like pellets fired by an air-powered sniper gun. Judy and Nick hijack the lab (which is on a still functional train) and race to the ZPD with the evidence but are pursued by Doug's henchrams, whom they barely manage to defeat. The train is destroyed in the process, but Nick manages to save a case containing Doug's sniper gun and the serum pellet.
Just short of the ZPD, the pair encounters 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 henchrams. Bellwether shoots a serum pellet from the evidence case at Nick and frames a call for help to the ZPD. Nick seemingly becomes savage and corners Judy, but it turns out the pair was acting in order to trick Bellwether into openly admitting her prey-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' farm. With Bellwether's monologue recorded on Judy's carrot pen just as Bellwether made her short-lived threat to frame them like she did with Lionheart, Chief Bogo and the ZPD arrive and arrest her and her henchrams upon hearing everything. Upon being informed and interviewed on the matter, Lionheart denies any knowledge of Bellwether's plot, but admits to have illegally imprisoned the savage predators, claiming it to have been done for the "right reasons".
Later, Judy is reinstated into the ZPD. An antidote is discovered for the effects of the night howlers and all the infected predators, including Mr. Otterton and Mr. Manchas, are cured. Months later (about a year after Judy started her job at the ZPD), 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 from Bunnyburrow who is a newly appointed member of the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.
Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, a gruff and critical, but ultimately just and compassionate cape buffalo who is the police chief of the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.
Jenny Slate as Bellwether, a diminutive female sheep who is the assistant mayor of Zootopia, and is later revealed to be the mastermind behind the savage attacks.
Nate Torrence as Clawhauser, an obese cheetah who works as a dispatcher for the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.
Phil Johnston as Gideon Grey, a red fox from Bunnyburrow who used to bully the young rabbits and sheep when he was young. As an adult, he has made amends with those he picked on and become a much-respected baker. Phil also voices an offscreen character that complains about his tax dollars paying Judy's salary.[3]
Jesse Corti as Mr. Manchas, a black jaguar from Zootopia's Rainforest District who is a chauffeur for Zootopia's biggest limo company and is the personal chauffeur to Mr. Big.
John DiMaggio as Jerry Jumbeaux Jr., an African elephant. He also voices a moose that Judy gives a ticket to and Jesse and Woolter, two tough rams who are Doug's accomplices.[6] Lastly, John DiMaggio voices the pig reporter at Judy's press conference who says "Why? Why is this happening?"[7]
Rich Moore as Doug, an emotionless sheep chemist and sniper who works for Bellwether. Moore also voices Larry,[11] the wolf who tells Gary to stop howling.[12]
David A. Thibodeau as Gary, the white timber wolf.[26]
Development
Early artwork depicting the logo and tone of Savage Seas and Savage City by co-director Byron Howard.
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.[27]
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.[28] 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.[29][30] Live animals, such as sloths and fennec foxes, were also brought into the studio building for further, intimate study.
Character designs for the characters Nick Wilde (drawn with a "tame collar") and Judy Hopps by artist Nick Orsi.
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.[31][32]
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.[31][33]
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.[34]
The city of Zootopia, itself, is comprised of various districts—all of which are tailored to best suit the animals that inhabit 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.[30] 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.[35]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.[30]
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.[36]
On October 29, 2015, Moore announced that animation on the film was wrapped.[37]
Music
In addition to her voice role of Gazelle, the biggest pop star in Zootopia, Shakira also contributed 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.[38] The score was completed on November 20.
Release
Zootopia was released in theaters on March 4, 2016, in the United Sates, March 25, 2016, in the United Kingdom, and on February 10, 2016, in Belgium.
Zootopia was released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and Digital HD on June 7, 2016.[39] It includes some bonus material such as "Scoretopia" and the music video of "Try Everything".[40]
Reception
Box office
As of July 5, 2016, Zootopia has grossed $341.3 million in North America and $682.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.023 billion on a production budget of $150 million, making it a massive box office success. As of now, it is the second highest-grossing film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, behind Frozen. It marks it the fourth animated film (after Toy Story 3, Frozen, and Minions), eleventh Disney film, and twenty-sixth film to cross the $1 billion dollar mark. It is the fourth highest-grossing film of 2016 (behind Captain America: Civil War, Rogue One, and Finding Dory), the second highest-grossing animated film of 2016 (behind Finding Dory), the 39th highest-grossing film of all time and the eighth highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind Frozen, Incredibles 2, Minions, Toy Story 3, 2019's The Lion King, Despicable Me 3 and Finding Dory).
Critical response
Zootopia has received universal critical acclaim from critics, becoming the most well-reviewed movie of 2016. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film is "Certified Fresh" with a rating of 98%, based on 217 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."[41] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[42]
Zootopia was also selected by American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2016, an extremely rare feat for animation, and won numerous awards for Best Animated Feature, including the Academy Award, the Critics' Choice Movie Award, and the Golden Globe.
The film would currently be the 35th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide if Jurassic Park and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace had never been re-released.
Unlike its predecessors, this film features exclusively mammalian characters, although primates were cut from the film 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 would've been the only flying animals in the world of Zootopia and because they were too small to wear clothing and look publicly suitable. However, a figurine of a bat eyewitness was released alongside with a figure of Clawhauser, ironically enough (it is unknown why no marine creatures are seen).
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.
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 the third longest Disney animated film after Fantasia at 124 minutes and Ralph Breaks the Internet at 112 minutes. Since Fantasia is a compilation of shorts, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Zootopia are the longest animated stories told by Disney.
The filmmakers were inspired by previous Disney films during the making of Zootopia: director Byron Howard wanted to create Zootopia as an homage to Robin Hood (which he has always considered his childhood favorite Disney film) with modern CG technology, and producer Clark Spencer was inspired by The Jungle Book to produce 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,[43]the Burrows,[44]the Canals, and Happytown.[45] The Burrows may have been a precursor of Bunnyburrow (an area outside of Zootopia), and Happytown (which was actually a slummy district) seems particularly geared toward the darker, more dystopian, and mean-spirited versions of the story that were later abandoned.
The word "Zootopia" is spoken 23 times during the film.
Throughout Zootopia, there are numerous animal parodies of real-life companies and popular culture names:
Some smartphones feature a logo that looks like the Apple Inc. logo, though here, it has the shape of a carrot instead, parodying Apple Inc. smartphones called iPhones. There are also devices resembling iPad tablets but with a pawprint logo and the name "iPaw".
In the preview clip of the Little Rodentia chase scene, the "Mousy's" name does not appear on the store front, though Targoat does appear on Fru Fru's bag.
Zootopia is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film to have its background music score be composed by Michael Giacchino and also the second film score from that studio to be composed by a recurring Pixar composer; the first was 2009's The Princess and the Frog, where its score and songs were composed by Randy Newman.
Top: The anchors in the Canadian release Middle: The anchors in the Japanese release Bottom: The anchors in the Chinese version
The character Peter Moosebridge's portrayal differs based on each region's version of the film. While Moosebridge remains in the Canadian, American, and British (where he was renamed Moosos Alexander and voiced by BBC sports reporter, Veesos Alexander, though the UK home release used his US name and voice) versions, he is replaced by a jaguar called Boi Chai in the Brazilian version (voiced by Rede Bandeirantes news anchor Ricardo Boechat), a tanuki in the Japanese version, a koala in the Australian and New Zealand versions and a panda in the Chinese version.
Because the movie and titular city were renamed "Zootropolis" for its release in the UK and Ireland, an ADR group re-recorded the original cast's lines to accommodate the change, matching the original voices perfectly. Despite this, the characters' lips still mouth "Zootopia" when they say "Zootropolis."
On Judy's music player (that closely resembles a 6th generation iPod Nano), several famous artist and band names are parodied, including Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Yak), Foo Fighters (Fur Fighters), Guns N' Roses (Guns N' Rodents), Selena Gomez (Hyena Gomez), Kanye West (Kanine West), and Mick Jagger (Mick Jaguar).
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 ordinary state reflects the various nonviolent protests that occurred throughout this era.
The prejudice that the ZPD (particularly Chief Bogo) had against smaller and 'weaker' prey mammals (until Judy Hopps' triumph for the ZPD) is similar to the racism against African-Americans and all minorities during this era.
At the beginning of the film, during Nick's Ice Cream parlor scene, 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 this era.
At one point in the movie, just before she gets on the train for Zootopia, Judy's parents are reminding her of all the animals she has to fear, Judy quotes FDR's famous statement "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
The calendars throughout the movie suggest the film's events took place during the month of May.
Outside of Jumbeaux's Cafe (where Judy bought the Jumbo Pop for Nick and Finnick), next door, there is a theater that is showing Star Trunk, a reference to Star Trek.
Finnick's van plate, which reads HB051986 is a reference to actor Herschel Bernardi, who died in May 1986.
In the original theatrical release, Mayor Lionheart's in-jail interview was slightly longer. After explaining why he imprisoned the animals, he asks the reporter, "You can understand that, can't you?" To which the reporter, a porcupine (prey species), replies flatly, "No." In all subsequent releases of the movie, these two lines are not present.
This is the first and only movie since 2005 to have the old Disney Interactive logo from 1995-2005.
Cameos and other Disney references
On the theatrical release poster for Zootopia, standing behind Yax is a zebra whose 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 pram.
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.
Also, on the back of the van, the magical fish hook belonging to the character Maui from Moana can be seen.
In Little Rodentia, right next to Mousy'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' Pastry Shop, alluding to Hans from Frozen.
At one point, Chief Bogo references "Let It Go" from Frozen. This is not only an obvious reference to the aforementioned film but also a nod to Frozen's co-director Jennifer Lee, who served as a co-writer for Zootopia.[46]
The picture on Chief Bogo's calendar in his office is the skyline of San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6.
Pascal from Tangled appears as a silhouette on a medal in Chief Bogo's office.
Genie's Lamp is sitting on a shelf in the Mystic Springs Oasis' reception office.
In one scene, Duke Weaselton is seen selling bootlegged films, all of which are animal variants of four of Walt Disney Animation Studios' previous films and one of that in-house studio's upcoming films. Those include:
