Was it Worth it? - An Amateur Synopsis of Zootopia · 7:13am Mar 7th, 2016
Hallo, FiMFic! Furion here, this time with an amateur synopsis absolutely nobody asked for. Call it a "review" if you want, but admittedly I'm not very experienced with that sort of thing; writing them, at least. I figured I'd try my hand at it here, however, because while I don't have all that many followers I know for a fact that a number of you are probably going to be interested in seeing Zootopia, and since I just caught a screening not too long ago I figured I'd give my thoughts on it. Since the idea is to advise anyone considering watching it, I'll try to avoid major events in the story, but I will still be discussing some minor events behind spoiler text, like this, so be advised, and without further ado let's cut to the chase.
If you're not already aware from the early promotions, the basic premise of Zootopia is that humans simply don't exist, they never did, and in our absence various species of mammals developed sapience and founded their own civilisation. The titular "Zootopia" is what I'm guessing is its capital. It is described in universe as the site at which these mammals first evolved beyond the preadator-prey relationship. How the predator species have been sustaining themselves isn't really addressed, unfortunately. The only real hint we're given is the consumption of dairy products on screen, which doesn't really make sense if my own research is accurate: In short, mammals simply don't produce enough lactase (the enzyme required to break down lactose) and so they cannot continue to survive off milk into adulthood. [source]* I mean I suppose you could say "Hey, well if they developed sapience in the absence of humans, maybe they also developed lactase persistence," but that's a rather recent evolutionary development and not characteristic of the majority. Feel free to contest the science, as I'm not fully qualified to speak on this as of yet and likely won't be for years. For the time being, however, we'll just chalk this one up to fridge logic.
But I digress. Back on point, the story follows two protagonists: Judy Hopps, the first rabbit to graduate into Zootopia's police department, (ZPD) and Nicholas Wilde, a fox who's taken to a life of con artistry due to negative attitudes toward foxes among the general populace. (Speaking of discrimination, we'll be coming back to that; it's a major theme of the story.) They form an uneasy partnership early in the film in an effort to sort out the disappearances of a number of predators around the city, a case which Judy is officially not allowed to participate in. A defining trait of Judy's character is her determination, she doesn't let failure or intimidation discourage her, and while her physical shortcomings (or rather, what are perceived as such by others) often serve as an obstacle, she learns to use her wits and her species' inherent strengths to overcome then. All in all, I'd say she's a pretty damn good role model. Nick, on the other hand, while initially coming off as a somewhat unsavoury character in addition to being highly cynical, isn't completely insensitive. They're both very clever, and for the most part pretty likable characters. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same way about much of the supporting cast. To name a few, Chief Bogo acts as the standard, unreasonably obstructive officer, because as we all know the protagonists never drive the plot forward without their superiors behaving like absolute tossers, Mayor Lionheart is your typical politician in the form of, well, a lion, and then there's Clawhauser, the out of shape, rather flamboyant cat manning the ZPD's front desk. Unlike the protagonists, the supporting cast tends to be somewhat one-dimensional and don't get much in the way of character development, the exception being Chief Bogo, who starts to become a lot less obstructive once Judy starts piecing together what's causing the disappearances, but aside from that his only redeeming characteristic is an admittedly awesome English accent.
Returning to that earlier note, discrimination is a pretty prominent theme in the story, in fact the whole thing basically amounts to an anti-discrimination/generalisation aesop. A lot of Judy's struggles, while being attributed in film to her being a rabbit, draw parallels to real world sexism, specifically in that her superiors initially don't believe she is physically capable of tackling the case. The film's early plot serves as a bit of a setup for a fear of predators held by the various prey species, who make up the majority of Zootopia's population. There's even a scene that takes place rather early in the film in which Nick is being denied service at an ice cream parlour on account of being a fox, which draws parallels to both classic racism as well as more recent LGBT discrimination cases. Admittedly, I was almost disappointed when this particular segment ended up as a setup for his get-rich quick schemes, for reasons which should be fairly obvious to anyone who knows me personally. However, it wasn't exactly unexpected. Even the protagonists have to overcome their own biases against each other, on account of being "rival" species, for lack of a better term. I feel it's a worthy message, but the delivery of it comes off as a bit ham-fisted* at times. It seems as though it could have been tackled in a better manner than it was.
As for the general tone of the movie, it's rather light-hearted. It is, after all, a family comedy first and foremost. It uses a lot of puns, which while I feel is worth mentioning I don't imagine it will bother many in this particular fandom. Most of the humour is fairly easy to catch onto, but there are some fairly clever jokes scattered about, as well as an amusingly blatant segment which pays homage to The Godfather stands out amongst the usual references. The voice acting is pretty competent for the most part, I think, apart from one scene late in the film in which Judy experiences something of an emotional breakdown, which I feel was a little over the top, though more so due to the writing than the acting. As for the music, well, I'm afraid there's not really much to say. I'm a bit ashamed to admit I wasn't paying attention to the majority of the soundtrack. The only track that really stands out after the viewing is a somewhat generic pop track performed by Shakira, (who I had honestly entirely forgotten about prior to this film) who does so under the guise of a fictional performer, Gazelle, whom she plays in the movie, and while I don't think it really detracts from it, it doesn't really add to it either, except to reinforce the unity aesop.
I suppose the only question left to answer is whether or not I enjoyed it, and honestly? Yes, I did. It wasn't brilliant, nor do I think I'd even call it great, but it was an enjoyable story, and while I feel as though the discrimination theme has been better handled in other films and stories, it does have its merits, and I certainly don't fault the writers for addressing it. I imagine some people might take offence to it, but really those are the people who should be taking its message to heart. I'd say it's worth at least one viewing, especially if you liked the sound of the premise.
And with that, those are my thoughts on Zootopia. Rather rough and unprofessional, I know. Feel free to offer your own thoughts and ideas below, as I would like to perhaps get some other perspectives on it, possibly even more experienced analysis or critique. Until then, though, auf wiedersehen!
* Don't give me any of that "Wikipedia is not a valid source" rubbish. This isn't a school paper, and I linked directly to the references for the convenience of any who might feel that way.
* I feel it's worth noting that this comes off as ham-fisted to me because I consider myself an open-minded person, so while I felt as though the aesop was a bit patronising, I also feel it was an aesop worth telling because this is something, sadly, we still see throughout the world.
Good overview/review, I will probably see it in theaters sometime.