Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (2016) (English Language)

Review

108min

Genre:        Family, Adventure, Animation, Mystery

Directors:    Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Cast:          Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba…and more

Writers:      Jared Bush, Phil Johnston, Rich Moore… and more

-Synopsis-

In a world were humans never existed and animals walk, talk and live like modern day people; a young determined bunny struggles to prove her worth as the first ever member of her species to serve as a cop, but an unlikely alliance gives her an opportunity to shine and solve a mystery which threatens a peaceful co-existence in yet another rich animation from the good folks at Disney.

When we hear that a film has three directors and eight different writers, we instinctively expect the worst, and considering the number of narrative and visual components involved, this could have been a real mess of a movie.

But we needn’t have doubted Disney’s ability to craft a complex mass-appeal project which works on multiple levels, because ‘Zootropolis’ (or ‘Zootopia’ to everyone outside the UK) is yet another triumph of multi-generational entertainment from Disney Animation Studios.

In keeping with the Disney legacy, ‘Zootropolis’ is a visually stunning and intricately layered piece of work with strong life lessons at its core. In this case it’s the rather timely concepts of tolerance and inclusion and the dangers of breeding fear and hatred against those who are different.

In arguably the clearest example of animal anthropomorphism in film, the impressively rendered animal city of ‘Zootropolis’ is populated by all manner of creature who live like humans but retain their animalistic traits, with charming and amusing consequences. Disney’s animators have wisely gone with an ultra cute, wide-eyed stuffed animal aesthetic, which works as both part of the narrative and to make it a little less scary at times for younger audiences.

Packed with action sequences and plenty of humour, ‘Zootropolis’ is a very busy film; this is essentially an outsider comedy combined with a detective mystery and buddy cop movie, all tightly wrapped in a morality tale.

However this is not exactly the most original Disney production in recent memory and it makes no attempt to re-invent the wheel, not even the Disney one.

The ultra-successful company formula is there for all to see but in terms of narrative, ‘Zootropolis’ is also clearly “inspired” by everything from 80’s odd couple buddy cop classic ’48 Hours’, to 2001’s family-friendly ‘Cats & Dogs’ and many things in between.

But despite it not having the pathos or dynamism of ‘Big Hero 6’, or the insightful brilliance of ‘Inside Out’, ‘Zootropolis’ is still a mesmerizing and fun experience, and as the film cleverly references, there aren’t load of songs for your kids to annoy you with for the next 10 years.

The Bottom Line…

While not an all-time Disney classic like some of the recent films we’ve been treated to, ‘Zootropolis’ is still loads of fun with an easily digestible message, a stunning visual treat for the whole family that’s packed with clever references and will test how much charm and cuteness you can take.

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Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Big Hero 6 (2014)

A teenage super-genius teams up with a fluffy medical robot and a group of uber-nerds to form a superhero team tasked with stopping a mysterious and powerful super-villain from causing carnage, Big Hero 6 is a Disney computer-animation extravaganza based on a Marvel comic-book.

Directed by Don Hall & Chris Williams and starring Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit and James Cromwell among others.

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