Z Is For Zootopia

 A to Z Challenge 2023

A Month  At The Movies

 

Film: Zootopia (2016)

Directors: Byron Howard & Rich Moore

2016 was a big year at the movies for Walt Disney Studios.  According to Box Office Mojo, they had 5 of the top 7 grossing films released in that year.  It was also a big year for animated children's movies with 3 of the aforementioned top 7.  Zootopia was 7th on the list grossing 341.3 million in the U.S. alone.

By gkaidan - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42701886

                                                                         Zootopia - Disney Enterprises Inc. 

Zootopia features Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon A Time) and Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) as the voices of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde a bunny on the Zootopia police department,  and a fox,    a hustler, and a condog (a male fox is called a dog, look it up.).

This movie follows the standard buddy cop movie plot.  A by the book, play by the rules cop is partnered with an informant who flaunts and plays fast and loose with the laws.  As they learn to work together they go deeper and deeper to uncover a vast conspiracy.

This plot also underlies the main theme of the movie that biases and prejudices don't really show what the true heart of a person, or in this case an animal is. 

Positive Tomato: Sure to speak to kids d grown-ups alike, Zootopia unfolds a poignant lesson about how prejudice can hurt people, but also how it can be overcome. And it does all this in a wonderfully fun film. Kristy Pucko - Pajiba  

 Negative Tomato: It just never fully settles into its own message or visual style. Deidre Crimmins - Cinematic Essential

Resiliency: Resiliency is a major theme of the movie.  It can best be summed up by the Shakira song that plays in the film. Try Everything.

 

The lyrics are chock full of what they call at my school, Growth Mindset.

Consider the opening verse:

I messed up tonight, I lost another fight

Lost to myself, but I'll just start again 

I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground 

But I always get up now to see what's next

The song continues:

Birds don't just fly, they fall down and get up.

Nobody learns without getting it wrong.

After the familiar chorus, the 2nd verse preaches even more resiliency:

Look how far you've come, you filled your heart with love

Baby, you've done enough, take a deep breath 

Don't beat yourself up, no need to run so fast 

Sometimes we come last, but we did our best 

Try Everything - Shakira

Top 100: I enjoyed this film quite a bit, but it is nowhere near my top 100, I doubt it would even make the top 200.  

A to Z Connections: Bonnie Hunt who voices Judy's over-protected Mom also appears in Dave as a very eager White House tour guide. She co-starred, co-wrote, and directed Return To Me.  

Next Time: A to Z Reflection