So That’s What Zootopia is all About
OK, ok, so this might be a late movie review about a city called Zootopia. I’m not even sure if I’d call this a review, but something’s itching me to blurt out my opinions about it. So, I decided, why not make a full-blown article about Zootopia?
Who Made Me?
I didn’t even plan to watch the movie but someone got me hooked. I’m talking about a famous Quoran in the internet (yes, you, Jake Williams!). He’s this witty tea-loving furry that has got lots of followers and has interesting answers for just about anything under the sun (because that’s how it goes with Quora). He has a profile picture of one of the protagonists in Zootopia, the anthropomorphic fox named Nick Wilde. So what made him choose the fox? Not much choice of famous furries?
But what’s a Furry?
A furry is someone who loves anthropomorphic characters, from mascots to computer-rendered ones. An anthropomorphic character is an animal who walks, talks and thinks like a human (also has human traits). I got an anthropomorph, I got a furry… UGH! Furry fandom! Hehe, sorry, I just had to do it.
Through the Keyhole…
Taking a little sneak-peek from the outside in from the trailer, you were introduced to Nick as he narrated what’s it like to live in Zootopia. Here’s what I was talking about:
You can presume from this trailer that Nick was your average blue-collared—*chuckles* in his case, green—fellow who doesn’t get along with a cottontail officer simply because of personal differences in principle, maybe. But I think this trailer was misleading! OK, a little. This was the first thing I “watched” from this animated movie and that was what I had in mind—for a story—after solely watching the trailer.And into the Room
As it turned out, it had little to do with the plot, it’s not even a plot device. After “being in the world Zootopia” for two hours, here’s what I got as the story: since Judy Hopps, the rabbit, was a child, she dreamt of being a cop albeit her parents will.
When she got older, she left their farm and entered Zootopia Police Academy, where she graduated with honors. Yet, their buffalo for a chief (Bogo) only assigned her parking duties. Anyway, during her shift, cottontail here spotted foxy-locks with a cute little fennec (for a son, she presumed) having a hard time buying a large pop in an elephant store. So miss goody-two-shoes with blackmailing tendencies helped them out without even asking for change. Nick thanked Judy and they bid goodbye to each other.
Those were the first few parts, and from here, the story gets a little messy: while still giving yellow tickets to 30-second offenders, Judy found out about the fox-duo hustle. They were repackaging the big red pop for small ones to sell to little critters and recycling the popsicle sticks so it can pass as redwoods. But after busting them out, Judy just verbally reprimanded Nick. Yes, he got away with it!
Or Was It Outside?
The plot got thicker when Judy helped to find a missing otter when she went back to HQ, after bringing in a weasel to turn in (oh the play on words). She got a scolding from Bogo for neglecting her post and catching a crook instead, so he gave her an ultimatum of a two-day hunt for the missing otter, else she’d turn her badge in. Of course she complied, she had no choice left.
Trail led her to foxy-locks as a witness. He wouldn’t cooperate though, so it was on to her blackmailing (you tax-evading vulpine!). They traced Otterton’s (the otter’s surname) last whereabouts which landed them into the mafia boss’s turf, which Nick wasn’t really fond of because of swindling Mr. Big. Luckily, Judy saved the day as Big’s daughter was saved by the bunny before, so he returned the favor.
They discovered that Otterton, on his way to Mr. Big to tend his garden, went wild—as in feral wild—and that the driver has full account of it, so off they go to him. No sooner, the driver went feral as well and assaulted the crime-busting duo.
Oops, I Went Way too Far
I’m getting writer’s block so sorry I won’t get to tell the whole tale. But for a nice and concise story wrap up, rabbit-fox duo found out about why predators alone were returning into their savage state, after falsely accusing predators that it was in their nature all along, and who was behind everything. In the end, Nick officially became Judy’s cop partner and sarcastically exchanged terms of endearment to one another.
If you’re interested in the whole story, Wikipedia has got you covered.
Girl Meets World
Zootopia’s concept is a bit old but it has new stuff to offer. It’s a play on words on the term “utopia” meaning, an imaginary ideal world, and “zoo,” a place where different animals live. In the world of Zootopia, prey and predator are in harmony with each other. There is no survival of the fittest concept here. Not sure what the predators are having for breakfast, but their life is like the life of humans where there are popstars, smartphones, fruit smoothies, picket signs and the like. There are some animals in this world where they prefer being a “hippie” and they call themselves naturalists, choosing to be naked and living decadently, but still, killers and targets get along pretty well that the line is completely blurred.
What’s interesting about this zoo-like city is that it is clustered with different regions according to climate and terrain. There’s Tundratown, and with a single train ride, you’ll land to Sahara Square or the Rainforest District. I’ve no idea how they manage to fill Tundratown with snow and then next to it a desert. Well… animation, what else, right? And yet, I find a deeper meaning to it, in terms of living in harmony with one another. Even mother nature in this world is in line with being harmonious, to extremes!
One more thing I must point out is how the creators pick the two main protagonists: a fox and a rabbit. In the real world, they are the hunter and the hunted, respectively. Sure, daddy bunny Stu Hopps is still a bit paranoid about foxes, but not to the point that they are a real threat to their lives; it’s just that foxes are known to be untrustworthy (in this matter, the adjectival characteristics of an animal is brought out and pose as their real-life traits, so that’s where a sly fox and a dumb bunny come into play). In this world, fox and rabbit get to be best buddies.
Judy, the rabbit, also points out that you can be what you want in life, with perseverance and the willpower to do so. It’s not really how real-life rabbits are known, but I guess this is the pull off of Disney being kid-centric in matters of story morals and inspiration. Pursue your dreams, then if the going gets tough, the tough gets to have the badge.
Also, before I forget, we see a flashback of Nick’s childhood as he tells it to Hopps. Turns out he got bullied when he wanted to get in as a junior ranger scout. But the other grass-feeding kids put a muzzle on his mouth and kicked him out of the club. He was marred eversince, so he became a con artist because that’s what foxes are known for. When he met Judy, however, things started to change as someone acknowledged him that he can be trusted.
I don’t think this is something new from Disney yet I cannot pinpoint what movie or character went into the same sitch as Nick Wilde and gotten out of it. Anyway, the moral is that the one who really knows you is yourself and that you should be yourself even if other people label you with stereotypes just because of your looks and your background. As the saying goes, “be yourself, everybody else has been taken.” Get out of the box and into yours when people put you inside of it.
Now I’m wondering if Jake Williams life was like that…
Disclaimer: All photos and videos are property of Disney. Writeup was mine.
