‘Zootopia’ teaches kids acceptance

By Ryan, April 11, 2016

By Ann Shelley // Staff Writer

Mystery-solving animals come to the big screen with Disney Pixar’s latest animated feature, “Zootopia.” Released in March, “Zootopia” is about a mammal metropolis where animals live and thrive. Full of action, adventure, and comedy, the film is a story about being anything you want to be – and fans of all ages are responding. On opening weekend, “Zootopia” made a whopping $75,063,401 at the box office, which is the seventh largest opening of all time for an animated film. The movie broke box office records set by Disney giants like “Frozen,” and “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.”
This film has many well-known actors voicing the characters such as Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman and Shakira. It is co-directed by Byron Howard (“Bolt” and “Tangled”), Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph”) and Jared Bush (“Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero”). Produced by Clark Spencer (“Lilo & Stich,” “Bolt,” and “Wreck-It Ralph”), the behind-the-scenes team set up “Zootopia” to be a star-studded hit.
After watching the trailer for “Zootopia,” I couldn’t have been more intrigued and excited to see this film. The most-well known part of the movie, now made infamous in the trailer, features Flash, the so-called “fastest sloth” that works at a DMV. His movements and speaking patterns are so excruciatingly slow that it’s comical. Throughout the film, each of the characters incorporates stereotypes about those animals types, which really brought the film to life. The main plot within the movie revolves around a rabbit, Officer Judy Hopps. The smallest animal of them all, viewers are able to watch Hopps to solve the case and find the bad guy. Officer Hopps is the character within the movie that shows optimism throughout its entirety. She is the first rabbit to be a police officer, being that the other officers were big animals like rhinos or elephants. Officer Hopps jumps at any opportunity to work on a case to solve it. She blackmails Nick Wilde, a fox who becomes her investigative partner, to assist her in solving a “missing mammal” case.
The most impressive part of “Zootopia” is that it can teach valuable lessons to kids of all ages. This Disney Pixar comedy made strong political comments about the dangers of sexism and racism. Most would not expect this kind of message out of a children’s film. However, the main takeaway of “Zootopia” was that stereotypes hurt everyone and acceptance is inclusive. The main character, Judy, is stereotyped to not be a good police officer because she is a small rabbit. However, this movie changes the ideas of stereotyping the “bad” and “good” guys. A great message for kids is shown through this funny and meaningful animated film that is sure to be a classic many years from now.