The Tackling of Bigotry in the Era of Trump
One of the cornerstones of the decades of Disney animated films has been crafting adorable talking animal characters that not only capture the hearts of audiences but also lend themselves to an endless stream of profitable merchandise. Whether it was a cute baby circus elephant in Dumbo, a family of jazz-loving felines in The Aristocats, or two dogs forming an unlikely romance in Lady and the Tramp, Disney consistently fell back on its tried and true formula of placing animals at the forefront of its animated narratives.
While an array of loveable animal characters had essentially kept the studio afloat in previous eras, Disney hadn’t exactly seen success with animal-centric animated features in the 21st century. After films like Brother Bear, Home on the Range, and Chicken Little left little impact on audiences, Disney began to focus more heavily on human narratives, with The Princess and the Frog and Bolt standing as the final creature features for almost a decade.
When John Lasseter was installed as the new Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2006, he keenly understood Disney’s legacy of hugely popular animal stars, particularly given Lasseter considered Dumbo to be the studio’s greatest film. Lasseter consistently pushed the animation department to pitch possible projects involving animals as the stars of the show. As fate would have it, one of those pitches would subsequently become one of the most successful releases in its entire history.
In early 2013, Tangled co-director Byron Howard pitched Lasseter several possible projects involving animal characters, including an animal adaption of The Three Musketeers, a 60s-theme caper about a maniacal doctor who turned children into animals (yikes), and a space adventure starring a bounty-hunter pug. Howard was inspired by Robin Hood, with all three concepts centring on anthropomorphic animals who talked and acted like humans. While workshopping the ideas with Lasseter, Howard cracked the key conceit to his pitch; what if animals lived in a modern world designed by animals for animals?
Lasseter suggested Howard should combine the 60s theme with an animal narrative, which led to the development of Savage Seas, an international spy thriller starring a James Bond-like arctic rabbit named Jack Savage. Working with screenwriter Jared Bush, the project was developed for almost a year before being presented to the wider Disney team for feedback, who felt the film’s strongest element was its opening act, set in a city created by and for animals.
As such, Howard dropped both the 60s setting and the espionage angle and reworked the project as a contemporary police procedural called Zootopia, starring a police duo of Nick Wilde, a cunning fox, and his sidekick Judy Hopps, a wide-eyed bunny. In late 2014, Howard realised the film’s plot worked better with Judy at the helm.
THE STORY
In a world of anthropomorphic mammals, rabbit Judy Hopps from rural Bunnyburrow fulfils her childhood dream of becoming a police officer in urban Zootopia. Despite being the academy valedictorian, Judy is delegated to parking duty by Chief Bogo, who doubts her potential because she is a rabbit. On her first day, she is hustled by a con artist fox duo, Nick Wilde and Finnick. Judy abandons parking duty to arrest Duke Weaselton, a weasel who stole a bag of crocus bulbs known as Midnicampum holicithias. Bogo reprimands her, but an otter, Mrs. Otterton, enters Bogo's office pleading for someone to find her husband Emmitt, one of fourteen predators who are missing. When Judy volunteers and Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether praises the assignment, Bogo has no choice but to give Judy the case, stipulating she has 48 hours to find Emmitt Otterton and that she must resign if she fails.
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In May 2015, Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin were cast respectively in the roles of Nick and Judy. Bateman was offered the role without the need for an audition, with the filmmakers confident he would bring his trademark dry wit and wiliness to the character, especially given Bateman had played roles similar to Nick his entire career. Goodwin was put through an exhaustive audition process before being cast in the key role of the naive but brave wannabe cop. Moore felt Goodwin brought centred sweetness and a great sense of humour to the part, with the actor able to perfectly balance Judy’s sweet nature with her blunt determination to succeed.
MY VERDICT
With its daring bid to craft an animated film targeted at children that subtly (and not so subtly) shines a light on topics like racism, bigotry, and sexism, Zootopia may well be the most subversive film Disney has ever released. Very rarely do you get a “children’s film” that dares to tackle issues like racial prejudice, gender inequality and social xenophobia. Zootopia sends a clear message of the resulting pain that comes from prejudging others based on their heritage, which is undoubtedly a message of even greater pertinence four years later.
Zootopia may feature a cast of animal characters, but its core centres on very human issues. Even small moments like a mother bunny moving her young child closer to her when a perfectly innocuous tiger sits beside them on the subway pack a hefty punch of relevance. The world of Zootopia is indeed a utopian society, with its various species all living in perfect harmony. But Zootopia shows that it only takes a crack in society to cause utter chaos. And the fact that the crack appears by the fault of the city’s police force feels terribly relevant in 2020.
But the true success of Zootopia lies with how the film expertly juggles its important message with boundless entertainment to avoid children being consciously aware they’re actually learning something from an animated film. They’ll be too delighted by the stunning designs, thrilling sequences, and the glorious and instantly-iconic characters, namely due to the enchanting voice-over work throughout.
Lead by the genius pairing of adorable Goodwin and slick Bateman, their evolving friendship is beautiful to behold, and delivers one of the film’s most powerful messages – never judge a book by its cover. Ultimately, this dichotomous reaction to the film is the mark of a truly great animated film; one that works successfully for both young and old alike, for a multitude of different reasons.
On a technical level, Zootopia is another sublime piece of animated cinema, with impressively detailed world-building and spectacular character designs. You could truly watch this film on mute and just enjoy the visual delights the animation team have cooked up. But then you’d miss the supreme laughs and touching emotion of the glorious screenplay, which should have received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Frankly, I could easily make a case the film was snubbed of a Best Picture nod too.
Everything here just works so wonderfully well and the film is ultimately elevated by its brave insistence on offering a children’s film with more substance than practically any other Disney animated film. What a remarkable moment it was to see a piece of Disney animation that actually had something to say about society. Subversive is not a trait we normally see from a studio who rarely wants to rock the boat. But Zootopia definitely rocked it. We needed a film like Zootopia in 2016, but we need it more than ever in 2020.
Is Zootopia a Disney Classic? With a pertinent message to convey but the intelligence to hide it in animation, Zootopia stood as a perfect blend of entertainment and information. It had all the laughs and thrills to keep your kids happy, but with a subtle yet powerful subtext to hopefully teach the next generation to learn from the mistakes of the past. Zootopia is a masterpiece of animation in both style and substance, easily making the film a modern-day Disney Classic.
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