Zootopia
ZOOTOPIA (aka ZOOTROPOLIS) (PG)
D: Byron Howard & Rich Moore
Disney (Clark Spencer)
US 2016
108 mins
Animated
W: Jared Bush & Phil Johnston
Mus: Michael Giacchino
voices of: Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps), Jason Bateman (Nick
Wilde), Idris Elba (Chief Bogo), Jenny Slate (Dawn Bellwether), J.K. Simmons (Leodore Lionheart), Bonnie Hunt (Bonnie Hopps), Don Lake (Stu Hopps)
Originally released under the title Zootopia, the film was
renamed Zootropolis for European audiences. The reason why remains a mystery.
Set in a city where anthropomorphic animals of various species
live in relative harmony, a rookie bunny cop, the first of her kind, is given 48 hours to solve a missing persons case or face expulsion from the force, with the assistance of a cunning fox
confidence trickster, they uncover a plot that something, or someone, is turning the tame animals feral in a reversion to their evolution.
Zootopia is huge fun, with the excellent standard of animation
you'd expect from Disney, but it's also blessed with a good story which is a slight throwback to classic detective movies of the 1940's, as well as holding some clever subplots, such as chasing
your dreams, not giving up and a rich anti-racism sentiment which runs throughout the film. Some of the visual humour and one-liners won't be appreciated by young children, but adults will
understand what is being alluded to.
The film was a huge box office hit, and a deserved winner of
the Best Animated Film Oscar.
8/10
