By Teri Bayus
Zootopia is a movie everyone can enjoy. It may be Disney’s most colorful film to date, but it also has the classic Disney moral message for viewers of all ages and backgrounds.
Zootopia takes place in a world where there are no humans and animals do everything as if they are humans. They have houses, police forces, and access to our type of transportation.
Judy Hopps (played by Ginnifer Goodwin) is a bunny who has always wanted to be a cop. She’s constantly told by everyone, even her parents, that bunnies cannot be police officers due to their size and cute look.
She proves them wrong and passes the police academy first in her class and a position in the metropolis of Zootopia.
Though promised that she would receive the same treatment like her fellow officers, her police captain Chief Bogo (voiced by Idris Elba) assigns her parking duty. Rather than complain, she takes her new assignment with excitement, hoping her work effort will lead to something better.
After arresting a thieving weasel, she’s given a chance to find a missing otter within 48 hours or risk having to resign. The only clue she has is a photo from where Emmet Otterton was last seen.
She finds a clue that leads her to the sly, con artist fox, “Nick Wilde” (played by Jason Bateman). Though she has a prejudice against foxes they team up to find the otter. Their various clues take them to a nudist club run by a Yak (played by Tommy Chong), a DMV run by sloths (funniest scene ever), and even a crime boss shrew named Mr. Big in order to discover the bigger mystery within the city.
More than anything, it’s worth seeing for its fun characters and inspiring message.
The voice talent is as good as it has been for Disney in a long time as Bateman, Goodwin, Elba, Jenny Slate, and J.K. Simmons all do a wonderful job bringing these characters to life.
You will get attached to Hopps and her unlikely fox friend, Nick Wilde, as they go on a journey to uncover a conspiracy that is plaguing Zootopia. Which brings up another brilliant aspect of this film, its meticulous plot.
Zootopia is one of the cleverest Disney films to come out in recent memory. Its constant nods to pop culture including famous films like “The Godfather” or TV shows like “Breaking Bad” give parents more than enough reason to take their kids to the theater.
There are plenty of jokes that will fly over kids’ heads and the humor never gets too silly.
It’s a great balance that makes animated kids’ films prodigious, and Zootopia is a respectable example of that.
Teri Bayus can be reached at: [email protected] or follow her writing and ramblings at: www.teribayus.com. Bayus also hosts Taste Buds, a moving picture rendition of her reviews shown on Charter Cable Ch. 10. Dinner and a Movie is a regular feature of Tolosa Press.