Zootopia Essay

Society has often enjoyed looking at its past and reflecting it onto its present.  More often than not the use of media is a very common way for society to reflect on its issues.  Films and movies have always fallen victim to heavy use of allegorical and satirical elements that reflect on humanity's current times.  Although topics like this are very common in adult films, sometimes a rarity can occur.  And sometimes that rarity can be so bizarre and so elaborate that the audience would have to be children in order to not understand the references.  That is, however, if your target audience is children. 

In 2016 Disney released the computer animated film "Zootopia" on March fourth.  The film, aimed at a younger audience, grossed $1.025 billion dollars in the box office.  Zootopia ranks as the eleventh highest grossing animated film of all time and Disney's seventh highest grossing animated feature.  But what draws a younger crowd into a film over princess and Dwayne Johnson?  Animals.  Look back at animation's roots.  Human beings can see other human beings all the time.  So what would be interesting to look at in an animated film?  Animales.  Humans like to see animated animals walk and talk just like real people.  It brings variety to what you usually see.  Why go see a film where human police can solve a crime when you can see animals do the same thing? 
The film "Zootopia" was a massive success with younger audiences for that reason.  Kids love animals.  Some kids may like detective films because it makes them feel slightly adult to watch the film.  Put the two together and you have yourself a recipe for success.  However, there is much to the movie that most child audiences may have overlooked.  Although the movie seems innocent enough, when dissected the film quickly begins to show signs of major societal messages.  These messages, for the most part, are actually right out in the open.  Though the younger audience, which was the film's main consumption, would never have understood these.  So why include these messages in a kids film?  To what aim were they induced?  And is there more to this simple kids film that meets the eye?  The answer is yes.  But the reasoning is much deeper than it seems.

The world of "Zootopia" takes place in a universe that is "a modern civilized world that is entirely animal."  Only animals inhabit this world.  They live and act just like humans, yet there are no humans.  The central location for the film is Zootopia, a city, to which the movie is named after, where all different sorts of animals live together, predators and prey, in peace and harmony.  The film's protagonist is a typical kid's movie female hero, Judy Hopps (because the two p's are definitely necessary).  She is a young rabbit, or bunny as she is constantly referred to, with dreams of becoming the first bunny police officer and to serve the force in Zootopia.  Because of her species, Judy is greatly discouraged to pursue her dreams, even by her parents.  Judy though pulls through her persecution and graduates top of her class and leaves her small town to live and work in the city.  Once there she quickly is put on meter duty because of her species.  While out on the force Judy encounters the shifty Nick Wilde, a "sly fox" who has been running a slightly illegal popsicle business since he was young.  Although the two appear to have nothing in common, and seem to be basic everyday enemies, they must join together to solve a case involving the disappearance of predators from the city.  At the end of the film the two are able to find a common ground and prove that, although they are natural enemies, they are still able to come together and solve something that no one else was able to do.  The movie is a classic example of a buddy-cop film.  However the setting of the world that our heroes live in is one that is enough to raise enough questions to sink the Titanic again and then one more time for safe measure. 

One of the major points of the movie comes from the dynamic between the two different types of animals.  There are predators and prey.  However, the society they live in has moved past the simple hunt and kill days, as Judy explains in the opening exposition of the film.  Now predators and prey live together as one in their society.  This creates major issues throughout the entire film.  Before Judy leaves her home town to live in Zootopia her parents attempt to give her several different means of fox repellent, including a taser.  When comparing this concept to real life this entire situation becomes bizarre.  This would be like giving your daughter repellent against a certain race of people.  Racial equality has been an issue throughout time for human beings.  Certain groups have always disliked other groups or believed themselves superior to them.  White people often would warn their children to stay away from African Americans and give them means to protect themselves.  By giving Judy repellent, it is the equivalent of giving another human being human repellent.  It is essentially giving her a means of hurting another animal, although they all are supposed to live together as equals.  This sort of allegorical take on society is more than apparent in this moment, and as a kid's film goes is slightly deep.  Although the moment is supposed to be humorous, the overall effect is the exact opposite.