Master Presentations: “Zootopia” (Written Review)

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“Zootopia” is the most socially and politically involved Disney animated feature to date. It goes up and beyond the predictable mockery of archetypical human behaviors associated with specific animals for the sake of, admittedly, really funny jokes and it also far surpasses the clever but thematically self-limiting subversion of expectations when it comes to said behaviors applied to said animal characters - which is to say it’s a move that could have made for a simple moral of “don’t judge a book by its cover” but instead gets to be deeply ingrained in a much more complex, relevant issue that the film tackles with refreshing, poignant brutality.

What I find absolutely astounding, especially for an established, culturally-defining mainstream company such as Disney, is that they managed to deliver a lambasting, unapologetic, no-holds-barred commentary about prejudice in modern society under the guise of a family cartoon starring anthropomorphic characters. In fact, I would be more inclined to say that the use of humanized animals in such an Orwellian, allegoric fashion is the reason why the critique is so powerful and on-point to begin with: the reinterpretation of all the many, many problems that characterize our day-to-day reality in a metaphorical format such as this allows for a level of perspective and long-lasting impression that a more straightforward apologue usually does not provide. For example, it’s one thing for a film to state that women and minorities are ostracized because of their gender/misguided reputation but it’s another thing altogether for a film to establish a connection between the social ostracization of women and minorities and the way rabbits and foxes are generally treated based on well known stereotypes attached to them (namely, rabbits are considered small and weak, while foxes are considered sleazy and not to be trusted).



It doesn’t stop there though. With the two main characters serving as the metaphorical bearers for the themes of gender inequality and plain old racism, the film takes us on a journey that both unravels and deconstructs down to the core every possible issue from classism to racial supremacy, from political scare tactics to the role played by the government and the media in the mistreatment of specific social groups. By the time we get to the second half, the diegesis had already made an eerie and very specific allusion to certain “choice words” reserved for certain types of people by certain public figures… and I’ll just leave it at that for now.



In the end, what “Zootopia” is really about isn’t just a broad criticism on racism, sexism and the role they play in Western civilization, it’s actually a much more scary and powerful implication than that. Prejudice and the persecutions attached to it are not merely a defining aspect of Society, our prejudiced Society is both the cause and effect of itself! It’s the result of a constantly repeated vicious cycle throughout history in which the actions of the Few with Power determine the livelihood of the Many, and the reactions of the Many determine the behavior of the Ostracized Few which in turn fuels the self-righteousness of the Powerful Few with the Many following right after. It’s the kind of atavist problem that cannot be solved by a Disney-style happy ending and even though the (absolutely brilliant) antagonist is stopped, the crisis gets resolved and our heroes celebrate their hard-earned victory at the end, the film is smart enough to acknowledge that that’s not going to fix what’s fundamentally wrong with the world. Instead it chooses to leave us with a hopeful “try everything” and “be whatever you want to be” message implying that The Change we need has to come from You.



“Zootopia” is a masterpiece, a brutally effective Orwellian allegory, a thematic juggernaut conveyed through a solid, engaging and fun narrative that doesn’t beat you over the head with its message, a political and social statement that displays the kind of radical anti-establishment mannerism you simply don’t expect to see from the Mouse company (of all places) and it’s also the best effort from the Disney Animation Studios since “Wreck-It Ralph.” Go watch it as many times as you can.



Roh roh fight the powah!

