Zootopia Review - The Land of Dreams!

I absolutely LOVED this movie, and - as you know - I'm not the only one. XD

But there's a reason for it's popularity; it has an amazing storyline with amazing characters!

I found this essay written by Michael-GoldenHeart who really went in depth with the characters and the plot. His review is really well done and there's not much more I can add to it so I invite you to go check it out!




I also watched a few Youtube reviews about it and looked at a few comments. Some people explained the meaning behind the movie really well and I couldn't do much better, which is why I'd like to quote them. 

"The "Is it predator/prey or is it big vs little?" question is a great example of intersectionality. Basically it doesn't have to be either/or -- it can be both. And that makes life really hard for people who have multiple strikes against them.

Say there's a belief that prey animals make worse cops, because they're less aggressive. And a belief that small animals make worse cops, because they don't have the physical capacity to take down a culprit. Then a rabbit -- who is small and a prey species -- will have double the difficulty, because she's trying to fight both stereotypes simultaneously.

And that happens all the time in the real world. There's a belief that women make worse cops, because "they're less aggressive". There's a belief that small people make worse cops, because they don't have the physical capacity to take down a culprit. So a small man will face discrimination. A large woman will face discrimination. But a small woman will face even more discrimination (in general, situations vary, statistically speaking ... usual disclaimers).

So I think introducing a more complex view of race relations and discrimination, that includes opportunities for discussing intersectionality, is a great inclusion in the film."



"[...] I interpreted small prey as being like the women in our society. And that Nick, being part of a race that is seen as "aggressive" and always being taken for a criminal (although it was true in his case) despite not giving any direct evidence - was a racial minority, or more specifically a black male. I hate trying to code characters with race, but in the midst of the really common problems we've been seeing nowadays I feel like that's what this movie was getting at. Especially because Judy was a cop and almost pulled a weapon on Nick without him being aggressive at all. Some people have more obstacles to jump over and it's beyond their control. Judy being a girl meant it would be harder to join the police force and get taken seriously. Bellwether had the same issue, you could tell that the police force didn't take her too seriously, putting her office in a heater room, not going out of their way to show her respect the way the bigger workers were. As for Nick, people are constantly showing aggression towards him no matter what he's doing. Both of them have unfair obstacles they need to overtake thanks to awful stereotypes that others have about them. I guess I just restated what you did... In short, I agree"



So like the comments explain, I don't believe the movie is just about racism - in fact it mostly deals with bullying since both main characters were bullied in their childhood - I believe the message is really general (on purpose) so as to tackle many problems at the same time and so that many people can relate to it. 

But in my opinion the charm of this movie was much more than that, it was also about how two people cope with everyday life in their own unique way with their own unique personalities; I absolutely LOVE Judy's optimism and I could relate to her with that! No matter what gets thrown her way she always stays positive (or at least tries her hardest to stay positive) and never gives up, always trying to find a solution to everything!  

She's also capable of admitting her mistakes and go and apologize for it, which isn't easy - most people are too prideful to apologize and to admit their flaws - but she can, which is another reason why I love her so much! ^-^

Nick is also an amazing individual; during his whole life people only saw him as some horrible monster, and he's been harassed for it. Anyone would be brought down by that. YET, instead of giving up he finds a way to cope with life based on the labels people have given him. And even though he may be scamming people, he's actually not doing anything illegal! (besides the tax thing, haha XD that was one of my favorites scenes X'D) 
And he actually has a kind heart deep down. 

I found that really touching and meaningful because this shows how society can pervert people who are actually nice to begin with. Yet they become bad because of how others treat them.

The chemistry between these two characters was amazing as well! *O* They were so natural, which is what makes this duo so lovable, because they act in a realistic way. There is no mushy love story going on, it's just them acting the way they are and helping each other out. That's what makes them such a lovable duo in my eyes. 

Here are a few great fan art I found here on DA! Please go check out these artists (just click on the image), they're amazing!