Try “Zootopia,” Try Everything

Release Date：Mar/04/2016
Genre：Animation/Action/Adventure/Comedy/Family
Director：Byron Howard、Rich Moore
Cast：Ginnifer Goodwin、Jason Bateman、Idris Elba

Viola's Rating：9.0

After two mediocre live-action feature films, “Tomorrowland” and “The Finest Hours,” Disney is not only hoping to change its fortunes by turning once again to animation where it found such success with “Frozen” and “Big Hero Six,” but also aiming for the Best Animated Feature Film next year with its latest film “Zootopia” through an animal perspective on the modern society.

In this adventurous action animation, “Zootopia” is a city full of anthropomorphic animals. The first bunny cop in history, Judy Hopps, played by Ginnifer Goodwin and a cynical con artist fox, Nick Wilde, played by Jason Bateman have to work together to solve a conspiracy case within 48 hours.

If the colorful layout in “Insight Out” grabbed you, “Zootopia” will not let you down. “Zootopia” is depicted as a diverse, fascinating and modern city with cheerful interaction between different species. However, this does not mean that there are only bright scenes in the motion picture. Lighting is a critical part in animation making, and whenever Judy and Nick face difficulties in the movie, the variation of the shadows emphasizes the troubles in their adventure.

Besides the skilled visuals created by the artists throughout the story, there are a lot of punchlines based on different attributes that certain animals have which make “Zootopia” an engaging comedy.

Although these characteristics play an important role in contributing to the humor in this picture, the key messages conveyed in “Zootopia” are discrimination and stereotypes. While laughing at some ridiculous traits of the animals, “Zootopia” surprises its audience with valuable messages concerning diversity, inclusion, and self-worth.

As in many animated pictures, the protagonists in the feature film earn a large number of fans, especially when there is a host of adorable animals in “Zootopia.” With their attractive appearances, Judy and Nick along with other characters, catch the eyes of adults, teenagers and little kids all together. Nick is especially irresistible with his cute fox face and his magnetic voice done by Bateman.

In addition to all the visual enjoyment you can get during the film, Colombian pop star Shakira contributes an original song to the film written by Sia and Stargate. The song is titled “Try Everything,” which represents the main idea of the motion picture.

“Zootopia” is no doubt one of the best scripts Disney has ever produced, and the message it tells us is precious and worth pondering. Like the world of Zootopia, we also live in a global village, so let us abandon all the stereotypes and have the bravery to try everything and let the sky be our only limit.

Online edition version for The Aquinas of  The University of Scranton:

Try “Zootopia,” Try Everything