LoginAs someone who has been an enormous Disney fan all my life (the only films that don't do much for me are 'Chicken Little', 'Home on the Range' and 'The Black Cauldron', if it counts also 'Planes'), Zootropolis may not be as good as the best of classic Disney or the 'big four' of the Renaissance era.
However, it is for me the jewel of Disney's 'second renaissance' (their return to form era starting with 'The Princess and the Frog', and if it counts -might not as it is Disney Toon Studios- their only misfire from that era is 'Planes'). Despite a couple of issues 'The Princess and the Frog' was still enormously entertaining. 'Tangled was Disney's best since 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (not sure how much of a popular opinion that is though), until the even better 'Wreck it Ralph' took that title. 'Winnie the Pooh' was immensely charming and sweet with its one problem being that it was too short. 'Frozen' despite what people say to me was the best animated film of 2013 besides 'Ernest et Celestine' (and the amount of hate it gets and the detractors' attitude towards those who loved, or even liked, the film has been blown way out of proportion). And 'Big Hero 6' was fun and touching with one of Disney's most endearing characters in recent years in Baymax.
Onto the review properly for 'Zootropolis' now. The animation is fantastic with rich colours, vivid, beautifully designed and colourful backgrounds and lovingly designed characters whose movements flow fluidly and never robotically. Some of it is even very inventive and imaginative in the set pieces. Michael Giacchino's score is cleverly orchestrated, energetic and catchy, not as good as his scores for the ones for the Pixar films 'Up' and 'Inside Out' but it complements 'Zootropolis' very well indeed.
'Zootropolis' has some very smart and hilarious writing, cleverly balancing sly references, witty humour and also genuine pathos and heart with few if any awkward tonal shifts. The visual gags are similarly inventive and a joy to watch. The story is so consistently well paced and involving and is told with such energy, charm and heart that some may forget the storyline being predictable. To me, it had enough originality to not make it matter that much. What was also impressive about 'Zootropolis' was how it dealt with such heavy and wholly relevant themes and issues, one of most daring along with 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and deal with it with a light touch. Some did find the message (one that's easy to identify with) forced and heavy-handed, it wasn't an issue to me at all, to this viewer it was incorporated well and respectfully.
The characters in 'Zootropolis' are interesting - all serving a point to the story- with colourful personalities, none of them felt bland, none felt shoe-horned in, none felt annoying and none felt unnecessary. Love the sassiness and charm of the protagonist, and while the twist wasn't a surprise as such the villain did serve a good threat and more interesting than the recent Disney twist villains. The voice acting is just terrific from all, especially from Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman. Can't go wrong with Idris Elba, JK Simmons and Maurice LaMarche either.
All in all, with the one small exception of the forgettable and slightly grating main song from Shakira (which was not enough to bring the film down personally) 'Zootropolis' was a superb film, not only of Disney's post-2009 films but also one of their best post-Tarzan and towards the top end in the Disney animated film ranking. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Zootopia Reviews
The jewel of Disney's 'second renaissance'
Posted : 2 years, 1 month ago on 22 March 2022 09:10
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Zootopia review
Posted : 5 years, 4 months ago on 24 December 2018 10:47
Cuando esta cinta se estrenó causó cierto impacto en la sociedad debido a que el tema de la discriminación estuvo particularmente caliente durante el año 2016 y el hecho de que una película para niños aborde dicho tema sin duda es algo que llama la atención. Dicho eso siento que habla el tema de manera muy superficial, porque realmente no hace alusión a las causas que llevan a la discriminación. Estoy consciente de que la dinámica de los dos personajes principales es bastante carismática y divertida, pero a falta de un contexto bien desarrollado donde puedan desenvolverse terminan por parecerme un potencial desaprovechado. El apartado musical me pareció bastante olvidable y el hecho de haber metido a Shakira con cameo incluído me pareció demasiado random.
Aunque parezca lo contrario es una película ciertamente divertida y si no esperas que le cambié la vida a los niños definitivamente vas a pasar un rato ameno tanto tú como los infantes.
Aunque parezca lo contrario es una película ciertamente divertida y si no esperas que le cambié la vida a los niños definitivamente vas a pasar un rato ameno tanto tú como los infantes.
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Zootopia
Posted : 7 years, 3 months ago on 6 February 2017 09:57
Disney makes a buddy-cop mystery movie that’s actually an allegory for racism and prejudice. This is not immediately evident from the opening scenes, which introduce us to Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin, adorably plucky) and her dream of becoming the first bunny on the Zootopia police force. You couldn’t be faulted for thinking that this was going to be another dip into the following your dreams/you can be anything you set your mind on balm that Disney pumps into us all. Then it suddenly shifts within the first twenty minutes into a clear story saying what we needed loudly proclaimed in 2016: that xenophobia and prejudices are harmful and must be combatted for the betterment of our society.
Zootopia is richest when cracking jokes and making complex issues digestible for the kiddies in its target audience, even if it occasionally does play against its own better judgement. There’s a few instances of the film making unintentional cases for stereotypes being stereotypes for reasons, and the entirety of Zootopia is broken apart into various environs. That’s right, even in this post-predator/prey binary society the types of animals don’t completely interact together with these separate communities. This last fact isn’t commented upon as such, and it does feel like a failing of the film to entirely engage with it.
But Zootopia is strong enough in several other areas to overcome these problems, mainly in the rapid-fire jokes and leading characters. Judy Hopps is a refreshing continuation of Disney’s recent penchant for crafting female heroines that want anything but a prince and a happily ever after. Hopps puts her entire focus into being a cop, being a damn good one too, serving her city, doing what’s right, and trying to overcome her own prejudices. That she’s partnered with a sly fox (Jason Bateman, snark personified) is a smart move, and their chemistry as characters creates numerous moments of great friction-heavy friendship. Eventually they’re revealed as kindred spirits, but they took different paths to the obstacles and traumas of their childhoods.
Don’t think that this is a heavily sermonizing film though, it’s refreshingly crisp and hilarious. A personal favorite humorous side character is Tommy Chong’s nudist Yax, there’s a great payoff as to why a sloth is nicknamed Flash, and an opening verbal gag about learning to settle and be complacent as the reason for happiness. Zootopia is also just gorgeous to take in, with visual gags and great details packed into every frame. Disney’s resurgence is most deeply felt in films like this, Wreck-It Ralph, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Lilo & Stitch. Zootopia comfortably sits alongside those films as a very bright spot in the studio’s recent output.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 6 months ago on 11 November 2016 08:37
I already saw this movie but since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. To be honest, I never really understood why this movie was so popular. I mean, at some point, according to IMDb, this was even the best movie released in 2016 (not anymore though). I have to admit it, it was far from being a bad movie, it’s just that I didn’t see anything really amazing about it. Sure, the animation was really neat but, by now, I wouldn’t expect less from Disney. However, I thought that the story was rather generic and, at times, even slightly tedious. For many years, one of the most enduring and annoying trademarks in the Disney animated features have been these talking animals and, in this case, they just took this gimmick and gave it a modern twist, that’s about it. I mean, they went for something so modern that they even added a Breaking Bad methlab with Wolter and Jesse, a reference which will be completely lost on the young viewers but also on everyone else within the next 5 years. Eventually, even it might seem pretty deep for a Disney animated feature, in my opinion, the ideas displayed were remained rather skin-deep, even if it was obviously good-hearted. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was still fairly entertaining, I’m still surprised that it turned out to be such a massive box-office success but I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Zootopia review
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 23 May 2016 03:55
I love Disney movies. Practically everything they do is fun and for all ages. They have yet to fail in my eyes with their blockbusters. The only time they get a bit silly is their direct to DVD sequels and the like. I have been wanting to check this out, but I just didn't have the opportunity or time until now. It's crazy though that there are three directors with seven writers and one who added additional material. This looks to be Jared Bush's first Rodeo. Rich Moore however was the one who brought us Wreck-It Ralph. Byron Howard is the one responsible for Tangled and it's short sequel. This is the first movie I have seen written by Josie Trinidad. Jim Reardon wrote Wreck-It Ralph as well as Wall-E. Phil Johnston also wrote for Wreck-It Ralph. Jennifer Lee is responsible for Frozen, it's short sequel, and also helped on Wreck-It Ralph. Dan Fogelman has done quite a few movies. Some of which were with Disney like the Cars trilogy and Tangled. While others include Last Vegas and Danny Collins. He tends to do better with Disney movies though. The cast here is pretty great. So what do they eat if not each other? Are they all vegetarians? Well predators still come off as bullies. Oh man those are some pretty extreme challenges to overcome. Don't let anyone tell you what you can't achieve. That's definitely one of the morals of the story. I get a kick out of all the goofy things like a literal weasel being a figurative one. Oh wow they have a counter where the bunny population is constantly going up ahaha. Of course since Shakira has a role her music is also used. I'm not complaining just noting it. So I wasn't the only one who caught that haha. Well that's pretty creative. Oh wow I mean I was expecting something but not that. Okay this Rodentia scene is quite hilarious. So are fish food not friends? I mean it seems like only mammals are the ones who have personalities and they did show fish markets earlier. Of course the pull that rabbit joke. Haha all natural animals! Wow that is really awkward. I'm just glad this is a kids movie so they couldn't be anatomically correct. Haha that's what if feels like to go to the DMV or even a post office. That is just some straight up comedy gold. I was wondering if that would be the joke. This scene is a bit like The Godfather. That's an interesting change of things. Even animal children can be cruel. Yeah that has to be the worst choice for security. Well that's nothing new. That's an interesting development. I find it amusing when Disney parodies it's own films with the current movies characters type and such. Ah that's a good twist I should've known. They just keep giving the good stuff here. Oh wow of course lol. That was a cute ending to a pretty sweet movie. I loved the characters. The voice-overs were great. I think it is a bit odd though for Shakira to play a gazelle of all things. I loved just about everything this film had to offer. It's a must see for the family and even by yourself. It has some nice messages to share.
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