In the mid-2010s, Disney Animation Studios had successfully shifted its image. The studio spent the 2000s in a major identity crisis after the end of the Disney Renaissance musicals, resulting in many commercial and critical flops. At the same time, Pixar and DreamWorks dominated the animation space. Only with Tangled did the studio begin to find its groove, bringing deeper themes into its colorful adventures. Each subsequent film went further, smartly fostering conversations about self-perception (Wreck It Ralph), repression (Frozen), and grief (Big Hero 6) between parents and their young children.
Zootopia continued that evolution, guided by directors who shaped this new phase (the filmmakers involved in Tangled and Wreck It Ralph), now bringing a more grounded theme with clear real world parallels, without losing sight of its goal to entertain both kids and adults. The result was extremely successful for Disney. The film was a box office hit, won the Oscar for best animated feature, spawned an extensive line of collectibles, a Disney+ spin-off, and a sequel that would arrive in theaters 9 years afterwards.
The film mixes elements of neo-noir and buddy cop stories, following Judy Hopps, a naive young bunny who leaves her small town and moves to Zootopia to become the city’s first bunny cop. To prove herself, she takes on a case of missing mammals and teams up with a sly fox named Nick, moving through different districts of the city as each new clue points them forward. That structure allows the film to focus on the creation of its world and on the relationship between its two protagonists, while using animal species as a metaphor for xenophobia and unconscious bias.
The world becomes the film’s most memorable element, showing a fully realized city where animals of all sizes live and work together, and the film has a lot of fun drawing clear parallels with real situations. In this world, the DMV is run by sloths, foxes are seen as an untrustworthy species, and bunnies are farmers. It also slips in a few playful nods to famous movies and television shows, including a Godfather inspired sequence and a cheeky reference to Breaking Bad.
As protagonists, Hopps and Nick are very effective. Both are sharp characters, and the film uses their skills to move the plot forward at a great pace, covering a lot in its runtime, while their interactions remain consistently entertaining. Their initial rivalry leads to some fun moments where they try to outdo each other, and the script smoothly turns that tension into a fully believable friendship.
More interesting, however, is how the film frames Judy as part of the problem when exploring its theme of unconscious bias. In a pivotal scene, her “you guys cannot help it” line exposes her own prejudice, giving parents and their children a natural space to talk about how bias works even among well intentioned people.
Nick’s arc is not as effective, especially because the film rushes through his backstory. While the idea of pitting them against each other could have created the kind of emotional moment found in the best animated films, it never fully lands here. The scene where we are supposed to feel that Nick is hurt by Judy’s words does not reach the impact it aims for, and the film never truly challenges their friendship in the way that worked so well with the main duo in Wreck It Ralph or the sisters in Frozen.
The story culminates in a twist that works well enough, even at a time when surprise villains were already becoming a familiar move for Disney. The one truly weak element of the film is Michael Giacchino’s score, which never gives the film a memorable theme and misses the chance to create something fun for the police academy. Instead, he leans on a dour piano idea for Judy’s character that makes a few scenes feel like a bummer. Considering how every other element of the film is so energetic, this is a surprising and disappointing miss from an artist who is usually so captivating.
Zootopia never quite reaches the highs of Disney’s best films, as many of its pleasures, like the appeal of its expansive world, don’t quite hold in future viewings. It’s nice seeing the studio exploring a relevant theme with such clarity, even if it doesn’t go as deep as it could have. Still, its universe and its characters remain delightful and give plenty of opportunities for future installments, as well as cool-looking action figures.