Zootopia lives up to expectations – for all ages

flex_tablet_zootopia_selfie_c781d089One of the things that struck me immediately while watching Zootopia is that they kept the animals in perspective – the mice are small, the elephants are huge and when Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) becomes the first rabbit to join the police force, she quickly learns how tough it is to enforce the law. And perspective is exactly what this movie has, on animals and humanity.

Determined to prove herself, Judy jumps at the opportunity to solve a mysterious case. Unfortunately, that means working with Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a wily fox who makes her job even harder.

Zootopia has a lot going for it, the animation is breathtaking with amazing detail and complexity.   The plot is well-paced watches like a fun cop-drama. But the real message – on bigotry – is what makes it really special.

Zootopia deals with the realities of stereotypes which make some of the myths about species founded, but it also deals with the cycle of hatred which moves away from the hunted to the hunters.

There are some hilarious moments too (don’t GET me started on the Godfather reference) – and I laughed out loud at a lot of the characterizations. It’s not the predictable “ho-hum” of most children’s movies, making it really fun for the entire family!

Notes for parents of younger kids:

Small kids might be frightened by the “wild” animals and there are quite a few jump scares that even caught me. But the message is good and the cuddly “feel-good” moments off-set the scary ones.

 

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn