Sunday, May 1, 2016

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Zootopia


I have to start off by saying that Disney's Zootopia was another display of Disney's brilliance. It was a fun and entertaining movie that exhibited the type of originality that it seems only Disney is capable of delivering these days. So let's have a run down of what makes Zootopia Good, Bad, and Ugly.

The Good
You leave this movie feeling good. It is the story of a bunny who is trying to prove herself worthy of the police force of Zootopia. She's characterized as a small town girl with big dreams that will stop at nothing to fulfill those dreams. Along the way, people try to discourage her. Aside from wanting to prove herself, she believes she can genuinely serve the world by being a courageous and hardworking police officer.

There is an element of redemption for her co-star, Nick the Fox. Fox's are sneaky creatures that have a bad reputation. Nick grew up enduring the school of hard knocks and has given in to the stereotypes that label him as a dishonest, rotten, predatory scoundrel. Through his relationship with officer Hops (the main character) it is discovered that he has a good heart underneath his rough exterior.

The Bad
EVOLUTION!!! Does every kids movie have to start off with an evolutionary premise anymore? Perhaps it is more subtle in this movie, but for minds like mine that have been trained to spot such propaganda, it is dead obvious that evolution is driving force in the movie. It is mostly rooted in the reality that the predators used to be savages, but have now become civil. I await the day that evolution fulfills its destiny of becoming nothing more than a fairy tale that is only used to make sci fi and fantasy stories more interesting. As it is currently used, its employed as a mild form of brainwashing.

 The Ugly
Something about Police Officers stereotyping animals according to their species and certain species justifying their ill behaviors according to what they are might make some people uncomfortable. I will also warn you that there is full blown animal nudity in this movie...like totally naked animals on a secret nudist reserve. Cover your eyes for this scene (It's actually quite comical). Also...implied inter-species relationship...I'm not going to spoil this right now but, again, it's a children's cartoon. So don't worry.

The movie is brilliant. I highly recommend it for families, although I would suggest that parents point out the evolutionary implications to their kids. It kept my two year old's attention for the whole movie, so you know it has to be good.

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