Zootopia A Revolution of Our Time

For over seventy years, Disney Animation Studio has been known for its uplifting stories. With almost all of its films well received by critics and audiences alike, doubtlessly the world's biggest animation company has the formidable aptitude to make a mark in anyone's mind. Be it about a princess befriending a bunch of dwarves, a Shakespearean adaptation in the context of the savannah or a prince turned beast, they have always managed to win everyone over. And yet, probably the most powerful of its kind, however arguable it may be, is the newest addition to Disney's exclusive array, Zootopia (2016).

In the movie, Zootopia, as you may have already known, is an imaginary anthropomorphic city where all the animals, preys and predators, live in harmony. The story begins with a bunny rabbit, Judy, willing and coming to be a cop, an extremely unusual sight in the titular city. Eventually she crosses path with a petty hustler, called Nick, a sly fox. Through all their challenges and obstacles Judy and Nick, who end up becoming 'best' friends, get tangled in a case that only keeps getting bigger in scale as the story unfolds.

A number of predators in Zootopia are going crazy or, allegedly, going back to their primitive genetic structure to attack the prey. It becomes a growing scenario. A distance between the prey animals and the predators is spawned and it keeps widening, just like our real world emulating the issues of race and religion. At last, in a happy conclusion, the grey eminence is pulled out of its hide and hopefully everyone lives happily ever after. Ultimately, the peaceful coexistence prevails. Nonetheless, unlike most Disney fairy tales or musicals, the real success of Zootopia does not end there.

Zootopia does not only gloriously frolic away with its magnificent laughter and master narrative power, but also stands out as a manifest of our time, being a symbol of peace, hope and tolerance. In the discussion about an animation movie, subjects like racism, politics and fascism might sound like big talks but these are the elements that exist with strongly venomous teeth in our global society. It is true that Zootopia came out in a rough time when our world is tearing itself apart with manmade problems and it becomes brave enough to tackle, at least, a few of them.

Innocent people are being killed every day for speaking their minds, in the name of religion. Minorities all over the world are suffering discrimination and other consequences on the basis of their skin color, faith or the action of a tiny fraction of their respective community. Politics is being used as a divisive tool instilling hatred only to win election, that too in a major global power. In the midst of all this confusion and hatred, the triumphant indecision among people to dichotomize right from wrong is only making it dangerously worse, where hatred does not have or need any reason or explanation. In that world, Zootopia comes in with a smile and shows us that no one is born to hate or to kill. Every evil has its source and it is, somehow, created by needless and inexplicable fear or hatred towards others.

There are tons of other animations being made not only in Hollywood, but all over the world, and they are always getting better as an aesthetic expression. Many issues have been dealt with in these movies with many discussions regarding nature, humanity and even war. But there is hardly any that deals with a topic that is so contemporary and deep like that in Zootopia. It is a movie that is loved by kids and admired by adults like many other ventures of Disney. In fact, the bravery of giving Zootopia this kind of depth and gravity makes it more than just a movie, it is a revolution.