It’s great to have Disney Animation back as a reliable source of excellence.  Over the last five years, the studio has passed Pixar in terms of the consistency of the quality of their releases, and the House of the Mouse  is looking to have a fantastic year.  Zootopia won the last 3 weeks of the box office, The Jungle Book looks to dominate April, May brings Captain America: Civil War, June Pixar’s Finding Dory, November Dr. Strange and December Star Wars: Rogue One.  Disney is going to have a very VERY good year, and if all those films are as good as Zootopia, so are we.

The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,”

Zootopia is an imaginative triumph.  Disney should (and most likely will) build something at their Animal Kingdom park aping the different boroughs and nooks and crannies of this fantastic environment.  The voice acting cast is superb.  I wonder if Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman recorded their lines together, because it’s odd to say a bunny and fox have chemistry, but they did so there I said it.  The script is very funny (dark in some places for a Disney film).  Kids will love it and so will adults (they work a Breaking Bad joke into this film as well as an extended Godfather homage).  It’s the kind of writing I’d expect from Pixar and have been missing largely.

The film isn’t exactly what I’d term a classic and does have it’s flaws.  It’s probably 15 minutes too long, and while Disney is never actually subtle about putting messages in their films, the “can’t we all just get along?” and “anyone can do anything” duality was about as subtle as a baseball bat to the back of the head.  However, Officer Hops was allowed to keep both of her parents (spoiler) in a shocking break from Disney’s tradition of patricide.  Bottom line is, this is fun, creative and genuinely funny and entertaining for all ages.  Keep up with awesome work, Disney!

PS – Sloths best moment in film history.  A triumph for the long-maligned sloth community.  SLOTH PRIDE!

8.75/10