Zootropolis review: “Disney’s best animated effort for years…”

Zootropolis review: One of Disney’s best films for many years.

Zootropolis review

Zootropolis review by Paul Heath. Disney load up their gun and fire their first animated film of the year. Strangely for the animation studio side of the massive Disney empire, excluding anything from Pixar, they are choosing to release two movies this year. Later we’ll get the Moana, the Hawaii-set adventure, but first, here’s Zootropolis, an original tale that is going by different names across the planet (it’s being referred to as Zootopia in the US).

The story revolves around the character of Judy Hopps, an energetic bunny from the suburbs who is intent on moving to the bright lights of Zootropolis to become a police officer. There are many hurdles in her way, and the budding cop must overcome them all to become the first rabbit to join the police force. With the enthusiasma and intent to make it in a fiercely competitive world, Judy takes on the case of a missing otter, but in order to find out what happened to him, she must buddy up with the shifty Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a fox intent on making things even more difficult for her.

Zootropolis review

Zootropolis comes to the screen from Byron Howard (Tangled), and Rich Moore (Wreck-It-Ralph), two talented individuals that clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to playing with the Disney formula and twisting in in all of the right directions for modern audiences. Here, they play with the talking animals element of Disney history and clearly take their inspiration from the likes of Robin Hood and The Jungle Book. Throwing in nods towards everything from Breaking Bad, The Godfather, buddy-cop movies like Lethal Weapon (yes), Starsky and Hutch and even Hill Stret Blues. Of course, most will go over the heads of the little ones queuing up to see Disney’s latest, but there’s more than enough on offer for the younger cinema goers – even a song to rival ‘Let It Go’. Trust us, you’ll be humming Shakira’s ‘Try Everything’ (written by Sia) all of the way home.

Zootropolis review

The film features a great cast that includes Jason Batman as Nick Wilde, Ginnifer Goodwin, an alumni from the TV drama Big Love and the film Mona Lisa Smile, Idris Elba in his first (of three) animated features this year (he’ll be heard in two other Disney movies in 2016 – The Jungle Book and Finding Dory), Bonnie Hunt, J.K. Simmons and Shakira herself in the role of superstar Gazelle.

The story is excellent, and while some scenes may be unsuitable for smaller children, my five-year-old nephew wasn’t phased by it. In fact, he loved it. I did too, and Disney may have a huge hit on their hands here. Going after an Easter release rather than their usual festive slot, the studio are taking a gamble with Zootropolis, but this deserves to do well as Disney may just have their best animated effort for years on their hands.

Zootropolis review by Paul Heath, March 2016.

Zootropolis previews across the UK on the 19th and 20th March, 2016, before opening across the country on March 25th, 2016.