Happily taking the chance to rewatch Zootopia, I was able to glean a little more into what I see as the underlying message of the setting.

Judy the Rabbit wants to be a police officer and becomes the valedictorian of her class, yet is delegated to doing parking duty (tickets and stuff). Why is she not made a police officer when she believes she is capable of it? It is because she is just a small little rabbit and they think she can’t handle it against a big bad predator.

With some predators having gone back feral, the city is at risk of chaos and the balance between predator and prey is threatened to break.

To not drag on the message too long, Judy gets assigned to this case and her partner in crime Nick tags along with her. It turns out that after a very fulfilling adventure/investigation (I really like procedural dramas), the whole scheme is exposed to be a plot to demonize predators as dangerous. This gets resolved and the savage predators are cured (them being imprisoned for being thought as dangerous is part of the message as well)

The message I gleaned from this was the idea of our prejudices and overcoming this. A lot of the issues in the United States stem from our prejudices that we assume to be true. Most of the time, these prejudices disappear with interaction with the other side, but starting these interactions is often difficult. The irrational fear of predators by the prey can be reshaped in many ways to fit current events. Zootopia illustrates a very nice social message that I think was constructive and properly distributed.

Zootopia is one of my favorite movies and when I saw that it was going to be shown as a Friday Film, I had to attend! Zootopia is a movie that has quite a bit of real-world relevance with the most relevant topic being discrimination, in my opinion. This movie is about a bunny named Judy that wants to be a police officer, an uncommon profession for an animal as small and unassuming as a bunny. The movie follows Judy’s journey in pursuing her dream job and solving a large scale crime with the help of someone that should be her natural enemy.

We were asked to look at different forces that were working against Judy during the movie and the thing that stuck out to me the most was the fact that at her workplace, once she became a cop, her workplace was not suitable for an animal her size. For example, her chair was too small and she couldn’t even see above the table. Additionally, once she received her first assignment, which was being a meter maid, she all of a sudden had accommodations that were appropriate (ex. correct size car, etc.). This, to me, was demonstrative of the institutionalized discrimination that we can see in our world which can be deterring to people trying to do more than those before them.

Zootopia presents the heartwarming story of an impassioned rabbit, trying to positively impact the diverse animal metropolis, Zootopia, as a police officer. While the animated film is full of impressive animation, witty dialogue, and entertaining characters, the storyline goes far beyond that which is often expected of children’s entertainment. The film addresses significant contemporary issues regarding discrimination, bias, drug use, and government corruption, while still maintaining the youthful entertainment value needed for a children’s movie. The main character, a small, female rabbit is just one of the many characters who face prejudice in a city that is supposedly a haven for species diversity and animal acceptance. Her species, size, and gender lead many to disregard her as incompetent, despite countless demonstrations of her ability, both mentally and physically. Reflecting a bias that exists for underrepresented groups in practically any field, this central character arc represents a powerful story for the film’s young target audience. It impresses the unequal expectations and penalties faced by those that fall outside of the majority and emphasizes the mutual strength that results from accepting and appreciating others for their oftentimes unique experience and qualifications. The film addresses similarly weighted issues through the storyline of city officials working to turn Zootopia against the minority group of historically predatory species. Using a highly potent drug to turn civilized animals into their savage equivalent, the city manipulates public opinion to ostracize these perfectly valid citizens. Reminiscent of countless examples, both historical and current, of marginalization of minority groups in society, the film effectively conveys the cruel, senseless reality of such bias. By relaying such experiences through a society of animals, the film expertly captures the sentiment of race, gender, and sexuality-based discrimination, while remaining apolitical and outwardly lightweight. Zootopia expertly balances the liveliness and fun of children’s entertainment with the social responsibility of being a widely-distributed, far-reaching film. The film masterfully uses its platform to introduce younger audiences to highly important social commentaries. It encourages audiences to confront bias, address societal injustice, and be self-motivated. In an age of seemingly endless amounts of content, much of it of little value or significance, the film serves as a model for effective and responsible children’s entertainment.

Zootopia is one of the few movies I’ve actually started before, but never got around to finishing. It’s a funny, inspiring tale about characters who are anthropomorphic animals, living in the city of Zootopia, known as the place where anyone could be anything. Judy Hopps, first bunny police officer, achieves her childhood dream and sets out to prove those who doubt her abilities wrong. In her journey to defeat the stereotypes about bunnies, the issues of racial profiling and stereotyping are perpetuated by different characters. While Judy, despite being the valedictorian of her class, suffers from stereotyping that affects her career, our hero has her own faults as well. During her first meeting with Nick Wilde, she immediately reaches for her “fox spray” when seeing his argument with the shop owner, having flashbacks to childhood experiences of bullying. Judy feels guilty for stereotyping Nick after she realizes he’s trying to get ice cream for his kid, but as soon as she finds out she was conned, she falls back on the old stereotyping of fox as criminals, thinking she “knew it all along”. A huge rift in their friendship is caused after she suggests the changes are caused by natural savage tendencies in predators, and Nick is deeply hurt after she instinctively reaches for “fox spray” when he growls at her.

As a “prey” police officer, Judy suffers from being stereotyped as weak and incapable, but also unconsciously imposes the same type of stereotypes on predators. Despite being the hero of the movie, she too is at fault, which shows that even the victims of stereotypes can become offenders as well. I appreciate that in this movie, there is a hero who saves the day, but said hero is a human (animal?) as well and is not perfect either. All of us have most likely been guilty of stereotyping others one way or another, and it’s important to have awareness about what judgement we make about other people without knowing anything.

I enjoyed watching the film Zootopia from Walt Disney Studios.  It is a hilarious 3-D computer animated comedy-adventure that takes places in the metropolis of Zootopia.  Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia’s police force, dreamed since childhood to become a police officer.  However, she was assigned to parking duty on her first day at work because she was a rabbit. Desperate for a chance to crack her first case, she partnered with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve a mystery: a conspiracy involving the disappearance of savage predator inhabitants in the metropolis. After many ups and downs, Judy manages to resolve the mystery, which was a clever conspiracy by prey-supremacists to frame predators as dangerous and savage to have them eliminated. With the cause of the epidemic identified, the savage animals were cured, and Judy rejoined the Zootopia Police Department. Nick graduates from the Zootopia Police Academy as the city’s first fox police officer and becomes Judy’s partner.  Overall, I recommend highly this film as it is rare to find these days films that are relaxing and entertaining. By the way, the Colombian singer Shakira was part of the cast (for the voice of Gazelle), with the theme song “Try everything” which encourages Judy and her partner not to “give up… try everything” and “Don’t bit yourself up until you reach the end.”  Good motivational message for all of us with the end of the semester: no matter how tired you feel, hang in there, get some sleep, eat, and work hard to succeed in your finals.  You can make it, if you try!!!  I am sharing also 6 ways to be more resilient: 1) stay connected; 2) take care of yourself; 3) be goal-oriented; 4) learn from experience; 5) take action: and 6) look at the bright side!!!

I think that my favorite part of Zootopia, other than the snarky attitude of both protagonists and the various jokes, is that the fact that none of the characters, well at least none of the main ones, are one-dimensional caricatures. Judy, despite being an overall heroic good character, has her faults and prejudices; even though she and Nick had been working together she instantly reaches for her fox spray as soon as he bares his teeth. This sort of wariness around foxes is brought about by her parents and the fact that she had been attacked by one when she was younger, but since she had been working with Nick you would think that she knew that he wasn’t like the ones she had been warned about by her loving but misguided parents. On the flipside, the villain, Bellwether, isn’t just a villain for the sake of being evil; being constantly bullied and nagged by her predator boss definitely played a role in her contempt and framing of the predator minority in Zootopia. Are her actions forgivable? No. But at least her relatable frustration gave her more dimensions than simply, “I was bad all along for absolutely no reason.”  Another interesting thing about Zootopia is how the majority (the prey) transitions from being the oppressed to the oppressors. All in all, this was a fun movie with character development and social commentary hiding just beneath the surface of the goofy character models and the irony of a slow sloth speeding in a fast car.

One of my all-time favorite Disney movies is Mulan due to its portrayal of a fierce, tenacious female character. I am an ardent fan of Mulan for its resonating message that teaches young girls that they have the same competence and skill levels as males (and can even exceed those of males). After watching Zootopia for a second time, I realized that I have a fondness for this movie, for many of the same reasons that I am an admirer of the movie, Mulan. Judy Hopps, in many aspects, resembles Mulan, as she does not let her outer presence deter her from accomplishing her goals. Like Mulan, Zootopia teaches young minds (as well as adults!) that they can supersede any expectations society has predisposed upon them. As the title of this blog post goes, I claim that Zootopia is “One of the Good Ones” in that its deviates away from some of the more classic Disney princess movies where the female characters are usually “saved” by the male characters. Instead, Zootopia has a very influential and empowering message, embedded along with its humorous content, and, like Mulan, is definitely worth watching!

As shown very simply in Zootopia there are always people who try to hold you back and doubt you. The only people who can overcome those challenges are the ones who believe in their own abilities no matter what everyone else says. Such attitude and determination will sooner or later provide the individual with the opportunity he/she was looking for. Getting to this stage is the hard part, the rest is just taking full advantage of the situation. The short phrase that probably everyone keeps hearing is to never give up. Even though it may be exhausting to constantly hear those words, it is often true.

I recently watched Zootopia at the last Friday Films and really enjoyed it!  I had never seen the movie before and it was so much better than I was expecting.  I appreciated that it covered so many important topics under the premise of a kids’ movie about an animal world.  So many kids’ movies are very black and white, with one person being the terrible awful villain, and another person being the super great protagonist.  Real people (and in this movie, animals) are so much more complex than that.  It was interesting to see the progression of Officer Hopps and Nick working to find out who was behind the predators’ return to “savagery.”  I also loved the message the movie promoted that anybody can become anything.  Both Officer Hopps and Nick faced prejudice because of their species, but she was able to become a successful police officer and he was able to show the world that not all foxes are liars and cheats.  They both worked hard to solve the case and save Zootopia, and they were duly rewarded, regardless of the stereotypes about their species.

Through watching the film Zootopia, I kept thinking about how realistic what the main character Bunny Hops must go through in order to be a police officer because, in many job positions, it can be extremely challenging for women to make their impact in traditionally male-dominated fields, and making their mark can require more effort. However, even though coming to their realization is stressful, knowing that there are many people that are willing to support and encourage me is motivating me that I can make a difference even in STEM roles where there isn’t as much female representation. The discussion of preventing stereotypes with bunnies in the film is very relevant with HR rules of what can can’t be said about women in professional working environments. However, that being said, given that in the end Bunny Hops proves herself as just as capable- this resonated with me because it shows that in some regards while minorities may have to work even harder at disbanding stereotypes, once they do, they will be respected and treated equally hereafter. In a biological reference, women and other minority groups need that “activation energy” to get across the roadblocks at first doubting their capabilities in order to create an environment that fosters support and success for them during their professional careers. On a societal lens, I think that there needs to more even more education and support for women in these fields, so they don’t have to be overburdened by the amount of “Activation Energy” they would need to get across the hurdles of stereotypes that have been ingrained our society for too long. On a brighter note, many companies have been achieving this with regard to diversity initiatives and programs, however, there is still a long way to ago until true equality is completely fostered in working environments.

I saw the movie zootopia for the very first time in a very very long time. Many of the main motifs of this film parallel things I face in my own life. Like Judy, the rabbit police, I have had to overcome many obstacles and have been looked down upon on the basis of my physical characteristics. As a black girl, growing up I was always told I couldn’t do this or that. Regardless, I remained ambitious and sought out to do anything I put my heart to. This movie was very charming and reinforced the importance of kindness, teamwork, and grit. Never settle for less, and always reach for the stars!!! This movie was great and it made my heart swell, it reminded me of when I was younger, it was also very comedic. Judy, throughout the movie, was working her way up and ultimately cracked the ‘glass-ceiling’. She went beyond her limits and proved that she is a strong minded woman!