Imagine a world of animals living together in a modern animal metropolis. In Zootopia, this is exactly where we find Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a rabbit, following her dream to be a police officer. Obviously being a rabbit trying to join a police force full of larger animals has a few challenges. Things are made more difficult when her dream to become an officer becomes complicated with her unlikely partnership with Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a fox.
Quality
I like watching movies that not only look good, but sound good on my home theater system. There are few things more enjoyable than having that viewing experience. Zootopia is a movie that both looks and sounds great. Both audio and video are best when they aren’t a distraction and this presentation did not disappoint at all. The world that is brought to life is definitely enhanced impressively with not only the look of this film, but also the sound that accompanies it.
Extras
- Research: A True-Life Adventure – The filmmaker go from Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Africa in an effort to research the various animals found in Zootopia. From these adventures, they learned facts about various animals, character traits, and experienced what it was like to live in the wild with these animals. Many of these experiences and observations ended up not only influencing the film but being replicated in the film at various points. This was a very enjoyable extra to watch.
- The Origin of an Animal Tale – In this extra, the crew of Zootopia share about the development process for Zootopia. This is a fascinating extra that goes through many of the different story options that were explored as the film was being put together.
- Scoretopia – Michael Giacchino shares how the sound of Zootopia was come together as they created the feel for this town… with a LOT of percussion. There are some interesting percussive pieces utilized to help create the world that the animals live in. This extra was also very interesting to watch and learn about the filmmaking process. Definitely worth watching.
- Z.P.D. Forensic Files – In this quick extra, hidden references (Easter Eggs) are revealed. There are some fun little surprises hidden in this movie. This moves quickly but it is fun to watch. There is even a ‘hidden Oswald” in this movie. Will this become a new thing in future movies? While several Easter Eggs are revealed in this extra, there are still more to be found in the movie!
- “Try Everything” Music Video by Shakira – The music from the movie with not just scenes from the movie, but also Shakira. If you like the song, you’ll like this music video.
- Deleted Characters – Exactly what one would expect, this extra goes into some of the characters that didn’t make it into the movie. There were some pretty clever characters that didn’t make it into the movie that I would find very fun as stars of some shorts. This was an entertaining extra and I’d suggest watching it.
- Deleted Scenes – With introductions by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, these deleted scenes offer show exactly what the title suggests. Deleted scenes are never my favorite extras included with movies, but this does offer some interesting ideas of different directions the movie could have taken. These were stronger than most and worth watching but this wasn’t my favorite extra included. I’m glad I watched them though.
- Zoology: The Roundtables – Ginnifer Goodwin hosts some round table discussions about the Characters, Environments, and Animation. There was a LOT of information shared about different aspects of creating this movie. It was a very strong extra and I definitely would encourage watching it.
Overall, the extras included with Zootopia really are worth watching. They really do live up to the Disney brand and it was a pleasant surprise to go through extra after extra and continue to find each one enjoyable. There really is a lot of heart in this movie and that is showcased in the extras.
Final Thoughts
Zootopia really is a fun and meaningful movie. It really surprises me how much I like it. In many ways, it is a return to some of my favorite things that Disney does best. The most overt thing is that it is a return to animals wearing clothing and living in what we would call a human world. This movie address challenges many face in life and has some really great messages included. It is a wonderful combination of humor, meaning, and beauty. The animation really is amazing as is the voice talent. Zootopia is definitely a movie to add to the home theater library. I easily give it a strong hat tip.
