Zootopia (3D/BD/DVD/Digital HD)

Good for family movies nights

5 Stars. Byron Howard [Bolt (2008) and Tangled (2010)] and Rich Moore [Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and director for a number of animated TV shows like The Simpsons and Futurama] team up and bring us a stellar buddy cop movie in the form of animals. Using her brain, the overachieving Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is able to overcome the tasks made for larger animals. She becomes the first rabbit cop in the big city of Zootopia, which is a far cry from the farm where she grew up. To her dismay she becomes a traffic cop, and she learns her first big lesson when she helps out a fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), only to realize that he hustled her. She ends up being at the right moment and time and takes on one of the many missing person cases in Zootopia. Given only 48hrs, she hustles Nick into helping her. They become fast friends and discover why people are going missing. Of course, it’s not all is as it seems, and there are few bumps in the road. There are also some notable actors to help the cast along; Idris Elba, Tommy Chong, and J.K. Simmons. The fun animal humor aside, like the sloths at the DMV, the movie is structured around the classic buddy cop movie, like 48hrs (1982). (Check out my review of 48hrs here). It has the cop and con artist and they have only 48 hours. The movie though is a little more quirky and plotted like Eddie Murphy’s other buddy cop fair, Beverly Hills Cop (1984). It’s also an underdog story, where a small rabbit tries to prove that she can do a job that’s mainly done by lions, rhinos, and larger animals. It’s political as one of the main conflicts is the notion of predators vs. prey. Zootopia is a city where animals all live in “harmony”, but like race and gender in today’s society it’s not all what it seems. It’s also refreshing to have a female heroin that’s not a princess. Not as action packed as the Academy Award winning Big Hero 6 (2014), but Disney still continues to take pages from the Pixar playbook. They’ve created a touching story that deals with larger issues like prejudice and stereotypes. Being fun for all the family, it’s no wonder that it was a box-office hit and the 2nd highest grossing Disney movie outside of Frozen (2013). It’s definitely worth checking out of children and adults of all ages.

In a world populated by anthropomorphic mammals, Judy Hopps, a rabbit from rural Bunnyburrow, fulfills her dream of becoming the first rabbit officer in the police department of nearby city Zootopia.However, upon arrival, she is assigned parking duty by Chief Bogo, an African buffalo, who doubts her potential due to her being a rabbit and thus smaller than most of the large animals on the force. During one of her shifts, she meets Nick Wilde, a con artist fox.Hopps abandons her shift to arrest a thief, Duke Weaselton. She is reprimanded by Bogo and nearly fired until Mrs. Otterton, an otter, arrives pleading for help locating her missing husband - one of many animals recently missing in Zootopia. To Bogo's dismay, Hopps volunteers and agrees to resign if she cannot solve the case within 48 hours. She sees Wilde in the last known photo of Otterton and tracks him down, coercing him into to assisting her with the investigation.After acquiring Mr. Otterton's license plate number, Hopps and Wilde track the vehicle to Mr. Big, an Arctic shrew crime boss. Mr. Big informs the pair that Otterton, his florist, had gone savage and attacked his chauffeur Manchas, a black jaguar. Hopps and Wilde locate Manchas, who mentions "night howlers" were responsible for attacking him before he goes savage and chases the pair out of his home. When Bogo and his reinforcements arrive, Manchas disappears. Bogo demands Hopps resign, but Wilde takes a stand, insisting they have 10 more hours to solve the case. As the pair leaves, Hopps learns from Wilde that he was bullied by prey animals as a pup and became a criminal, believing he would be stereotyped as one no matter what due to being a fox.Wilde realizes that the city's traffic camera system may have captured Manchas's disappearance, and the pair consult Assistant Mayor Bellwether, a sheep. They identify the captors as wolves, hence "night howlers". Hopps and Wilde locate the missing mammals (including Mr. Otterton) at Hillside Asylum. All are predators, and all have gone savage like Manchas. The two discover Mayor Lionheart consulting with a doctor about the predators' condition. The pair escape with the evidence and the police swarm the area, arresting Lionheart.Having developed a friendship with Wilde throughout the case, Hopps requests that he joins the Zootopia Police Department and become her partner, which Wilde happily considers. However, during a press conference, Hopps mentions that the savage animals are predators and argues they have gone back to their "natural state." Wilde is hurt and angrily walks out on her offer. Fear and discrimination against predators spreads across Zootopia, and a guilt-ridden Hopps resigns. During this time, pop singer Gazelle holds a peaceful protest and publicly asks for the harmonious Zootopia she loves to be restored.Back in Bunnyburrow, Hopps learns that "night howlers" are flowers that have a severe psychotropic effects on mammals. Hopps returns to Zootopia and reconciles with Wilde. They locate Weaselton and learn that he has been collecting night howlers for a secret laboratory. The pair discover the lab and find ram scientists creating a night howler serum, which has been injected into predators via dart guns. Hopps and Wilde race to the ZPD with the evidence, but the rams pursue them.Just short of the ZPD, the pair encounters Bellwether, who tries to take the evidence. Realizing Bellwether is the mastermind of a species-supremacist conspiracy, Hopps and Wilde try to flee, but Bellwether shoots a dart at Wilde and calls the ZPD for help. Wilde becomes savage and corners Hopps, but it turns out the pair were acting and had swapped out Bellwether's darts for blueberries. With Bellwether's confession recorded on Hopps's carrot pen, the two have enough evidence to unravel the conspiracy.Some months later, Hopps is reinstated into the ZPD. The savaged mammals are cured. Lionheart is cleared of all charges and is reinstated as mayor. Wilde joins the ZPD as the first fox officer and Judy's new partner. In the final scene, all of Zootopia enjoys a performance by Gazelle, who dances with four tigers.

Watched this film 4 times that's how good this movie is and never gets old. Can't wait for part 2

I will admit, when my friend first asked me to watch this movie with her in theaters, I was very doubtful that I would like it. I hasn't seen the previews for it yet and was thinking the whole time, I really don't want to see a movie with animals in a zoo (which is what I assumed was about). I know that disney has produced some great films, I just didn't think this would be one of them.Let me tell you, within 10 minutes of watching this film, I was totally sold. First of all, the graphics are great and secondly the storyline was drastically different than what I thought it would be. I was instantly captured by the fact that people told Judy she couldn't follow her dreams and why was Nick such a schemer? The more and more I watched, I became attached to their friendship! I love how this is so relatable to real life and how it touched on the fact that just because society says you're suppose to be scared of someone or just because you're different, you cannot find common ground, that it is all a bunch of lies. I think it is such a refreshing message and great themes that work for kids and adults alike. I personally want Judy and Nick to end up together, but that's just me.I think this is a solid disney movie that will keep you entertained and while you know it will have a good ending, sometimes it is nice to just have a movie that isn't trying to be so deep, you cannot enjoy yourself. Sometimes being a little more predictable and innocent is maybe what we all need every once in awhile from all the things that happen in our daily lives.I would recommend this to adults and children alike. A great movie to stay in and watch!